Spain equals record straight wins

Spain equalled the historical 14 straight wins of Holland and France in official matches by defeating Scotland 3 – 1 in the Group I. Spain finishes top of the Group and goes straight into next years Poland-Ukraine Euro Championships, while Scotland misses out as the Czech Republic won their game to grab the 2nd place in the Group and thus continue with a chance to qualify.I was personally disappointed with Scotland as I thought beforehand that with the 2nd place in the Group up for grabs and nothing to lose, they would have shown more initiative and offensive attitude. Instead they came out defending from the start and that against today’s Spain is almost like a Football suicide. But to be fair the Scots showed glimpses of their traditional brave attitude in the second half to which one cannot be too harsh about.

David Silva

Spain had two players who won their first full International cap last night, Victor Valdes under the goal posts and Jordi Alba, with the latter putting in a great game from the start. It was Alba who found David Silva in the 5th min that put Spain ahead. The Spanish dominance of the ball was almost complete with Xavi Hernandez pulling ( passing ) all the strings. The Scottish goalkeeper McGregor was kept busy making saves until Siva found his second in the 43rd min.

David Villa

The second half started as the first finished with Spain showing all the initiative and the third goal came via David Villa in the 53rd min. Here Spanish Coach Del Bosque made some changes ( Xavi & Silvia for Thiago & Llorente) and they relaxed somewhat as Scotland showed some grit. Spain began creating unusual defensive mistakes and were paid when a penalty was called when Valdes floored a Scottish player in the area. Goodwille took the ball and scored from the spot in the 64th min. This lifted the Scottish spirits and Spain suffered the following 10 – 15 mins before retaking the initiative and nearly scoring again via Cazorla who missed.

End result as expected beforehand, with Spain winning, and Scotland unfortunately out of next years Euro Championship.