Spain v England; Matchup of The Great Underachievers

This international break is rather special, sure these are just friendly matches but they are a bit more special than that this time around. Yesterday the two most successful footballing nations squared off in London and Brasil showed just why they have five stars on their shirt. They played an all around class game and beat a relentless Italian side. Brasil defeating Italy may just give us a taste of what is to come as today Argentina take on France in another powerhouse match and of course we take on England in what is probably the greatest battle of under achieving teams ever.

Both of our nations have produced countless stars who shine ever so brightly domestically but when we step out there in those major tournaments we just seem to crumble. This year around we put some of those critics back in line as we convincingly won the European Championships under the leadership of Luís Aragonés in Austria/Switzerland. England on the other hand, failed to even qualify for the tournament.

Aragonés stopped the hurting for all Spaniards when we claimed out first piece of silverware for over 40 years but can Fabio Capello do the same for England? They’ve definitely had a resurgence since he’s taken over but playing against the defending European champions is a whole other ball game.

There is not much to say about this match because I’ve pretty much said everything that needs to be said in the previous two posts here and here.

Just a few bits of team news though. Carles Puyol did pick up an injury over the weekend and has therefore pulled out of the squad that will play The Three Lions, his Barcelona teammate Gerard Piqué will most likely slot in at centre back due to his absence. Real Betis defender Juanito will also not play due to a knock he picked up in training earlier this week. As scheduled Fernando Torres will play even despite Rafa Benítez’ rant earlier this week.

The squad will therefore be like this:
Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas, José Manuel “Pepe” Reina
Defenders: Raúl Albiol, Álvaro Arbeloa, Joan Capdevila, Juanito, Carlos Marchena, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Ramos
Midfielders: Xabi Alonso, Sergi Busquets, Santiago Cazorla, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Albert Riera, David Silva, Marcos Senna
Forwards: Daniel Güiza, Fernando Llorente, Fernando Torres, David Villa

I think it will be a close match but playing at home The Lions have probably bit off more than they can chew.