Spain had an impressive run in the qualifying round after winning all ten games, the only football team in the World Cup to accomplish that. Coach Vicente del Bosque has two Champions League titles with Real Madrid under his belt, and the weight of the Euro 2008 championship on his shoulders from the previous manager. The Spanish coach is now facing the biggest challenge of his entire career, but he has in hand the best roster in the history of Spain. Complete with talent in all lines, from defence to offence, but the coach is expecting the big players to carry most games if they want to go in the final.
Any other outcome in the World Cup except winning the trophy will be considered a failure from the entire Spanish nation, but Vicente del Bosque is trying to tone this down and remove some of the pressure from his team. “I think this is stupid” he says on the official FIFA website, adding that there are no small teams in a World Cup competition and “We need to be really careful so there are absolutely no surprises against Switzerland, Chile or Honduras“. According to the manager the key will definitely be how prepared overall the squad will be, ready to go head to head against some tough opponents, “And that includes all teams, even the ones that are not considered favourites to win the World Cup”.
Spain is expected to lead Group H in South Africa, but most likely playing an early final in the next round against either Portugal or Brazil. Vicente del Bosque is for the biggest part right, there are no easy matches in the World Cup, but at the same time it looks a bit like he is preparing everyone for the worst while covering his back. Particularly when saying that basically people are stupid to consider not winning the World Cup a failure, this is way out of line, especially when you manage the best football team in the world. So having no surprises in the group stage, but maybe losing on the second round should be ok with the Spanish fans? We don’t think so.