Spain - The Red Fury!

The Spanish side are commonly referred to as La Furia Roja (The Red Fury) and more so after announcing their 23 man world cup squad for the extravagant event in South Africa. The spanish squad under head coach Vicente Del Bosque is as follows: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Jose Reina (Liverpool), Victor Valdes (Barcelona); Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid); Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergi Busquets (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Javi Martinez (Athletic Bilbao), David Silva (Valencia), Xavi (Barcelona); Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Juan Manuel Mata (Valencia), Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), David Villa (Valencia). [caption id="attachment_6880" align="aligncenter" width="418" caption="As formidable in suits as in boots!"][/caption] The team looks deadly on paper and the points to note is that unlike other teams most of the players here play for the same league team. A final 11 squad will mainly comprise of Barcelona and Real Madrid, as Barcelona and Madrid have seven and five players respectively in the 23 man squad and it's no secret that these are by far the 2 best Spanish teams. It will be nice to deduce a final 11 squad and personally i see a 4-4-2 formation with the following players:

Casillas

Puyol Pique

Ramos Capdevila

Alonso Xavi

Iniesta Fabregas

Torres Villa

Given injury stricken nature of Fabregas , Silva can be a great replacement for him. Only thing Spain has to keep in mind is that football is not played on paper and history has showed that again and again, accounting for only one top 4 finish in the World Cup and that too in 1950.

But Spain are the side to beat for me in this tournament and i won’t hesitate in labelling them as favourites. [gallery]