- 30 May 08, 02:59 PM
I love Spain. I love the food, I love the price of wine in restaurants, I love the fact that I don't feel like a complete imbecile when I'm there because I can speak a little of their language, and I love the fact you can watch top-flight football without your bank account taking a pounding.
But there are things about Spain that trouble me, peculiarities that defy reasonable explanation. One of them, for example, is the curious way in which some Spanish men drape pastel coloured V-neck sweaters over their shoulders.
Another is the poor record of Spain's national football team. So many talented players but so little success at major tournaments equates to one of life's great imponderables.
The latter was very much at the forefront of my thoughts during a recent trip to Spain with my wife and her father.
I was keen to see whether the Spanish would be in the midst of the massive deluge of pre-tournament hype we normally get in England and I wanted to know whether they were confident their team would finally throw the monkey off their back.
I tried my luck at a small seaside bar in Galicia. After the barman had told me that Real Madrid would prise Cristiano Ronaldo away from Old Trafford, I asked him about his hopes for the Euros.
The first half of his reply was sort of a grunt crossed with a resigned exhalation, the sort of noise that seemed equal parts contempt and despair.
"Spain? No chance," he said. "Not with that idiot in charge."
There may or may not have been expletives colouring the barman's answer, but the "idiot" in question was Spain coach Jose Luis Aragones.
The coach's decision to omit Raul from his squad was very much headline news and, from what I could gather, it was proving to be a very divisive issue.
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The newspapers were full of talk about the places up for grabs in Aragones's squad while some of the features focused on how the tournament will showcase some extremely impressive young talent. No mention, though, of the likes of Wayne Rooney or Theo Walcott.
Also contained within the sports pages were plenty of adverts, promoting the kind of products we have come to associate with the beautiful game.
The days when footballers only advertised boots, balls, nylon tracksuits or, if they were really lucky and happened to be Kevin Keegan, aftershave are long gone.
In the space of several pages in one Spanish paper I was told which car to travel home in ahead of the match, which beer to drink when the match had started, on which brand of TV to watch the match, and which make of digital camera to have at the ready if I wanted to record any memorable moments.
Disappointingly, though, I did not see a single life-size cut out of any players at the various supermarkets and shops I visited. At no point did the wife have the opportunity to say that so and so is a lot smaller than she expected...not that the other half is all that familiar with most of the Spanish squad.
Advertising shortfalls aside, I hope Spain do well in the tournament. I think they play attractive football, and I remember vividly the haunted faces on their supporters' faces after they crashed out to France in Hanover two years ago.
But I'm not adopting Spain. In fact I'm not adopting any of the 16 nations in action at Euro 2008.
After years of being tied to England - and suffering the continual crushing disappointments that entails - I'm going to see how the wind blows in Austria and Switzerland and support whoever I like, when I like, in a thoroughly shameless manner.
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Have a great trip, boss.
There is a bus trip down the Corniche (along the waterfront in Abu Dhabi) to celebrate the start of the tournament - which has been organised by the Swiss and Austrian ambassadors!
Are you coming over for the Club World Cup next year?
I don't know why but I think this really could be Spain's tournament. They have so many wonderful players and there is no outright favourite.
It'll be interesting to see if the likes of Torres and Ronaldo have the energy to dominate Euro 2008 like they did the Premier League this season.
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There is some comfort for the English in saying that ?Spain are like us; always underachieving.? It would be too painful to say Spain are like us always getting exposed when they meet elite teams. Spanish players much like English player get hyped because they play in glamorous leagues and with glamorous teams. Surrounded by talented foreigners Spaniards have the luxury and freedom of playing nice technical passing games. Physically gifted Eto?o or speedy Ronaldhino will control their intricate passes. When Zambarrotiti, Thuram, Abidal, Marquez or Yaya Toure are cleaning up the mess, Spain?s stars have the freedom to shine.
Reality hits when they play for national team. Have you watched Spain struggle against mighty Iceland both at home and away? N. Ireland did them in first game! Imagine if Northern Ireland actually had done as well against weaker teams, Spain may have been staying home. Their press would ask what went wrong. Had Bosnia decided to start playing serious footy from the beginning of the world cup 2006 qualifiers rather than wait till they spotted Spain a good lead, Bosnia a would have played in playoff. Those beautiful passes to likes of Eto?o suddenly get intercepted. Watching Iceland- Spain game Hrierderson chased a ball lifted toward Spain?s half, it was funny to see Spain defenders trying to block him, a little shoulder nudge by Icelander and coast was clear! No Yaya Tour to block him.
In recent Friendly match I saw Spain beat France 1-0 at home. After the game it was clear that which team is contender and which will be exposed. France toyed with that Spain team. Physically it was a mismatch. Had this been a meaningful match there would been one outcome an easy French win. French knew it, so did Spain. Both set of players knew this too. But I am sure we will hear for the 300th time how a talented Spain team underachieved. I can argue here forever but it won?t change many minds.
I can say go watch Spain?s qualifiers of Euro 2008, WC 2006, they really are no that good, but it doesn?t seem to matter. How can Spain be not good, do you not see Torres the great and Fabulous Fabergass?
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"The newspapers...... focused on how the tournament will showcase some extremely impressive young talent. No mention, though, of the likes of Wayne Rooney or Theo Walcott."
Doh, I wonder why that is!
As well as cheering on Spain in this tournament, I am desperately hoping that with none of the home nations involved (namely England), we won't be subjected to the usual inane discussions and comments about them during games involving just about any other team, and for a change we can simply enjoy the football.
And maybe, just maybe, this year will be Spain's time to finally get it right - the barman is probably right though, not with "that idiot" Aragones in charge.
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I really dislike this who will you support campaign by the BBC!
Call this sour grapes but im not going to support anyone! Im english and they didn't make it! That leaves me with no one to support and thats it! No i wont defect to some national team that has a superstar of its team playing in th Prem!
Defecting the country you support because yours didn't make it is just plain wrong! In the words of of some great english bloke "It's just not cricket"
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As a british born of spanish parents i have been groomed as a spain national team fan by my father.
I have to say that some of the comments regarding spains national team sucesses are a little misleading
for comparing them to the england team does spanish football no justice as they are uncomparable in my opinion if you look on the uefa website at you will see that spain have dominated youth football u21 u19 u17 they have won back to back titles and recently with the the under 17's http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under17/news/kind=1/newsid=697438.html also the under 19's http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/history/index.html
so when people talk about spain they should consider that spain are a force in world football however they have yet to impose there sucess on the full National level
So can the same be said about the england team? No ! the future of spanish football is very rich with an endless pool of talent torress played in the u17 european cup and won.
in korea japan spain suffered from corrupt refereing descions maybe they would of lost next game but still
who knows they have had shocking tournements vs england euro 96 2 clear goals disallowed. france 08 and portugal
they where just shocking
but at some point they will get the sucess they desevrve ;)
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Spanish fashion crimes are not limited to only pastel pullovers. Check out the preponderance of leather trousers (in that weather!) and the number of mean who wear shirts, ties and jeans!!!!
I lived in Spain in 1994 when they were robbed in the world cup by the ref and the italians. Since then I have always had a soft spot for them, but recently they kept the racist Jose Luis Aragones as coach and I have found that a hard one to accept.
If Spain are to do well then it's all about the final third. They have a superb keeper, a very tight defence, a strong and creative midfield and some great strikers but Spain's problem has always been about linking the midfield to the strikers. If they solve that problem then expect them to go far.
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wenger4pm completely off topic and funny yet i am also a fan of england rugby team so based on your logic shall stay or shall i go ??
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I find the opening remarks made by your correspondentPaul Fletcher liking the pounding to his bank account t o that received by the German 6th Army at Stalingrad really inappropriate and reflects the little england mentality rife in so many english sporting journalists.Why do we have to still be re-livingevents from a period in our history which ended more than 60 years ago.
By the way if you want to read some objective football comments read the pieces written about the Scottish defeat by the Czechs in your BBc sports page
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raul was a little like david beckham 2 years ago....he being picked soley on reputation rather than being any good.
unfortunately though for aragones, raul has had an excellent 07/08 season, and thats why he is being critisied for leaving raul out.
attacking wise spain has a wealth of talent, torres, villa, iniesta (one of the best versatile attacking midfielders in the world), xavi....to name a few. each of them so technically gifted and skillful.
there are question marks over the defence though. puyol is a good solid defender. and you have casillas is the best goalkeeper in the world, but when you look at the other 3 defenders, you're just left scratching your head.
if anything, spain is the international equivalent of real madrid. great going forward, shocking when defending
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As an Englishman of Northern Irish and Spanish parents who lives in Spain, I am spoilt for choice as regards who to support. As is probably not surprising, I will be going for Spain in the Euros.
Spain´s footballing history at the highest level has had me just as baffled at it has probably left you. Their club football is the envy of Europe; Real Madrid and Barcelona spring to mind for their European Cup successes and international prestige, but not just them. Even the not so fashionable teams have enjoyed reasonable success, just think of Valencia, Deportivo La Coruña and Sevilla this decade. And in all of these successes, homegrown Spanish players have played to significant part. And what´s more they have the best league in the world along with ours in England.
So why can´t their national side fulfill their potential? You could put it partly down to bad luck... criminal refereeing decisions that cost them semi final places had me livid in 1994 (Italy), 1996 (England... well, I wasn´t so livid that time!) and in 2002 (Korea). But on other occasions they have only themselves to blame... they had plenty of luck in 2000 when they put 2 goals away in the last minute against Yugoslavia to go to the quarters, where Raúl bottled a last-minute penalty against France. In 1998 and 2004 they were just plain awful... even in 1982 they couldn´t do it on home soil.
But since the World Cup in 2006, when a promising young side lost to France, the team has been developing and has a sense of continuity it never had... granted they struggled during the qualifiers but they still finished top of their group. Spanish players are finally trying their luck abroad, especially in England, and there has been some success stories. This English experience has made many of their players stronger and better.
I don´t like Luis Aragonés and I make no secret of that fact, but leaving Raúl out could be positive... he has been a good player, but his ego lets him down and people depend on him too much like many of us English depend on certain players. Besides, there are younger Spanish strikers out there more than capable; David Villa and Fernando Torres for example. Casillas has improved so much as a goalkeeper that he is now one of the best in the world. Sergio Ramos and Carles Puyol in defence, Cesc and Xavi in midfield... it´s not that they´re a weak side. Despite his age, I would have liked to see Bojan get a call up, he´s an amazing young player although I understand the risk of fatigue. That aside, this is the best Spain side I have seen for years. You´re probably sick of hearing this by now, but it´s true and the players that have been picked are in the right moment in their careers. I´m not saying they will win it, but if they crash out early again, not even bad refereeing decisions can excuse them this time.
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I agree with philip61 regarding the Stalingrad comment.
I don't see why the author had to compare his wallet with a battle that over one million lives.
I'm sure as a journalist he could have come up with a better comparative to convey his message.
I expect this sort of comment from The Mirror when England play Germany at football but not from the BBC.
I hope that the comment is removed from the blog before it causes any more offence.
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end of the day all this talk about having a good team and great players when it comes to the crunch spain need to produce on the pitch in this cup compettition maybe the best managers suited to guide the team through a tournement like this is either rafa benitez
jaunde ramos or vincente del bosque i hope either 3 get the managers job when aregones goes its a pity when of those 3 mentoined arn't here now even though aregones has done a great job that camacho started
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"The newspapers...... focused on how the tournament will showcase some extremely impressive young talent. No mention, though, of the likes of Wayne Rooney or Theo Walcott."
Doh, I wonder why that is!
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^What he said^
I can't believe how low-brow and insular the BBC's coverage is. I thought you lot were supposed to hate stereotypes?
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Definitely reckon Spain will finally win a big tournament this year, Torres is world class...
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