Your final two paragraphs, in which you conclude that Spain effectively’s got players of the same level as other top World Cup winning sides, serve to prove the very basic point that in football, just like many other sports, ‘the whole is greater than the sum of the parts’. It isn’t sufficient to have players who are individually strong: these individual talents have to mesh together well enough to create a winning team.

By extension you could say the same thing about England and Portugal, constant under-achievers when it comes to the international scene.

As for the question you asked in your last paragraph: I have no definitive answer for you, but my best guess would be this: a “lack of a winning mentality”. Bear with me on this, but if we take a look at the winning teams of past World Cups (Brazil, Italy, Germany, Argentina, and to a lesser extent France), they have been members of the “winner’s club” for a very long time. The only exception is France who won their first World Cup in 1998, but following that success, the French are now playing with a subconscious ‘identity’ (if you will) that they are ‘winners’.

I can draw a similar comparison on my point with Inter Milan’s recent success in the Serie A. Now, it’s a little different with Inter because the Nerazzurri have won many Scudetti in past years (in fact, they’re 2nd in the all-time winning charts behind Juve), but the fact of the matter was that until last year, the last ever Scudetto they won dated from 1988-89 season. Since then, the following generations of Inter players were bearing the heavy burden that, despite an excellent team full of stars, they were constantly underachieving and could not win any trophies (always coming 2nd or 3rd behind Milan or Juventus). However last season’s Scudetto boosted the Nerazzurri morale to very high levels, to the extent that their ‘heavy burden’ (or ‘losers’ label, if you will) has been lifted. Now this season will serve to prove an even more important point for the Interisti: can they achieve another Scudetto, now that Juve and Milan are back into action as title contenders?

By the same token, I think all that Spain (and England, and Portugal, etc.) needs is one victory in the World Cup. Because after that, that little star painted on top of the federation’s logo will serve to remind every Furia Roja member that they are part of a ‘winning team’.

I know this theory may sound far-fetched, but I attribute a great deal of power to subconscious effects like this one. Think of it as you please.

Miguel is a very good player, but not as good as Dani Alves me thinks (though I don’t think Miguel has shown his true form at Valencia yet).

I don’t rate Ricardo in the top 10 goalies in the world.

Ronaldo and Deco are world class. Maniche is excellent but not a world beater (he wouldn’t get into any of the midfielders mentioned above, I don’t think; with the possible exception of Germany, although I reckon Frings, Ballack and Borowski are at least as good), Moutinho… not sure whether he’s world class or not, yet.

Owen’s injury problems are more severe than Ronaldo’s (at least there are far more setbacks), and I didn’t feel he deserved the special treatment alongside the great Brazilian. The way I see it, England are going to play half of their internationals every year without Owen available for selection.

The article is flawed, however. I don’t deny that. It’s very difficult to write an entirely comprehensive analysis within the bounds of 2000 words, when there are so many issues at hand. I merely wanted to touch the surface.