Spain News Archives

Scenes from the streets of Barcelona as Spain celebrates the Euro 2008 final win over Germany:

Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve looked at the players, now it’s time to look at the managers involved at Euro 2008 and find out how they got on:

Read the rest of this entry »

For all the laudatory praise that will inevitably follow Spain’s 1-0 victory over Germany in the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, the culmination of the 2008 European Championship failed to live up to its consistently thrilling early stages.

Despite their clear failure to organise a defence befitting a truly great team, Spain are a competent collective force with an individual technical assurance that borders on comprehensive. The free-flowing touch and finesse of their midfield four (five, for the majority of the semi-final and the final) shielded a distinctly streaky back four, comprising of the Spanish Jamie Carragher (Carlos Puyol), a glorified athlete (Sergio Ramos) and the unconvincing Capdevila and Marchena.

Nevertheless, for a tournament as satisfying as Euro 2008, the task of finding a winning performance that transcended those of Russia and Holland in the preliminary stages was to inevitably prove futile, and we can only rejoice in an outcome that lofts a team possessing faith in the eternal maxims of swift passing and fluid movement above all others.

Read the rest of this entry »

Germany went down to a Torres goal at Vienna in the Euro 2008 final. Here are the highlights:

Read the rest of this entry »

Germany 0-1 Spain (Torres 33′)
Euro 2008 Final
Date - Sunday 29 June 2008
Venue - Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna
Kickoff - 20:45 CET, 19:45 UK, 14:45 EST

They had waited 44 long and painful years but Spain finally got their hands on their first piece of major silverware since 1964 as they gave Germany a football masterclass in Vienna to win Euro 2008.

Rarely will a 1-0 win have failed to reflect the victorious side’s superiority as Luis Aragones’s side passed and moved their way past Germany’s two dimensional challenge to be crowned European champions. Fernando Torres’ first-half strike proved the difference but the Spanish could, perhaps should have made their stylish triumph more empathic.

Read the rest of this entry »

Spain thrashed Russia to setup a final date with Germany. Here are the highlights:

Read the rest of this entry »

Russia 0-3 Spain (Xavi 50′, Guiza 73′, Silva 82′)
Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna
Thursday 26 June 2008
Euro 2008, Semi Final #2
Kickoff: 20:45 CET, 19:45 GMT, 14:45 EST

Russia v Spain - Match Preview / Report
Russia 0-3 Spain - Euro 2008 Semifinal - Video Highlights

Spain defeated Russia 3-0 to advance to the Finals against Germany.

Soccerlens provided live coverage of this event. Click below for the live blog.
Read the rest of this entry »

Russia 0-3 Spain (Xavi 50′, Guiza 73′, Silva 82′)
Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna
Thursday 26 June 2008
Euro 2008 Semi Final #2
Kickoff: 20:45 CET, 19:45 GMT, 14:45 EST

Russia v Spain - Live Blog
Russia 0-3 Spain - Euro 2008 Semifinal - Video Highlights

Spain stormed into the final of Euro 2008 with a three-goal demolition of Guus Hiddink’s Russia in Vienna and if Germany were watching Luis Aragones’s side from their team hotel, they’ll be acutely aware they have their work cut out on Sunday. An anaemic first-half in the Ernst-Happel Stadium quickly gave way to an enthralling display from the Spanish and once Xavi had given them a 50th-minute lead, they cut the Russians to ribbons to keep their dreams of winning their first major tournament since the European Championship in 1964 alive.

Read the rest of this entry »

Spain v Italy
Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna
Quarterfinals, Euro 2008
Sunday 22 June 2008
Kickoff: 20:45 CET, 14:45 EST

Two hours of turgid, negative football resulted in the inevitably dramatic penalty shoot-out that World Cup holders Italy appeared to have set out for from the outset in this damp squib of a quarter-final – but mercifully it was the more adventurous Spaniards that ended the night celebrating. Burying their incredible hoodoo of losing three past major shoot-outs on the date of June 22 (in 1986, 1996 and 2002) Spain held their nerve to triumph 4-2 on penalties - with Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas slotting home the decisive spot kick with aplomb.

This disappointing clash made France v Romania look like a thriller but we’ve still captured the highs and lows in our FULL-TIME FILE……

Read the rest of this entry »

23 million people watched as the Azzurri defied their critics and defeated the French 2-0 in a spectacular night in Zurich. Now they face two world-class strikers and a team which have produced some of the best form at the tournament, whereas the Italians have been pretty poor in their past matches.

But the question is: can the never-tiring midfield and counter-attacking tactics of Italy overturn the fast-paced passing game of the Spaniards and reach the semi-finals? I will assess their chances.

Read the rest of this entry »

16 matches gone, 15 more to go. After the agonisingly long qualification process, the tournament itself feels brutally short - then again, that’s probably what makes up most of the excitement at this level, the fact that every match is a final.

So how have the 16 teams performed so far? Let’s look at it group by group:

Read the rest of this entry »

Video highlights from Euro 2008’s 1st round of matches from Group D:

Read the rest of this entry »

Euro 2008 fixtures and results, all in one place. Bookmark and share away:

Read the rest of this entry »

As a Spain fan I approach every major international competition with a mixture of hope and despair. Hope because often Spain enters the tournament on a good run and with a squad full of talented players, despair because Spain usually goes out of the tournament by the quarterfinals or earlier.

In fact it has been 44 years since Spain won it’s only senior international title when a goal by Marcelino gave Spain the 1964 European championship in a victory over the then Soviet Union. And it has been 24 years since Spain last reached a final when they lost to a Michel Platini led France at Euro 1984.

Since that time Spain have won an Olympic title at the U-23 level and an U-20 World Cup and finished runner up in both competitions but they have not been able to translate that junior team success into senior level triumphs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Head to head records for Euro 2008’s Group D participants - Spain, Sweden, Russia, Greece.

Read the rest of this entry »

The start of Euro 2008 is only two days away, which means this is the worst time to get injured, or in Austria’s case, to get a little lazy.

Read the rest of this entry »

With a week to go before Euro 2008 starts, the 16 participants are busy with their final tune-ups before next weekend. Some teams look to be on firmer ground than others as they go through their final warm-up matches and training sessions before the real action begins.

Who’s looking good heading into next weekend, and who has a few things to worry about? Here’s a group-by-group rundown of the latest news.

Read the rest of this entry »

Four years ago, Dan Leo told me about a new ranking system. At least, it was new to me. Like most of us, I had grown accustomed to the monthly FIFA rankings. Those rankings were quoted by the media and other football commentators as the only source, and often, they seemed to create controversy. FIFA, the media, and controversy?

Read the rest of this entry »

Luis Aragones leads his men into the Finals looking to end 44 years of hurt, and on paper the Spanish team is certainly one to be feared. The departing manager has put together a fine side who improved steadily as qualification for the Euros progressed, winning eight of their last nine games to book their place in Austria and Switzerland with a game to spare.

Read the rest of this entry »

Looking at the world of football through the eyes of the press can give you a perverted and totally false view of what’s actually happening and on a broader scale what the world actually thinks.

So we turned to the world of football shirts - specifically, online retailers, and more specifically, a single online retailer who bribed us with a couple of free shirts (which reminds me - Simon, where are they? )

Jokes apart, the folks at Subside Sports have been kind enough to provide us with a list of the most popular shirts being sold for the upcoming Euro 2008 tournament (related: Euro 2008 kits).

Here’s the top 7:

Read the rest of this entry »

With just 2 weeks to go now the cream of Europe’s footballing nations are gearing up for the European Championships in Austria and Switzerland.

The fact none of the Home Nations have managed to qualify has put a dampener on the tournament for the majority of the United Kingdom’s population, but let us not get away from the fact that true football fans will still be tuning in for a feast of great action between June 7-29.

Sixteen countries divided into four groups will go head-to-head to become the pride of Europe for another four years as Greece, who stunned the football betting world in 2004, return to defend their crown.

Read the rest of this entry »

Group D at Euro 2008 sees Greece, the shock winners of four years ago, pitched in alongside perennial under-achievers Spain, middle of the road Sweden and a Russian side which took full advantage of England’s dismal qualification campaign to progress to Austria and Switzerland.

Read the rest of this entry »

Uefa’s Under-17 Championships have revealed many a burgeoning young talent to a wider audience in the last six years. It is the stage where Wayne Rooney (2002), Cesc Fabregas (2004), Nuri Sahin (2005), Toni Kroos (2006) and Bojan Krkic (2007) strutted their stuff and won the ‘Golden Boy’ award.

You have to wonder what happened to David Rodriguez after his 2003 performance, such is the mark of quality that goes with the recognition of being the best player on show. But who are this year’s likely lads ? Who cares which nation takes the trophy, we all want to know where the next generation of star names are going to come from!

From what I hear, he could come from an area of Liverpool called West Derby, via Madrid and Argentina and go by the name Gerry Brown (local translation), but we will have to wait and see. I’ve picked out eight names to keep an eye on for the duration of the event - May 4-16 in Antalya, Turkey.

Read the rest of this entry »

In recent seasons, we have witnessed (and continue to witness), slowly but surely, the elegant destruction of what we know as the ‘big’ teams. Spain, Italy, France, England, Scotland, Germany, Holland, Russia, Greece, and Turkey have all fallen to the inevitable rise of the ‘middle’ teams. Let’s review the movers and shakers:

Read the rest of this entry »

Can I begin with an apology? This is my first post on Soccerlens about La Liga and its turned in to a bit of a rant. Sorry.

You know that feeling of mild surprise you get when you look up from your newspaper and suddenly realise that the train you had been waiting for has arrived on time? Well, that’s kind of how it feels in Spain when the football authorities actually get something right.

Unfortunately, there have been no pleasant surprises in Spain ahead of this weekend’s match between Real Betis and FC Barcelona: a match that, in the time it has taken me to write this, has just been moved from Madrid to Seville.

When I started writing this an hour ago at three o’clock on Friday I had no idea where this Saturday’s game was going to be played.

Read the rest of this entry »

Euro 2008 promises to be massive - with or without England. Along with team beer and several exciting stars expected to leave a mark on the event, there’s also the small matter of football fans (if anyone forgets, this is what we had in Germany 2006).

I know a lot of bloggers will be covering Euro 2008, so this post is for them - while preparing Soccerlens for Euro 2008 coverage, I realised that there was no one place to get all the team flags (we already have the Euro 2008 kits, if anyone’s interested). Don’t know about you guys but I like to have images on my posts and flags / team crests are quite useful to have when you’re covering an event, even if some of them look the same (damned Europeans).

Alright then, here we go:

Read the rest of this entry »

Spain 1-0 Italy
Wednesday 26 March 2008, Elche, Spain

David Villa’s 78th minute strike helped Spain to a friendly win over Italy.

Full match report and video highlights here.
.
Read the rest of this entry »

In June, 16 of Europe’s best national sides will descend upon Austria and Switzerland for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, or as most people call it, Euro 2008. While many of the continent’s top teams will be on display, some of Europe’s - and the world’s - best will be as well, so even if your team isn’t in it, you still have plenty reason to watch.

With that in mind and before the tournament begins, we (as in I) have conjured up the juggernaut of juggernauts, an All-Star Euro 2008 Starting XI.

There are several players you won’t see on this list, like Francesco Totti, Fernando Torres, and others, but I compiled this list with one major rule - no more than two players from one country, for the sake of diversity. Keeping that rule in mind, I did try to include the best players, both promising youngsters and experienced stalwarts alike. So, while all of the names below are recognizable, you may not agree with all of the selections. Then again, you’re not supposed to.
.
Read the rest of this entry »

When last season the Spanish title race was pulled down to the wire with three teams in contention for the trophy going into the ultimate round of matches, there was a whisper of hope rippling across the nation and especially among the Spanish football commentators that the duopoly could be broken at last.

Real Madrid might have won their 30th La Liga trophy in history and FC Barcelona might have finished second level on points but Sevilla FC had finished third 5 points off the pace and Valencia CF had been in the title chase until the last weeks of the season in what had been one of the most exciting Spanish championship campaign in years.

Read the rest of this entry »

In today’s video roundup we look at yesterday’s friendlies.

Read the rest of this entry »