I for one have never supported any national team but I must admit that I'll be following games involving England and Spain this coming tournament. No secret why. I'm going for Spain to finally break the jinx. Like Holland or even the New Zealand All-Blacks, they have always choked during major tournaments. Some people may say that they are the obvious favourites seeing as they rank first on FIFAs rankings but if you look back, you'll note that they've only ever bagged two major international titles, the latest being the European Championship. They have never progressed beyond the Quarter-Finals of the World Cup since 1950 and are not clear cut favourites if you ask me.

Why Spain then? I think they have an abundance of talent in the squad although they may be a little thin at the back. I just saw them make France look like a 2nd rate team, winning 2-0 at the Stade De France, their first on French soil for an eternity. They way Spain passed the ball about especially in the middle of the park was a sight to behold. I think that amongst all the teams, they have the most options in that position. Iniesta, Silva, Xavi, Fabregas and Jesus Navas all featured in that game and all work the ball about so well in closed quarters. You then have Xabi Alonso sitting deep, spraying the ball about if you are looking to pass the ball long. Liverpool fans will also attest to the fact that he has a pretty good defensive game as well. If Spain are leading and need to defend a lead, they can bring on Senna and Busquets. In attack they have two of the best strikers in the world, in Villa and Torres. Against France, they had the luxury of playing both as lone strikers at different times. Anyone see Torres turn Ciani inside out? If the starting back four stay healthy, I think they have an excellent shot. From what I saw Pique seems to have matured into an assured, steady defender and at 6'4" is solid in the air on both ends of the pitch. Ramos has good footwork for a defender.

I may not know as much about the team as say Verx but from what little I saw, they will definitely be hard to beat.

Good. There is a lack of quality discussions going on lately.

sole reason france got to the final of 06 was mostly bcoz of Zidane's magic...don't mention me the name
of domenech...coz wat kind of coach dat leave player like robert pires while preferring then unknown bafetimbi gomis?

**and btw...last match between France & spain? Did the match were contest at paris @ madrid? Coz i here
most of the crowd cheering for la furia roja and booing les blues more. Quite similar situation when
argentina beat them 2-0 in marseille last year

"If Switzerland win 1-0 and Chile lose 1-0 then the teams will have to draw lots"

Guys, anyone knows what draw lots means?
playoff? lucky draw?

spain had better goal difference compare to swiss, 1 more to be exact..why still need to draw lots? spain GD will also better than chile if they beat them

hmmm..really lucky draw ah..lol. that would be so unfair to the team that lose out.
but if chile and swiss are tied with GD and goals scored..wouldn't chile go through because of better head to head records? (provided spain have better GD than both of them)
wut if all 3 teams have same GD and goals scored..lol..so complicated.

no more draw lots? kesian swiss if that really happen, kinda suck for not qualifying after beating the current euro champion   

Aye, I'm thinking the same thing. Not often in this day and age your manager decides against fullbacks, particularly ones that overlap. Also, 6 strikers? Leaves em a little thin in the middle of the park.

What are your thoughts on Spain's chances?

that write the future ads really did curse all the player, all of them have gone out of the world without making their mark.

i think paraguay have show how to beat spain in the match just they dont have the cutting edge to score the winning goal, they chase down spanish player with the pass very quickly and no give them space. this make the spanish passing less accurate and no able to play they usual game. i if spain did not tidy up their defense more they will be in big trouble against the german counter attack, joachim loew can also copy how inter shut down the barcelona attack as his tactic, since spain have such a heavy barca influence.

the german team are flexible and fast they can turn switch of either sitting back or going out to win the ball, while german never face a opponent like spain, spain also never meet a opponent like germany, all their previous opponent either attack well or defend well not two at the same time, portugal have the team to switch to attack but queiroz never change their tactic to attack even when spain have the lead.

i will be interesting to see how will spain react if the german gain the upper hand in midfield what kind of tactical change will del bosque make, because he never seem to change things around when it was not working for the spanish, one thing that he and the spanish team sure have is the patient to pass the ball around until someone usually villa these day scored.

Paul picked SPAIN; Mani picked HOLLAND

one thing for sure, one of them will nick it...

spain won but with disgrace.

People seem to forget how they came through to the final. A win will never erase what they have done.

Ozil was complaining asking for the peno, which was a very clear one. You mentioned one peno turned down doesn't effect anything. Let's play the what if game where you stated that it would have been a different game had De Jong been sent off earlier. You think it wouldn't have been the same case had the Germans got the peno and Ramos sent off?? It would have been very, very different and it happened in the 1st half as well if I recall correctly.