There might not be a more dominant team in any sport than Spain in international soccer.
The Spaniards have won the last three major international championships — European 2008 Championship, 2010 World Cup, and the European 2012 Championship — and don’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
In fact, they might be better now than they were in 2008 or even in 2010 when they won the World Cup. They play one style of soccer, that’s domination.
They control possession in every game that they play, can score up and down on any team in the world, and they also have one of the best defenses in the world. Not to mention the best goalkeeper in the world as well.
In the six games that they played in this year’s European Championship, Spain gave up a grand total of one goal. One goal? One goal in six games, I’d say they have a pretty good defense.
Ironically, the one team that scored on Spain was Italy in Spain’s first match of the tournament — the same Italian team that Spain destroyed 4-0 in the Championship game.
After Antonio Di Natale’s goal in the 61st minute of Spain and Italy’s first game, the Spaniards went five straight games with a clean sheet. This isn’t rocket science, if you keep your opponent from scoring, you will usually come out on top.
The only other team that Spain struggled with was Portugal in the Semi-Finals, when they drew scoreless and defeated their peninsula rivals 4-2 on penalty kicks.
Spain has successfully run the world in soccer for six years now. Spain is the first team in the history of the European Championship to win two consecutive championships, though in a World Cup and you might have the best team in the history of soccer.
That will always be debated, but I’m not here to discuss that. I want to address that once Spain’s time is gone, it’s easy to say that they are the best team ever when they are winning a different tournament every summer; lets break it down once they are past their prime.
What is totally unquestionable is that Spain is the best team in the world and has to be the clear favorites to repeat as champions in two years in the 2014 World Cup from Brazil.
They have the best team by far; they have several world class players that sit on the bench. Plus, they won the European 2012 Championship with their best striker, David Villa, and captain defender, Carles Puyol, out with injuries.
What I want to know is what team could possibly defeat Spain in two years’ time when the World Cup rolls around? Teams like Brazil, Germany, and Argentina are always considered possibilities. Or maybe Portugal, Holland, or Mexico? There a several teams that can beat the Spaniards, but it seems like they can turn it on at any time, it will be tough for another team to take the title from them.
I would love for someone to tell me of another current team (in any sport) that has more dominance than Spain in international soccer. Keep in mind that they have been on top of the world for six years now.
Tyler Rollason is a Winder-Barrow High School graduate and mass communications major at the University of West Georgia. You can e-mail comments about this column to tyrollason@yahoo.com.
