SPAIN’S DOMINATION IN WORLD FOOTBALL (2008-2012)

 

From the club perspective, Spain has always dominated football for almost 75 years now, after the inception of European Cup in 1955, Spanish club Real Madrid dominated the competition winning the first 5 titles of Europe’s premium club competition. Spanish clubs have won the European League (now known as UEFA Champion League) 18 times, 6 more than closest rivals England & Italy whom both have 12 tittles to their name.

However, until 2008, Spain’s only had one international title to their name that came in 1964 when they won the European Nations Cup against defending champions Soviet Union on their home turf.  For the next 4 decades Spain did not taste any success in Europe. In 2008, Spain finally emerged as footballing giants.

Spain under the management of Luis Aragones entered the UEFA Euros 2008, with a star-studded squad which consisted of Iker Casillias (captain), Carles Puyol, Sergio Ramos, David Silva, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, Xabi Alonso, David Villa and Fernando Torres, Spain finally emerged as title holders from a major tournament after defeating the Germans 1-0 in the finals courtesy of Torres goals.  After many long years, Spain’s huge wait for international success had finally ended. 

Following their Euro 2008 triumph, Spain brought in former UCL winner and Real Madrid manager Vincente del Bosque to become the coach of the national team. Even though the management has changed, the tiki-taka football remained and so did the success.

Despite a European triumph just two years before, Spain's best chance to fully reach the international football elite lay in South Africa, at the continent's first FIFA World Cup. No European nation had ever won the World Cup outside of Europe at this stage. It was up to the reigning European Champions to defy tradition.

Spain's 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign began with a 1-0 loss to Switzerland. New Zealand were the only nation to avoid defeat in the group stages of the tournament. Spain won Group H after David Villa scored crucial goals against Chile and Honduras. Spain defeated Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in the last 16 with a single David Villa goal. Paraguay saw the same face fate as Portugal in the Quarters and Spain After defeating the South American’s booked their place in the final 4.

Spain then defeated a young German side 1-0 thanks to a bullet header from Barcelona’s Carlos Puyol, gaining entrance the finals of biggest sporting competition in the world. Holland and Spain faced their biggest test of the FIFA World Cup so far in the final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Despite the two countries involved, sadly the game did not become a game of total football. Instead, it more closely resembled the encounter between Eric Cantona and a Crystal Palace fan as Holland's Nigel De Jong Kung-Fu kicked Xabi Alonso in the chest. After 90 minutes, neither team had managed to break the tie, forcing extra time. Following an all-out brawl that had the most cards ever seen in a FIFA World Cup final, Andres Iniesta, a Barcelona legend, eventually popped up with a goal after a through ball from Cesc Fabregas. The Spanish had arrived in South Africa as European Kings. They left South Africa as Kings of the World.

No team had retained the UEFA Euro since its evolution into the Champions League in 1992. Spain was out to make history when they defended their title at UEFA Euro 2012. They beat France 2-0 to reach the quarter-final where they faced Portugal. They went on to face Portugal in a penalty shoot-out where they beat their neighbors. Spain's 4-0 win saw them reach the last four where they met Italy in a repeat of the final. 

Spain has changed the course of history. They had not only been the first and only country to win three major tournaments in a row, but they had also been the first and only side to regain the European Championship. Spain had won three titles in four years after going 40 years without winning anything. The greatest international team of our lifetime.