World Cup Team Checks: Spain
April 29, 2006
World Cup Qualifiers
The upside is that Spain didn't lose one single game. But it still wasn't enough for first place in Group 7 and direct qualification. Serbia and Montenegro made that and Spain had to enter the play-offs. Opponent Slovakia then didn't have a chance against the Spanish, in particular thanks to an impressive 5:1 game in the first leg. And Spain got its World Cup ticket.
Stars
The Spanish team traditionally has a problem. It has a lot of stars in its contingent that play brilliantly in clubs such as Real Madrid or FC Barcelona. But these same players often perform only average in the international team. Raul & Co finally want to get past the quarter-finals in the World Cup 2006 in Germany.
Trainer
Old hand Luis Aragones took up his work at the beginning of the qualifiers. Under his coaching, the team played its way to the World Cup. Now, Aragones has his eyes on the next goal and that is the final. The key to reaching this ambitious end is his soccer philosophy: constant possession of the ball and dominating the field.
World Cup History
Spain is participating in the World Cup for the twelfth time.
1934: Quarter-finals, 1950: Fourth place, 1962: Preliminary round, 1966: Preliminary round, 1978: Preliminary round, 1982: Second round, 1986: Quarter-finals, 1990: Round of 16, 1994: Quarter-finals, 1998: Preliminary round, 2002: Quarter-finals
Match Schedule: Preliminary Round
June 14, 2006: Spain -- Ukraine in Leipzig
June 19, 2006: Spain -- Tunisia in Stuttgart
June 23, 2006: Saudi-Arabia -- Spain in Kaiserslautern
World Cup Base
Spain is heading to North Rhine-Westphalia during the World Cup. The team is setting up its training camp at the College of Physical Education in Kaiserau.
Outlook
The road to Germany may have been somewhat cumbersome in the qualifiers, but the Spanish are still bursting with self-confidence. Not only trainer Aragones has set the final as the team's goal. Leading players such as Raul also think this is by all means realistic. In this case, the current team would do it better than its predecessor.