Besides our bit of a slip up in the Confederation’s Cup against the U.S., we’ve been as good as it gets with our flawless qualifying record to show for it. Granted, we did have somewhat of a simple qualifying group with Turkey not following up on their solid European campaign and the rest of the group just being sub-par, really. What the defeat did help us do though is realize we can’t be content with our play but rather strive for more. It showed that despite having not lost in over 30 matches, we still have much to work on. It appears that we did considering we came back from South Africa and were even stronger in qualifying.

Argentina have been a bit erratic since Maradona’s takeover as manager of the South American powerhouse but did qualifying directly for the World Cup next year even though it appeared they wouldn’t.

Lucky for us in Spain that we know the threats that players like Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuaín can cause seeing as they ply their trade for the two biggest clubs in the country and I’m sure their fellow La Liga players like Piqué and Sergio Ramos will be keen to shut them down.

Earlier this week the announcement was made that Sevilla star Jesús Navas will be called up to the squad long ending speculation whether he would ever overcome his homesickness. He confessed to Del Bosque that he is ready to play and after long apparent discussions, he received the call up. His recent form is second to none with him scoring both in Europe and domestically for Sevilla in the last few matches. He will be keen to keep his spot in the squad but faces tough competition from what on paper, is the strongest midfield in the world.

Another somewhat surprise call up is Pablo Hérnandez but anyone that follows La Liga will recognize that his hard work has finally paid off. Valencia has been a very up and down team this season but without Pablo, they probably would have been more down than up. His fellow Valenciano Juan Mata has also been named to the squad although that’s nothing new seeing as he’s made it for the past few international matches.

The third unusual but deserving call up for Spain is Sevilla striker Álvaro Negredo who is set to win his second cap for La Furia Roja. He grabbed two goals last match when we ran rout in Zenica, smashing Bosnia-Herzegovina 5-2. He’s been continued his form for the rojiblancos helping them continue undefeated in the Champions League and as well as push towards Real Madrid and Barcelona for the top spot in La Liga.

The full squad looks like this:

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Diego López (Villarreal).

Defenders: Álvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Raúl Albiol (Real Madrid), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Andoni Iraola (Athletic Bilbao), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid).

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergi Busquets (Barcelona), Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal), Xavi Hérnandez (Barcelona), Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona), Jesus Navas (Sevilla).

Strikers: Pablo Hérnandez (Valencia), Dani Güiza (Fenerbahce), Juan Mata (Valencia), David Silva (Valencia), David Villa (Valencia), Álvaro Negredo (Sevilla)

Personally I think we have a much deeper squad than Argentina but they seem to be lucky of late so one never knows what’s going to happen. The only thing I know is anyone who is lucky enough to witness this match should consider themselves privileged; it’s going to be nothing short of amazing.

If Casillas gets the start today like we expect him to, he will win his 100th cap for Spain and coincidentally enough its in our centenary match. We all know he’s probably claimed his spot as the best goalkeeper in the world especially after his Euro 2008 heroics and I believe this is a great achievement for a great player. Congratulations San Iker.

We first took on Armenia in Yerevan in which we came out on top but not without a fight. Then again, having said that, the scoreline did not accurately reflect how the game went. We only came out with a humbling 2-1 victory but it wasn’t Armenia who defended or played well, rather us who could not finish the glorious opportunities we created.

A few changes in the midfield for this one as Mata and Cazorla replaced Iniesta and Silva on the flanks as well as Cesc Fàbregas starting in the middle allowing Senna to rest.

The two unusual starters in Mata and Cesc secured the victory for us in Yerevan as the Arsenal skipper put us ahead only for the Armenians to equalize as we became quite wasteful with out chances. Our resiliance once again showed though as just 5 minutes after we conceded, we equalized. Mata was brought down in the box and therefore rewarded a penalty which he calmly took and sent the keeper the wrong way to put us up 2-1.

We saw out the match which saw us maintain our flawless qualifying record and with only one match remaining against a Bosnia side who also had already known they had made the playoffs reglardless of what would happen against us.

That’s where we traveled next as we put on a star-studded show in Zenica against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

This game was nothing except for a matter of pride – Bosnia had qualified for the playoff round and we had directly qualified for South Africa 2010.

Gerard Piqué and David Silva scored in the first half to signal our intent and that was the fact that we definitely were taking this match just as seriously as any other despite the low significance.

Sevilla striker Álvaro Negredo scored two early in the second half to secure the match with ease and see us maintain our picture perfect record at 10 wins and 0 losses in qualifying.

Mata scored a late goal and Bosnia pulled 2 back extremely late which was a bit disappointing to say the least just as late goals always are to concede but none the less, we were by far, the top side in the match and thoroughly deserved the result.

The 5-2 result in Zenica sees us finish the qualifying stage with a perfect 10-0 record and be only the second team to qualify to South Africa with a flawless record with the other being the Netherlands.

The impressive displays by both Negredo and Mata will give del Bosque enough selection headaches to last from now until the World Cup starts so it will be very interesting to see exactly which men travel with La Furia Roja to South Africa next year.

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Armenia isn’t exactly the toughest opposition in the world and in fact, the last time we played them we easily came out on top 4-0 at home but nothing can be taken for granted. Today we travel to the Armenian capital of Yerevan where we can expect a hostile atmosphere and although we’ve already booked our flights to South Africa and the poor Armenians sit last place in our group with no chance of making an appearance in the World Cup next year we have to take this match just as seriously as any other.

Every game for us now is simply for a matter of playing for our pride as we have a perfect World Cup qualification record to maintain.

It won’t be as straight forward as we would have liked however as we have several key players our through injury and minor knocks. Since this isn’t a massive match, Del Bosque decided not to risk further injury and kept those few superstars back home.

Our main man who will be missing is our top scorer in David Villa but he is replaced by an in form Álvaro Negredo who has been doing extremely well for Sevilla since the club’s record purchase this past summer. Negredo could very easily start the match as Dani Güiza is nursing a slight injury and Fernando Torres may be nursing one as he had to leave training a bit early due to a problem with his calf. Our biggest boost however is the return of the man we missed so much in South Africa when we struggled in the Confederations Cup and that man is none other than little Andrés Iniesta. Our right sided midfielder will be putting on the legendary jersey for the first time since February and this is massive for us considering how valuable he is to our squad. The only other noticable name out of the squad is Álvaro Arbeloa and that is due to a knee problem.

This match will be a perfect opportunity for Vicente del Bosque to experiment with a few new combinations and for players who don’t receive much playing time, to impress. Negredo being a newcomer will definitely be one of those men looking to do such and by doing so he could be blowing the dust off his passport getting ready for next year in South Africa. There’s no doubt he’s more than a talent, but is he good enough for La Furia Roja?

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¡Mundo, vete preparando!

¡Clasificados! 

Sudáfrica, allá vamos

Was there ever any doubt?  J

Albiol – Pique – Marchena – Capdevila

Senna – Xavi – Cesc

Silva – Torres – Villa

17:00 Hey, Estonia is a pretty damn good team!  17 minutes in, and the best chance by far has been for Estonia, with one player beating Pique in the corner to whip in a perfect cross, the other player in the box simply not heading it right to get it where it should go, into the net, but instead sending it high over the top.  Iker was so frightened he fell into the goal!    Yep, they’re not afraid of us at all. 

In fact, they’ve been on such level terms, and been so energic and disciplined in snuffing out every attack, that when another one goes awry and Nando finds himself with the ball surrounded by THREE defenders, thereby losing it – he hastily sprints back and chases down his defender, sliding in to take out his feet in deep frustration!  Awww, Nando!  Best chance of the game yet too!  L

22:16  ACK, NANDO!  Such a sexy protest.  This time he runs it down, it’s a longball up for him, and his speed is breathtaking.  He easily outruns his marker, but when he tries to pull on the brakes and cut inside to escape him, his defender ruthlessly pushes him off it, and he collapses in a stunning heap on the grass, and stays there – all long, lean body, suddenly bestilled of motion; the red silk of his shirt tugged up, revealing a hint of smooth, baby-soft skin; his blond hair a sulky mop as he buries his face deep into his hands and elbows, murmuring into the grass.  Oh my f*cking god.  There better be pictures of this – he is a f*cking model out there!

So it’s Xavi for the free kick.  And the spot is so tantalizingly close that a pinpoint drop of the ball can tuck it into the far left corner, that even the most rudimentary kick can place it somewhere in the chaos of the box for a shot on goal.  The spot is that good.  On the very edge of the penalty box, right side, 18 yards out.  And the girls with seats behind the goal snap up ravishing pictures of Xavi as he decides between the two choices: taking the glory all for himself, or setting up one of his teammates?

He sets up one of his teammates.  Except it appears to be Villa who gets a hoof on the ball.  It flies just over the bar – so close!!  Estonia looks smug.  Everyone else trots off.  Villa throws up his hands and complains.  Ahaha!

24:00  Oof!  *drops dead*  Pique, Pique, Pique!  So simply taps the ball and eludes the striker flying in, who goes sliding into the corner flag in comical fashion as Pique so calmly looks the other way!  Oooooh, and starts the counter – our best chance yet????  But Torres sends it WILDLY over the bar!  OMG, Nando, how could you?!  And he knows it too, complete anguish as he just throws his head into his hands.  UGH!

25:00  ANOTHER GOAL SO NEARLY MISSED!  Xavi with that jaw-dropping dew-delicate tap forward for Torres, so lovingly given, despite himself being swarmed by defenders and soon to be swallowed up – and Torres, all you have to do is beat the keeper!  But no!  It goes off the goalkeeper’s foot!  Nooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!  >_ 

Is this retribution?  Payback for those Estonia chances gone begging?  But man, we are upping our attack in waves!  THIS IS SPAIN!!!

27:53 Brief shot of Torres’ cheek, and you can see a big bruise there.  DAMN ESTONIA!  *grumble*

30:00 Holy cow, we’re just bombarding their goal with knifes and forks and kettlespoons!  Poor Nando cannot buy one, here’s another perfect ball for him with acres of space to shoot, except??  Some defender roars in from behind to block that shot, sending it sky high!  ACK!  Then more stout defending by Estonia, sending balls out for corners!  It’s only a matter of time, surely . .

32:00 GOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  CESCITO!!!!!!!!!!!!  Kick that 0-0 down, its 1-0!

What a beautiful little 1-2 with Silva, when you see it again it’s so simple, yet it’s that innate understanding between the two players that makes your jaw drop.  Cesc wins it, side-taps it to Silva, runs on, gets it back, and all in one motion shoots past the keeper and into the back of the net.  He’s having a great game today.

35:00 HAHA, NANDO!!  Bicycle kick!  Again, way over the bar, but now I don’t mind, I love seeing that from him.  Again, he almost gets to it, but for the defender sticking a leg out, and Nando must lunge in with that kick or else it’s the keeper’s.  Poor thing!  Then he gets up, sticking his thumb back at the goalie to ask “is it me or him?”, and that bruise on his cheek pulsates, red and black.  Just give it to him, ref.  Srsly?

37:00 Just wave after wave of attacking football!  A dream.

Half:

Pablo, the announcer: “The only thing wrong with Spain in the first half, was Iker’s beard.”  Ahahaha, even guys don’t like his beard!  Watch and learn, says Cesc!

51:00  SILVA GOES DOWN!

They want him red-carded!  They want him red-carded! 

Me too. 

They see the ref pull out the yellow, and are aghast.  From seeing it live, it was like a gun being shot, in his back – that’s how he goes down.  OMG David!  And all game long too!  Just b/c he’s small, doesn’t mean you can run all over him!  Wow, Pique goes to give him a talking to.  For a full minute, it looks like.  Still talking, as they line up the free kick.  YAY PIQUE!!!

56:45 Nando off??  For Guiza.  Aww, c’mon, Del Bosque, let the boy play! 

65:00 Villa off for Santi Cazorla.  We switch to a 4-5-1?

78:00 Is that MATA?  IT IS!!!!!!!  Wow, I barely recognized him without his Valencia shirt on!  Why so late to put him on? 

81:00 GOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  SANTI!!!!!!!!!!!  YAY, FINALLY, another goal!  2-0. 

Just when I am interpreting the chants around the stadium to be “andelay, andelay” (sp?) = faster, faster = so flummoxed am I that we cannot get past this little Estonia, who is already eliminated, who sits bottom of the table, not more than 1 goal past them???  And we are trying all sorts of things too!  Longballs up top to Guiza, side to side, counters, tiki taka.  And now even the announcers are looking for other things to say, advertising this weekend’s lineup. 

Pablo is counting the passes, saying that Spain has made 20 passes already, side to side, front to back – and now we pass it around some more.  What are we waiting for?  What are we looking for?  Ah, ah – now I know.  We are looking for that tiny sliver of an opening – for that one mistake that will gift the ball back to us, Cesc with a chip to Santi, who actually misses it and almost loses it, then flicks it on for himself but it actually hits the defender’s leg!  And somehow, somehow, the mistake is made, the sliver of space opens – and Santi takes no time at all, one touch and he’s on the ground and the shot’s off.  GOOOOOOOLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Now we can breathe easier.

82:00 LOL!  Xabi with a cute curl of his lip, he looks pissed that he’s not the scorer of that goal.  Or even in the game.  But Cesc has been so great today.  It was he who provided the assist for Santi’s goal – and so adorable, when he saw that Santi almost lost the ball, he had that little “oh!” look on his face.  You know!  The one where he makes an “O” with his mouth, his eyebrows up, his eyes big – and he runs after him, ready to help him out.  Then happiness all around when Santi strikes.  PLUS that first goal, of course! 

91:30 GOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  MATA with a power shot!  From that far out??  YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Wow, just when it looked like Spain would ease into the weekend, wind down the clock, and stroll to the end of the 90 minutes – Santi breaks their feet-to-feet passing with an arching pass overhead to Juan Mata, who is all alone on the far right side of the box.  He settles the ball perfectly from the air, fakes out his dead-tired defender, puts it onto his left foot, and whips that ball into the back of the net.  Awww, no Villa or Silva anymore on the pitch to celebrate it with him, but I’m sure they’re going wild.  3-0!!!

End:

What a team.  Throughout the whole game, Ray was praising Spain on what depth they have – this “golden generation” of young players coming of age and earning their stripes together on the biggest stage possible.  That after years and years of frustration and tears – Spain is finally starting to achieve the accolades commiserate to their style of play.  And they’re not done.  They can still improve.  We’re still missing Sergio Ramos and Andres Iniesta. 

Plus: when will my Sevilla boys be called up?  I like Santi and Mata et al, but doesn’t the prospect of bringing Jesus Navas off the bench make you drool??  What about Diego Capel, soooo impressive right now with the U-21, and who got 2 assists last year on his debut with La Seleccion?  And Alvaro . . the best young Spanish striker after Torres and Villa right now, in my opinion. 

And finally: CONGRATS, IKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  New record of 57 shut-outs for the national team!  Beating out the previous record-holder Andoni Zubizarreta’s record of 56 shutouts with La Roja, and doing it with less caps too!  Casillas has only 98 caps, while Zubizarreta had 126. The next milestone for Casillas is his 100th cap, which will gain him entry to the exclusive club of Raul and Zubizarreta, as the only other two who’s done it.  Holy cow, that’s elite company – go Iker!  I’m so proud of you!!! 

Yesterday we absolutely ran rout over Belgium in A Coruña with David Silva and David Villa stealing the show netting 2 goals a piece. This secures our passage to South Africa next summer in a World Cup which will be one to definitely remember.

Everyone knows David Villa is probably the best striker in the world, if not then for sure the most consistent but this often overshadows the class of his Valencia teammate and fellow David – David Silva. Sure Silva isn’t a household name like the Torres’ and Casillas’ of the world but if anyone ever doubted this kid’s ability, look no further than last night’s match.

Marcos Senna made his return to the national squad but Del Bosque didn’t risk his fitness and as a result started Sergi Busquets in the middle alongside Xabi Alonso. Xavi started on the right and Silva on the left to complete the four man midfield. Sergio Ramos was out of the squad injured and Arbeloa therefore took his spot at right back; Barcelona pair Gerard Piqué and Carles Puyol started as centre backs and Capdevila started at his favoured left back spot. It appears to me that Marchena has officially lost his spot as centre back after Piqué’s obvious dominance over the past year for both club and country. Obviously up front Torres and Villa were paired to round up the starting XI.

Xavi and Xabi provided multiple opportunities for both Torres and Villa but our two frontmen were wasteful, missing easy chances on the Belgian goal. To add to our frustration, Villa was awarded a penalty which he then stepped up, took, and missed having smashed it straight down the middle only for it to be stopped by Gillet’s trailing legs. Villa seemed to brush this off like a true professional though as shortly after he set up his fellow Valencian, Silva who smashed his shot past Gillet to finally put us up 1-0.

We were a bit unlucky to only go into the break up 1-0 but none the less, we were the much more dominant side with the Belgians not really threatening Iker Casillas at all.

We started the second half just as we ended the first and that was on top. Silva this time turned provider for his Valencia teammate Villa when he put in a cross to El Guaje who then cut in from the left and smashed it under the outstretched arm of Gillet to put us up 2-0.

Belgium was highly demoralized and it showed right after our goal when they gave us possession and Piqué ran threw the Belgians to play a little give and go with Villa and finally finish it off to see the score line at 3-0. Sure, the flick on by Villa to set up Piqué for the goal was great and the vision was impressive but the goal was created all by Gerard’s pure determination and resilience, running all the way up from defense and carrying on to finally score.

At about the 75th minute we struck again when stand-in right back Arbeloa put in a perfect ball for Silva who smashed it into the bottom left corner to basically seal the match as Belgium didn’t really look like they had a chance to come back.

Cesc Fàbregas then was subbed in for Xavi and almost scored right away but once again Gillet made an impressive save. Shortly after, Xabi Alonso also tested Gillet with a long and hard strike but the Belgian goalkeeper came out on top.

The match was all but over as with five minutes left Xabi Alonso sent in Fàbregas with a perfect pass to beat the offside trap and the Arsenal midfielder then touched it to Villa who finished what was a gift of a goal.

So with our thumping of Belgium, we have continued our flawless qualifying record and with a win against Estonia midweek, we would officially qualify for South Africa 2010.

I think some special shout outs are in order to really emphasize our emphatic victory yesterday and obviously the first one goes to little David Silva who was definitely my vote for man of the match. He scored two and just was a nuisance for the Belgians all day who failed to contain him. Second was obviously David Villa who scored two and set up another two and probably had the most complete performance out of any of our players. The only thing he did wrong was miss a penalty which is uncharacteristic of him but all credit due to him as he bounced back and lead the team to a convincing victory. Last but not least Xabi Alonso who anchored the midfield in Senna’s absence and also played the role of supplier as he was constantly linking up with Villa and Torres up top.

One player I’m on the fence about was Arbeloa as he did a pretty decent job but he lacks the attacking instinct of Ramos but having said that, he’s a much more disciplined player and when you have a midfield like we do, we don’t necessarily need those overlapping runs. So all in all, a good performance by Álvaro.

Our flop of the match was obviously Torres who in my opinion is terrible overrated. Sure he shines at Liverpool but I dare anyone to name a great achievement that he’s reached with us. He smashed the woodwork twice and missed a few sitters throughout the night that in any other match, could have been crucial. Not his best performance by his and our high standards.

We now focus on taking on Estonia on Wednesday in Mérida so we can finally book our flights to South Africa next summer.

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Today we take on Belgium in the Riazor at home in A Coruña. Last time we played the Belgians we came back from a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1 with David Villa grabbing a late winner in the 88th minute. Today is should be a similar match with Belgium being a defensively solid opponent.

Marcos Senna returns today which will give Vicente del Bosque a bit of a headache in the midfield. I predict it will be David Silva on the left with Senna/Xabi Alonso in the middle and Xavi on the right.

We have a perfect record thus far in World Cup 2010 qualifying and today we should really be able to continue that streak.

Iniesta is still out and Sergio Ramos also is probably out with Arbeloa taking his spot at right back.

Two massive pieces of our puzzle are missing but still, Belgium should be a task that La Furia Roja can handle.

A few days ago Vicente del Bosque named the players which would be included in the squad for the next two qualifiers against Belgium in A Coruña and Estonia in Merida.

We’re currently ranked second in the world behind heavyweights Brasil due to their success in this past year’s Confederations Cup and our crash out of the same tournament. The ranking system doesn’t really make sense to me (as well as probably most of the other people who pay attention to it) as to how a team who won over 30 matches in a row and had a choke hold over world football could possibly not be ranked 1st in the world after one mere defeat. Regardless of what I think, that’s what it is and only a win in the World Cup next year would get us back where we belong so it all starts Sepember 5th when we take on Belgium.

Some good news for us as our holding midfielder and Villarreal superstar Marcos Senna is returning to the squad after missing our Confederations Cup campaign. He was a massive reason for our lack of stability in the centre of midfield in South Africa this past summer and to have him back is a massive boost for us. We all saw at the European Championships last year how much of a match changer he really is and I have no doubts that nothing has changed from then until now.

A surprising addition to the squad was Cesc Fàbregas who is usually included in the squad but last weekend picked up a knock against Portsmouth and was apparently ruled out a minimum of 3 weeks. I guess Del Bosque has deemed him fit enough to play but its surprising that Arsenal let him go considering his circumstances. I’m sure Del Bosque won’t risk him if Xavi and Marcos Senna are doing a sufficient job in the middle as they usually do.

There are only two usuals who are excluded from the squad this time around which are Sergio Ramos and Andrés Iniesta who are both still recovering from their injuries with the latter being a long-term one.

Ramos is replaced by Nacho Monreal who is an up and coming left footed defender and plays his club football with Osasuna. Iniesta is replaces by (and when I say replaced, I don’t really mean it because no one can ever replace little Iniesta) Juan Mata of Valencia once again who scored a goal on the weekend in Los Che’s 2-0 victory over La Liga rivals Sevilla.

The full squad called up looks like this:
Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas, Pepe Reina, Diego López

Defenders: Álvaro Arbeloa, Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqué, Carlos Marchena, Raúl Albiol, Nacho Monréal, Joan Capdevila

Midfielders: Cesc Fàbregas, Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Marcos Senna, Albert Riera, Juan Mata, David Silva

Forwards: David Villa, Fernando Torres, Dani Güiza

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Despite not being able to write anything about the match, I definitely did watch it and although it was only the consolation match and not the final, I’m happy we pulled off the victory – albeit in interesting fashion.

Just a personal observation but I think that the World Cup next year is going to fail miserably. The stadium for our matchup was barely filled and I just think that if South Africans won’t even go see their own team playing, who will they pay to see? I know it was only for third place but regardless, you would think a nation would get out and support their team. But who am I to talk? We’ll have to see.

Anyway back to the important stuff which is the match.

A Katlego Mphela goal put the hosts ahead in the 73rd minute and at this point I was seriously scared. Not only had we not advanced to the dream final to play Brazil but we also were looking as if we were going to lost the consolation match! Not to worry though as my man Dani Güiza who has previously come on as a substitute scored in the 88th minute to level us up. Two minutes later with a bit of luck, Dani added another and being the 90th minute I said to myself “okay, definitely time to relax now”. But there we went again with our complacency and Mr. Mphela grabbed another in the third minute of stoppage time to crash our party and send the home fans (or lack of) crazy.

Credit to South Africa as they came out strong in extra time and controlled possession although they didn’t have many dangerous chances. We however, created the more dangerous opportunities through the likes of Riera, Capdevila, Llorente and even David Silva when his shot was blocked by the South African defender’s clear handball but the referee seemed to be uninterested and kept on playing. Finally though we got what we deserved in the 107th minute when Xabi Alonso hit a perfect freekick past the South African keeper and put us ahead which was eventually for good.

With the exciting 3-2 victory, we clinched third place in the FIFA Confederations Cup and while that is a feasible achievement for any other nation, for us it is a great disappointment. We went into the tournament as favourites and failed to live up to all the hype losing out (possibly choking) against the U.S. in the semifinals.

Now sure, it isn’t the World Cup and had little significance but when you have every continental champion as well as the world champions and the next host nation, it is definitely a chance to prove your worth. Unfortunately we didn’t and as a result we have slipped to second place in the FIFA World Rankings. We’ve occupied the number one spot for the past year and to lose it is someone uncomforting.

All we can do from here is focus on our World Cup qualifying campaign in which we have a flawless record. We may not have a 35 match undefeated streak or a 15 game win streak but I still think we’re a solid powerhouse in world football. All excuses aside, no Iniesta, Senna and Silva (for most of the tournament) certainly does limit your options. We still have a class lineup but it was evident that we weren’t playing with the same confidence that we had during the Euro’s.

See you in South Africa.

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The comments over the past day and half have been more than entertaining with all the haters posting to no end. I shouldn’t be surprised really as I probably brought it upon myself being one of the cockiest bloggers ever to write for the World Cup Blog but hey, thats what this game is all about. You enjoy your victories more but take your defeats harder, its a risk worth taking in my eyes.

I mean really, the records speak for themselves, 35 matches unbeaten and a 15 match win streak is more than impressive and makes us the most successful team in terms of those kind of statistics throughout history which is respectable to say the least.

Now sure, we did lose and all credit to the U.S. who played a tough match, got the vital goal and sat on their lead but understandably so. Everyone knows we probably (alongside possibly the Dutch) have the best attacking lineup in international football and defending properly was key to the United States pulling off the upset that they did. But lets be realistic here – we completely dominated the match and the statistics showed that. From start to finish we were the stronger of the two sides with much better chances created and definitely could have won but watching the game again both Villa and Torres amongst others will definitely rue their missed chances. Having said that though, its a shame games aren’t judged based on statistics and at the end of the day a win is a win no matter how you get it and the U.S. did just that.

I think though at the same time everyone has to also realize that by no means does this indicate the downfall of the Spanish or does it make us “a weak side”. I loved the people claiming they “couldn’t wait” to see what myself amongst other Spanish fans were going to come up with as excuses to defend my beloved sides “choke” exit to the hands of the Yanks. Quite frankly I don’t have any excuses, we played a solid match and like I said, we missed a few sitters which at the end of the day ultimately would have got us the win and saw us play Brazil in the finals of the Confederations Cup.

No excuses here, but explanations to as why maybe we didn’t look as convincing in this tournament are in order. Of course these are all personal observations but I’m sure anyone who is either a Spanish fan or knows anything about the still-strongest side in the world would have seen the same.

Without Iniesta on the right and David Silva on the left our wing play was very limited. The absences of Iniesta and Silva, who are probably the best players in the world in their positions on their day is a huge blow considering we relied so heavily upon them in Austria and Switzerland where we convincingly triumphed. You can’t expect Fàbregas or Xavi to have the same impact on the right wing when they are both naturally central midfielders and considering they played there throughout the tournament, we didn’t do half-bad. Everyone knows Iniesta is one of a kind and his absence was probably single handedly our greatest blow this whole tournament. His link-up play with Xavi is mouth watering and not having it obviously took a lot out of our game.

Marcos Senna may be getting on in years but his presence in the centre of the park is vital to both our attacking and defensive play. He’s a rock and was arguable one of our keys to success in winning the European Championships and once again, another key figure out of the lineup is a huge blow. Xabi Alonso is a solid replacement and I love his play but the type of player he is doesn’t allow Xavi that luxury to roam the way he did when Senna was behind him, not to mention it doesn’t help when he’s playing out on the right flank…

Now like I said, no excuses but when you have three of your most influential players missing of course your approach will have to change and because of it we weren’t as effective, its that simple.

Another huge factor was our grouping. It was easier than easy and while the score lines might not suggest that, it was. As the matches went on we became more content and just because we only defeated Iraq 1-0, it sure as hell doesn’t mean we are only that much better than them. Complacency ultimately screwed us over and because we had such a easy group along with the fact that the U.S. arguably fluked their way into the semi-finals caused us to automatically already look ahead to the final against Brazil (who we assumed would smash South Africa but arguably came out with a lucky win themselves). Not justifying our probable stupidity, just merely explaining it.

I think as long as you keep that in mind you will still understand that by no means are we all of a sudden any weaker or less of a threat but the U.S. match was merely a small detour in our road to success.

It now means that Vicente del Bosque has suffered his first loss since taking charge but at the same time it could be a blessing in disguise seeing as he can now play around with the lineup to find the perfect combination before the World Cup next year. Just as all great leaders have suffered loses, del Bosque has suffered one too but unlike Hitler, Mussolini or even Jesus Christ, it is not the end of his world and the situation can be easily rectified.

I thought I’d add a bit of my two cents in just for the record as well (as if I hadn’t enough already eh?). This has been a fun couple weeks of blogging and regardless of what happened in this dreadful semifinal, I will never give up my confidence in my beloved team. Don’t think of it as cockiness just think of it as reality or truth. Everyone is ecstatic when their team is on top and I sure as hell am no different, we’re still on top of the world and maybe its a blessing that this happened in the Confederations Cup instead of next year in the World Cup. So in response to all the Yanks and whoever else was critiquing my beloved country; we had a bad game, I think everyone is entitled to one and we’ll just have to wait until the World Cup next year in South Africa to see who the strongest nation is, hopefully it’ll be us but as we saw – no guarantees.

Vicente del Bosque employed a slightly different lineup as he chose to rest some key players considering we had already mathematically qualified for the semifinals. Surprisingly though, Villa and Torres did start up front with neither of them really performing like they need to if we want to win this tournament. Xavi, Fàbregas, Albert Riera and Sergi Busquets compiled the midfield as Raúl Albiol, Álvaro Arbeloa, Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué made up our back four. Casillas was given a day’s rest as Pepe Reina got a rare start between the sticks.

A minute after David Villa missed he took Sergi Busquet’s cross on his chest with perfect control and turned to hit his shot past South African keeper Itumeleng Khune to net his 31st goal in 47 matches for us which puts him only 13 goals back of Raúl for the Spanish record.

Although we slowed down, South Africa never really had any significant opportunities and on the 72nd minute off a free kick near the corner, Xavi whipped in a cross which Fàbregas scuffed only for substitute Fernando Llorente to tap in and put us up 2-0.

The World Cup 2010 hosts really had no response to our quick play and even on a less than convincing day, we easily came out on top.

In Group B there was some strange events today which saw Iraq and Italy both lose which now means the USA have finished in second place and will play the mighty La Furia Roja in the semifinals. Our American friends brushed aside Egypt 3-0 which personally I found more than unexpected. Overall I’m extremely happy with the result as I neither consider America a threat whatsoever and it also means Italy was knocked out. No personally vendetta against the Azzurri but I’m just going to have way too much fun with my Italian friends over the next couple days.

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