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                                                 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup logo

After a record-breaking season by newly-crowned Treble champions, Barcelona, Spain headed into the FIFA Confederations Cup, a competition played the summer before the FIFA World Cup. This year, in 2009, it was in South Africa, the hosts of the World Cup in the succeeding year.

The mood amongst the Spanish people was exceptional, perhaps even stronger than when Spain went into the Euros a year earlier. Barcelona had become the new face of Spain, with many of their top players being the core of the nation’s midfield and defense. The Red Fury, as they are known, were the odds-on favorites to win the competition for all football fans alike. After all, with the country having won the Euros the previous summer and the reigning European club champions being Spanish, who could bet against them?

In the summer of 2008, with the European league seasons concluded, the newest edition of the UEFA European Championships took place in the co-host countries of Austria & Switzerland. Spain had just ended it’s league season with Real Madrid winning their 31st league title, and a disastrous Barcelona finishing 3rd, behind a stunningly good Villarreal. The country went into the tournament on a relative high, having topped their group in the Euro ‘08 qualifiers.

                                                      UEFA Euro 2008 logo

When Spain arrived in Austria, there were high hopes amongst their fans, but typically, other people remained skeptical. Spain had been drawn into Group D of the competition, alongside Russia, Sweden, and the defending champions, Greece.

For over 80 years now, España, or Spain, as it’s commonly known in English, has been viewed as a powerful football nation that has always produced some of the best players in the world. It boasts one of the best leagues in the world, La Liga, and always draws some of the biggest worldwide television audiences.

Yet, if you look at their FIFA World Cup pedigree, it doesn’t support the notion that Spain is one of the greatest nations in our sport. Contrary to club level, where rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona have had much success, domestically, continentally, and internationally, Spain have never delivered on the International stage.

                                                                Spain's badge prior to 2010

In this installment you get my thoughts on the US team, on Cup's biggest failures to date and how the Arsenal contingent has been faring thus far in what really has been a superlative tournament for entertainment value.

The Losers

USA
After witnessing 100 people crammed into a smallish bar in midwestern US, living and breathing every moment of the Ghana game, I can almost believe that a change is in the air as concerns the perception of soccer in the USA. Would you believe it, they cheered and booed every moment as if it were a local college basketball rivalry, and a few even cried when it was all set and done. OK, so they're new at this. Most of them cheered when Ghana scored the winner because they forgot that the direction of play had been switched for extra time, and it was difficult to see their elation turn into disbelief and heartbreak over what was in truth a fantastic and completely clean goal by Gyan. Most of them don't know the rules and saw phantom offsides and penalties.  But you could not deny that there was passion there, which is the only thing that really matters when you support football. I was sad to see a hard working, swashbuckling US soccer team crash out if only because now the attention over the world cup will be only half of what it was, at best. But I was glad for Ghana as they carried the hopes of not only a nation but an entire continent on their backs. Best of luck to them against Uruguay.  But if the US fans carry on like this I might even find it in my heart to cheer for US soccer in earnest. The apathy and ignorance for which I used to fault them seems to be dissipating.

Reading through Sport.es, I stumbled upon a somewhat funny caricature of Barcelona's Andrés Iniesta and Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos staring at the word "OCTAVOS", which basically means the Round of 16.

Iniesta asks Ramos why he's seemingly shivering at the sight of the giant "OCTAVOS".

Ramos responds by saying "because the word 'Round of 16' makes us Madridistas shudder..."