32 Teams in 32 Days: Spain

Each day between May 10 and the day before the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on June 11, FoxSoccer.com analyst Jamie Trecker will preview each of the 32 teams playing in South Africa and tell you everything you need to know about each nation represented at the world's greatest sporting event.

Country: Spain
Nickname: La Furia Roja (Red Fury)

Spain is one of the great faded powers of Europe: an empire that became an also-ran due to both its failure to modernize and an abiding belief in its own greatness. Despite having an immense swath of the world under its influence via language alone, Spain has had to play catch-up to the rest of the EU after a brutal civil war (1936-39) and struggles with unemployment and Basque separatists (called ETA, with stands for “Basque Homeland and Liberty”).

This is a real shame because Spain, such a lovely and exciting country (the cuisine is top notch, and so is the scenery and art world), is being hauled down by bad economic decisions that threaten to stifle what really is a great place.

As you would expect, soccer is the country's main sport, though Spain also excels in jai-alai, badminton, basketball, golf, handball and cycling. The country hosted the Olympics in the 1992 Barçelona games.

Unfortunately, while soccer has always been the nation's passion, when it actually comes to winning games, Spain has a track record of collapse. And by collapse we mean tragicomic. Case in point: Spain famously went on a 35-match undefeated run from 2007-2009 ... which was snapped ignominiously by the U.S. at last year's Confederations Cup. That stung. Spain hoped they'd gotten the monkey off their back by winning the 2008 Euro, but it seems defeat is always waiting when victory seems logical. It's psychological.

PAST WORLD CUP SUCCESS: None, and you'd think they would have in their previous 12 appearances, right? The Spanish are kinda weird in that that the closest they've come was 4th place in 1950. Maybe 13 times is lucky. In any case, they haven't missed a Cup since 1978.

REGIONAL SUCCESS: Spain is the reigning European champion. That was their second title, the first coming in 1964. They were runners-up in 1984.

LEAGUE OVERVIEW: La Liga is arguably the best league in Europe, running neck and neck with England's Premier League. Dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona, Spanish football has found global popularity.

MANAGER: Vicente del Bosque. Two-time European Cup winners with Real Madrid (as well as being a defensive stalwart as a player), del Bosque led Real through arguably its greatest period in modern times ... and then the club decided not to renew his contract. Not a smart move. Anyway, his record with Spain is fantastic: 23 wins and only one loss at the time of writing.

KEY PLAYERS: Keeper Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) may be the world's best. The back line of Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Gerard Pique (Barcelona) and Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) are pretty imposing. Xavi and Andres Iniesta (both Barcelona) are arguably the two best creators in the game, and this is one of the rare teams that would see Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) come off the bench. David Villa (Barcelona) and Fernando Torres (Liverpool) are two of the best forwards on the planet. Now, the caveats: Cesc, Xavi, Iniesta and Torres all have various degrees of injuries. Del Bosque is wagering they'll be fit. He better be right, or this team suddenly loses a lot of oomph.

FIFA RANKINGS: 2nd. Highest was 1st (2009), lowest was 25th (1998).

FIRST ROUND OPPONENTS: Chile, Honduras, Switzerland

HEAD TO HEAD AGAINST CHILE: Spain owns them, beating them six times in seven meetings. They last met at the Cup way back in 1950 at Rio, with Spain winning 2-0. More recently, Spain crushed Chile 3-0 in Villarreal in a 2008 friendly. Chile's best result was a 1-1 draw in Santiago back in 1981.

HEAD TO HEAD AGAINST HONDURAS: The Central Americans famously drew 1-1 with host Spain in 1982 at the World Cup. That's their only meeting.

HEAD TO HEAD AGAINST SWITZERLAND: Spain has played Switzerland 15 times over the years, and the Swiss haven't won yet. Most recently in World Cup play, Spain knocked the Swiss out in 1994, 3-0. That was also the most recent meeting; the Swiss aren't exactly an attractive friendly opponent, so they stopped all that in 1989.

HOW THEY QUALIFIED: They went 10-0-0, taking maximum points in a group with a couple of minnows, Bosnia & Herzegovinia, and Turkey.

PERCENTAGE CHANCE TO PROGRESS: 100%. C'mon. Switzerland?

TO WATCH: If the four key injured players can recover in time. If they can, this team could be special. If not ...

ROSTER

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Victor Valdes (Barcelona)

Defenders: Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Javier Martinez (Athletic Bilbao), David Silva (Valencia), Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona)

Forwards: Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Juanma Mata (Valencia), Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), David Villa (Barcelona)

TOMORROW'S TEAM: Brazil