Vicente del Bosque, the manager of the Spanish team, had a myriad of talented options to choose from at every position, forcing world-class players to watch from the sidelines. Spain was blessed with one of the deepest squads in Europe allowing them to flourish in the long, ten-match campaign. The midfield was led by the passing prowess of Xavi Hernández and the creative touch of Andrés Iniesta to dictate the fluid style Spain is now best known for. Captain Iker Casillas – arguably the best goalkeeper in the world who is referred to as San Iker, or “Saint Iker,” by fans- provided the backbone of the defense along with Carlos Puyol who brought much experience to the back line. Spain’s solid offense, which scored the second most goals of the qualifiers, was coupled with a stout defense, only allowing five goals in their ten matches. Forward David Villa led the attack, scoring seven of 28 goals, good to tie for fourth in the tournament.ĭavid Villa celebrates one of his many goals in the World Cup campaign. Spain was drawn with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Belgium, Estonia, and Armenia. The nine group winners automatically qualified and the eight second placed teams entered a play-off for the last four spots. The teams were split between eight groups of six and one group of five. They were part of the daunting and fiercely competitive European zone for qualification as one of fifty-three teams vying for thirteen spots to South Africa. They earned one of nine automatic qualifying bids, marking their thirteenth World Cup appearance. La Roja completed a perfect qualifying run by winning each of their ten games and finishing ahead of second place Bosnia and Herzegovina by a comfortable eleven points. Coming off of a dominating championship in Euro 2008 where they defeated Germany 1-0 in the final to go undefeated for the tournament, Spain blazed through their qualifying campaigns.
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