STAR WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA: Worldcup 2010 Group H : Spain

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Worldcup 2010 Group H : Spain

Spain

Coach: Vicente del Bosque

Vicente del Bosque is the current head coach of Spain and he replaced Luis Aragones after Spain's Euro 2008 success. Vicente del Bosque is heavily linked to Real Madrid both as a player and manager. He made over 300 appearances for the club and also managed them on two seperate occasions between 1994 and 2003!

World Cup 2010 Qualifying:

Spain matched the feats of England and Netherlands, qualifying for the 2010 World Cup with two qualifying group matches to spare thanks to a workmanlike 3-0 defeat of Estonia in Merida. Cesc Fabregas, Santi Cazorla and Juan Mata got the goals to make it eight straight wins for the European champions, with Bosnia-Herzegovina's 1-1 draw with Turkey ensuring their smooth progress to the finals for the ninth straight time. Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas: "This goal is very important for me, especially for the confidence it gives me. It's a pleasure to play with these players and in front of these fans. Eight wins out of eight, not many countries can say that."

Past World Cup Performance:

Spain have qualified for 13 World Cup tournaments in their history and their best performance to data has been 4 Quarter Final appearances in 1934, 1986, 1994 and 2002. Spain also hosted the 1982 World Cup but bowed out in the second Group Stage following defeat by West Germany. On several occasions Spain have entered the World Cup as one of the tournament favourites but to date they have under acheived despite having some great players over the years. In 1986, Spain defeated an in-form Denmark 5-1 to reach the Quarter Finals and hopes were high before they quietly exited on penalties against Belgium. However, that breakthrough the Spanish were looking for finally came after they clinched Euro 2008 by beating Germany 1-0 in Vienna! Spain enter World Cup 2010 as the number 1 ranked team in the World and current European Champions. They will face Chile, Honduras and Switzerland in Group H in what looks to be a great draw for the tournament favourites! Despite having a poor record in past World Cup's it looks like Spain will be the team to beat in South Africa this summer!