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2018 FIFA WORLD CUP

2018 FIFA WORLD CUP PREVIEW – SPAIN NATIONAL TEAM




Summary Of The Team

Spain are coming into this world cup as one of the favourites to win it in people’s eyes and they are looking to bounce back from what has been quite an awful past 4 years on the big stage being eliminated in the groupstages in the world cup in 2014 and R16 in the Euros. Spain have a new generation coming through into this world cup alongside some of the experienced players who are world cup and European champions that are still here. Spain have what I would probably call the best and the most deep midfield in the world, they have great depth in defense and goalkeeper positions, but their striking options are slightly limited with Costa there, but alongside they Costa they have Rodrigo and Aspas who really are unproven for Spain and the same Diego Costa hasn’t really done anything for Spain other than flop the last world cup, but he is a world class striker and he can bounce back from what happened 4 years back. There were some surprising exclusions such as Marcos Alonso missing our for Monreal although Alonso was put in the premier league’s team of the year as a LB, also Morata missing out was quite surprising to some although he had a poor season but he’s proven for Spain, and Bellerin missing out too, but other than that there really wasn’t anything wrong with the selections and even these controversies aren’t that much of a problem. Spain are coached by Julen Lopetegui, a manager who has a great track record with the Spain youth teams winning a couple European cups, his only stint at a club level was with Porto where it didn’t go really well, however he did do a great job with Spain during the qualifiers, but the real test for him hasn’t really come yet as a Spain manager and the world cup will show what he’s capable of. With a midfield that Spain has, we can probably expect high possession and them working to break down the doors of defences with their great ability to pass the ball and unlock other teams. They’ll probably have 65-70% possession most games and they should be an exciting team to watch because of the talent that they have.

Road To The Finals

It was an easy road to the finals for Spain. They were put into a group with a dysfunctional Italy team alongside Albania, Israel, Macedonia and Lichtenstein. Spain only dropped 2 points in that group drawing with Italy away, other than that they pretty much destroyed everyone in their way including Italy when they played in Spain beating them 3-0. Spain scored 36 goals and conceded 3 meaning on average they’d beat their opponents by about 3 goals. They played solid attacking football and were hardly ever broken down keeping 7 clean sheets in 10 games. Spain had a variety of different top scorers, they had 4 players who scored 5, these are Diego Costa, Isco, Morata (not included in the squad) and David Silva. Vitolo added 4 goals (also not involved in the squad), Aspas scored 2 and 8 more players added 1 goal each.

The History of Spain National Team

Spain are a three time European champions (1964, 2008,2012) and a one time world cup champion (2010). They have had one of the greatest generations in football history between the years of 2008-2012 as you can see because this is where they managed to go and win 3 straight international major tournaments winning 75% of their trophies as a nation in general. Spain are also a runner up in 2013 and a third place finisher in 2009 at the confederations cup not being able to win that competition however. In their world cup history other than 2010, Spain have reached 4th place in 1950, reached the Quarters Finals 4 times, been knocked out in R16 twice and knocked out in the group stages 5 times. They have participated in 13 world cups and this year will be their 14th time. Spain have produced some of the best players of their storied history such as Raul, Iniesta, Xavi, Ramos, Casillas, Puyol, David Villa, Zubizarreta, Torres and many more. Spain’s all time goal scorer is David Villa with 59 and their most capped ever player is Casillas with 167 who will soon be overtaken By Ramos with 150 caps. This nation is full of great history, tied for 1st in European cups and a world cup winner, they have produced great players, have the best clubs in the world and in general it’s a very successful nation.

Key Players:


Sergio Ramos: I think it’s pretty obvious that their captain Sergio Ramos is going to be the biggest key in Spain’s success. Ramos is easily one of the best defenders, controversial player, loves to put in a harsh tackle to set the tone of the game, not afraid to pick up cards. Now at this world cup it’s going to be important for Ramos to be disciplined because if he picks up two yellows he’ll get suspended and someone else will have to play and although Spain have depth, they couldn’t afford to lose their captain for a game in like let’s say the quarters against a big teams. Ramos is a serial winner, winning 3 trophies with Spain already and captaining real madrid to 4 UCL trophies in 5 years winning the last 3 in a row. With all that experience and being the most capped Spanish player while still being at the peak of his career, it’s safe to say Ramos is going to be very important for Spain, especially for the younger players.


Diego Costa: With Spain not really being able to find that striker to carry on the legacies of David Villa and Torres, Diego Costa will really be the one to be the next in line. Spain don’t have any other reliable sources up front as Aspas and Rodrigo aren’t really the names to blow your mind, but Diego Costa is a proven winner and a goal scorer at the highest club level so going into this world cup it’s going to be expected that Costa shows up and he’s going to be needed massively. Costa missed the 1st half of the season due to Atletico’s transfer ban, but once he returned it looked like he didn’t miss a beat scoring goals for them. Costa is coming into this world cup on decent form and with the midfield behind him, it shouldn’t be hard for him to get chances and score goals. Costa is the best striker for Spain by far and after struggling four years ago, hopefully the experience that he gained will be put to play this year and he’ll have a great world cup. If Costa shows up then it will instantly turn Spain’s chances into winning world cup very high and if he doesn’t then it’s going to be problematic for Spain which is why Costa is one of the biggest keys for Spain.


Isco: It’s literally impossible to pick a midfielder to put on this list, but I’ve chosen Isco. Now everyone has their pick for who is Spain’s most important midfield, whether it’s Iniesta or Silva for experience, whether it’s Thiago, Asensio or Busquets but I’ve gotta go with Isco. Isco has everything you want in an attacking midfielder, he has skill, great dribbling ability, passing ability and he scores goals, he was one of their top 4 top scorers in the qualifiers. Isco has really made himself into one of the best footballers in the world although he slightly slacked this season, but I still have no doubt in my mind that Isco can show up at this world cup playing his best football and if that happens, I honestly think Spain will click at all cylinders. Isco is a proven winner at club level already while being one of the most important players for Real Madrid. This is his first World Cup for spain while being a superstar player. I think Isco is going to be huge during the world cup, things will mostly run through him and I expect this guy to drop a masterclass of a world cup.

Possibilities and Expectations


Spain have gotten a very favourable draw this year. In the groups they’ll face the European Champions Portugal, then Morocco and Iran. I think that Spain will dominate this group, as in my eyes they have by far the best team at the world cup. I’m willing to cancel out Iran and Morocco already because they just not even close to being the save level as Spain, just a couple of average sides and I believe many would agree with this. Portugal can be a threat to Spain, but they’re quite an ageing side now and if you compare the two Spain have definitely got the better squad, but Portugal do have Ronaldo. When Spain and Portugal meet, Spain normally prevail and I think that will happen in this world cup too. I’m picking Spain to win the group with 9 points.


In the knockouts Spain would have to face either Uruguay, Egypt, Hosts Russia or Saudi Arabia. Once again very favourable for Spain even if they didn’t win the group and advanced. Uruguay seems like the biggest threat but everyone knows Spain are still by far a better side than Uruguay, Egypt don’t pose a threat because it’s a one man team, Russia and Saudi Arabia would simply not be good enough. I think Spain advancing to the quarters is pretty much a given. If they get to the quarters they’d have to face someone from group C or D, toughest possible oppositions being France or Argentina where again I think Spain would be favoured over either of them, but I’d be worried about France because they are just as deep and might be even more hungry to bounce back from 2016, I’d pick Spain to beat Argentina however. In the Semis they could really face anyone and that’s where I think they’d drop because I have already picked Germany and Brazil to meet in the final so for Spain I think the Semis would be the furthest they’ll go. They can definitely go all the way in the world cup, but there’s definitely a couple of better teams than Spain. To summarise I think Spain will get all 9 points in the groups, get to the quarters and if they avoid France they’ll get to the Semis, if not they’ll drop in the Quarters. You can get Quarter Finals at 4.00, Semis at 5.50 being the stage of elimination at WilliamHill and another bet that I’d recommend is all 9 points in the groups at 3.00. Also at WilliamHill.


Spain’s 23 man Squad


Goalkeepers: Pepe Reina (Napoli), David de Gea (Manchester United), Kepa Arrizabalaga (Athletic Bilbao).


Defenders: Nacho Fernandez, Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal (all Real Madrid), Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba (both Barcelona), Alvaro Odriozola (Real Sociedad), Nacho Monreal (Arsenal), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea).


Midfielders: Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets (both Barcelona), Saul Niguez, Koke (both Atletico Madrid), Isco, Marco Asensio (both Real Madrid), Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich), David Silva (Manchester City).


Forwards: Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo), Rodrigo (Valencia), Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid), Lucas Vazquez (Real Madrid).



Predicted Starting Lineup


                De Gea


Carvajal Ramos Pique Alba


 Busquets Iniesta Thiago


        Silva Costa Isco




Group stage Schedule: UK TIME


15/06/2018 – vs Portugal 7 PM


20/06/2018 – vs Iran 7 PM


25/06/2018 – vs Morocco 7 PM



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