THE OFFICIAL 23 PLAYERS LIST THAT MAKE UP THE SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM | WORLD CUP 2010

Blog source: Sp Ftball Sprts /
The SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM Selector & Coach, Vicente del Bosque, has handed in his final list of 23 players that will represent SPAIN in the upcoming FIFA WORLD CUP which kicks off in South Africa on the 11th of June. The Spanish Soccer Team selector had to leave out 7 players from the prelimary list of 30 that he handed in a couple of weeks back, to which he added in the press conference that it was a difficult thing to do.

The novelties are goalkeeper VICTOR VALDES ( FC Barcelona ), midfielder JAVI MARTINEZ ( At. Bilbao) & PEDRO ( FC Barcelona). There are 8 FC Barcelona - if you include now David Villa - in the Spanish World Cup squad, the team that has the most out of all the Spanish League Clubs.

Below is the full - & official list ( barring late injuries) - of 23 players that make the Spanish Soccer Squad:

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), José Manuel Reina (Liverpool), Víctor Valdés (Barcelona).

Defenders: Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Raúl Albiol (Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Álvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Carlos Marchena (Valencia).

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Xavi Hernández (Barcelona), Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona), Cesc Fábregas (Arsenal), Javi Martínez (At.Bilbao).

Forwards: Jesús Navas (Sevilla), David Silva (Valencia), Juan Manuel Mata (Valencia), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), David Villa (Barcelona), Pedro Rodríguez (Barcelona), Fernando Llorente (At. Bilbao).

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SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM | FERNANDO TORRES TRAINING HARD

Source: SFS /
As the Spanish League – Liga – season soon will come to an end, the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup takes things over with Spanish Football Sports commencing its own Word Cup build up.

The news is that Liverpool FC forward FERNANDO TORRES is up & running as he attempts to get over his knee operation & in being 100% fit for the Spanish National Football Team. As we can see in the picture Torres is currently training 6 hours a day with a mix of exercises in order to strengthen his knee. He is at the Celta of Vigo Club installations under the supervision of Club doctor Juan José García Cota who is also the doctor of the Spanish National Team.

Fernando Torres was examined in the weekend by Spanish Team doctors & things looked well. No one is guaranteeing that he will make it 100% for Spain´s first game on the 16th of June, but everyone is optimistic & Fernando Torres is working hard to make it on time. Tweet

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SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL-SOCCER TEAM | PRELIMINARY LIST OF 30 PLAYERS FOR THE FIFA WORLD CUP 2010

Source: SFS /
Spanish National Football Team Selector & Coach Vicente Del Bosque has handed in his preliminary list of 30 players for the upcoming South African FIFA World Cup. The novelty is the call up of 5 new players: Atletico de Madrid young Goalkeeper De Gea, FC Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes, Osasuna defender Cesar Azpilicueta, Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez & FC Barcelona forward Pedro. Names back in the running to be finally selected are Cazorla from Villareal & Llorente of At.Bilbao.

From these 30 names the final list of 23 players will be handed in & announced on the 20th of May, that is, 7 players will be cut from the final Spanish World Cup Team. Selector Del Bosque does have until the 1st of June to make changes if there are problems or injuries with the already said 23 players chosen on the 12th of May.

Coach Del Bosque now has 10 days to unite the squad , train & decide which players he wants to finally take with him to South Africa.

Here are the names of the 30 players:

Goalkeeprs
Iker Casillas Fernández (Real Madrid CF)
David De Gea Quintana (Club Atlético de Madrid, SAD)
Diego López Rodríguez (Villareal CF SAD)
José Manuel Reina Páez (Liverpool)
Víctor Valdés Arribas (FC Barcelona)

Defenders
Raúl Albiol Tortajada (Real Madrid CF)
Alvaro Arbeloa Coca (Real Madrid CF)
César Azpilicueta Tanco (Club Atlético Osasuna)
Joan Capdevila Méndez (Villarreal CF, SAD)
Carlos Marchena López (Valencia CF, SAD)
Gerard Pique Bernabéu (FC Barcelona)
Carles Puyol Saforcada (FC Barcelona)
Sergio Ramos García (Real Madrid)

Midfielders
Xabier Alonso Olano (Real Madrid CF)
Sergio Busquets Burgos (FC Barcelona)
Francesc “Cesc” Fabregas Soler (Arsenal FC)
Andrés Iniesta Lujan (FC Barcelona)
Javier Martínez Aguinaga (Athletic Club)
Marcos Antonio Senna Da Silva (Villarreal CF, SAD)
David Jiménez Silva (Valencia CF, SAD)
Xavier Hernández Creus (FC Barcelona)

Forwards
Santiago Cazorla González (Villarreal CF, SAD)
Jesús Navas González (Sevilla FC SAD)
Juan Manuel Mata García (Valencia CF, SAD)
Pedro Rodríguez Ledesma (FC Barcelona)
Daniel González Güiza (Fenerbache SK)
Fernando Llorente Torres (Athletic Club)
Alvaro Negredo Sánchez (Sevilla FC SAD)
Fernando Torres Sanz (Liverpool FC)
David Villa Sánchez (Valencia CF, SAD) Tweet

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FC BARCELONA: VICTOR VALDES KNOCKING ON THE SPANISH NATIONAL TEAM DOOR (BONUS: FC BARCELONA TEAM PHOTO 2010)

Source: Sp Football Sports Blog /
FC BARCELONA goalkeepr VICTOR VALDES is at his best level – only 19 times this season has the ball found a way past him to go into the net & 17 times ( 27 if we count all other competitions outside the Spanish League) he has finished a game without a single goal against his name. This “sweet” period of form which has been maintained throughout the last couple of seasons, may soon find its “sweet” reward.



Spanish National Team Selector & Coach, Vicente del Bosque, was a spectator in Saturdays big Real Madrid – FC Barcelona clash & saw first hand the fine goalkeeping moment of Valdes. The Barça keeper was immense on Saturday, stopping shots for Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo & an almost certain goal from Van de Vaart in the 2ºhalf that certified his great performance.

The third goalkeeping position in the Spanish National Team is currently up for grabs as the habitual “holders”, Diego Lopez from Villareal &/or Andres Palop of Sevilla Fc, have been inconsistent ( although brilliant at times) & thus cannot counter the current “arguments” & statistics that Victor Valdes puts on the table.

The FC Barcelona keeper may well find that if he maintains his current form, the Spanish National Team Selector could call him up for South African World Cup duty for the third goalkeeper spot along with the undisputed Nº1 National side goalie, Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) & Nº2 Pepe Reina (Liverpool FC).

Stay tuned, the final list of Spanish players to represent Spain in the upcoming World Cup is due to be announced in around 7-8 weeks time, but before this there is a International friendly match that could give us a hint of intentions.

By the way here is the FC BARCELONA TEAM PHOTO 2010 against Real Madrid last Saturday, for the SFS Blog readers & Barça fans. Tweet

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SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL SOCCER TEAM: REMAINS Nº1 ON THE FIFA RANKING

Source: Spanish Football Sports Blog /
FIFA has released its monthly World Rankings with SPAIN maintaining the Nº1 Nations position ahead of Brazil & Holland. A notable observation is the rise of Portugal in the standings to jump to the 4th position on the rankings table.


Here is the list of the Top 15 Nations:

1. SPAIN 1.602. pts.
2. Brazil 1.589.
3. Holland 1.261.
4. Portugal 1.214.
5. Italy 1.183.
6. Germany 1.157.
7. England 1.120.
8. France 1.077.
9. Argentina 1.075.
10. Croacia 1.051.
11. Greece 1.032.
12. Russia 1.009.
13. Chile 974.
14. Eygpt 967.
15. Serbia 950.

Taking advantage of this news piece, thought I share with you this VIDEO whipped up to warm up things for the upcoming World Cup in South Africa, & praise the Villa-Torres attacking duo that we all hope will give us plenty of joy:

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FOOTBALL FINANCE: SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL (SOCCER) TEAM WORTH 565 MILLION EUROS

Ever wondered how much money you would need to spend to buy the entire Spanish National Football (Soccer) Team?

According to the specialized Football Finance Portuguese online web “Futebol Finance” the Spanish National Football Team is worth 565M€, that is the “most expensive” & most valued of all the teams participating in this years South African World Cup Finals. The Brazilian National Team follows in second place, with France surprisingly in third position, as seen in the following Top 10 list:

1. Spain 565M€
2. Brazil 515M€,
3. France 450M€
4. England 440M€
5. Italia 400M€
6. Argentina 390M€
7. Portugal 340M€
8. Germany 305M€,
9. Holland 280M€
10. Serbia 185M€

Here is an observation. Real Madrid spent more or less around 300M€ pre-season for their current team; they could have just bought the Serbian, Dutch or German team! :0)

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INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY:FRANCE 0 - SPAIN 2 (SEE VIDEO GOALS)

A 0-2 result with SPAIN defeating the home side FRANCE in tonight’s International Friendly, a victory on French soil which the Spanish have had to wait for 42 years. But Spain has never had a team like they have today with World Stars in every position, lots of class, talent & the camaraderie. In fact, the FIFA World Nº1 ranked side not only showed why they have that position, they also made themselves a bit more favourites for the upcoming World Cup Finals in South Africa.

Here is a photo of the Spanish starting line-up with Cesc Fabregas in the intial 11 with Xavi on the bench so as to not risk further his leg complaints from a knock from his last "Liga" game.

Spain had two versions tonight: the 1ºst half ( pictured above) & the 2ºhalf with various changes as expected to give players a run. It was the first version which was the best with a magnificent Iniesta in control, David Villa dangerous as ever, the solid defence & every member of the team tuning the machine. It was all ball control & an overpowering midfield that did the damage, although France were dangerously competative in the early part of the game.

The first goal came in the 20th min via DAVID VILLA, after an Iniesta & Silva combination that put the Valencia CF player in front of the French goalie to score. Watch the below VIDEO:



From here Spain dominated the game & after several warnings the 2º goal came from SERGIO RAMOS in the 46th min after his shot took a deflection from a French defender. Watch the below VIDEO:

The 2º half saw various changes on both sides throughtout the remaining 45 mins, with Spain bringing on Torres (Villa), Xavi (Cesc), Senna (Xabi Alonso), Albiol (Puyol), Navas (Iniesta) & Guiza (Silva); while France changed its whole front-line from Ribery (Malouda), Cisse ( Anelka) & Henry (Govou). This had a discoordination effect within the Spanish team, & the lifting of spirits for France & their game with MALOUDA hitting the post with a header in the latter part of the match. But that was it, Spain considering the substitution imbalance, still managed to keep the "ship" steady & continued frustrating the French who kept running after the Spanish who controlled the ball.

In conclusion, an authoritative victory that turns the tide of historical defeats, it builds up even more confidence & cohesion with the Spanish team & sends a clear message out to other World Football Nations sides. The French one has to say are undergoing a difficult changing "of the guard" with players out of form, & a star like Thierry Henry sadly & terribly out of form & only a shadow of what he once was a few years back.

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SPAIN "HINTS" OF LINE- UP AGAINST FRANCE & REMAINS Nº1 ON FIFA RANKING

Spanish National Team Coach & Selector Vicente Del Bosque gave a "hint" in last nights training session of the possible starting line-up for tonights Friendly International game against France in Paris. The National Coach has taken notice Liverpool FC Coach Rafael Benitez solicitation to "look after" Fernando Torres who has just come out of a delicate injury, & the star striker could start from the bench. Also Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa may substitute long-time left-back veteran Capdevila who has "dipped" in form & Del Bosque may wish to "experiment changing Arbeloa to this flank.

While everything is pure speculation at this point, here is the suspected & rumoured starting line-up:
Casillas, Ramos, Puyol, Piqué, Arbeloa; Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Silva, Iniesta, Xavi; Villa

Meanwhile, FIFA has just made public its monthly National Teams rankings with SPAIN remaining in the Nº1 spot. Here is the list of the Top 20:

1. (.1) Spain 1642 pts.
2. (.2) Brazil 1594.
3. (.3) Holland 1324.
4. (.4) Italy 1226.
5. (.6) Germany 1208.
6. (.5) Portugal 1201.
7. (.7) France 1171.
8. (.9) England 1109.
9. (.8) Argentina 1087.
10.(12) Greece 1074.
11.(11) Croatia 1050.
12.(13) Russia 1042.
13.(19) Serbia 980.
14.(16) Chile 971.
15.(17) México 968.
15.(18) Switzerland 968.
17.(10) Egypt 967.
18.(14) USA 954.
19.(21) Uruguay 936.
20.(20) Cameroon 888.

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SPANISH FOOTBALL: IKER CASILLAS ON RECORD BREAKING COURSE OF INTERNATIONAL GAMES

Ever wondered who (which player) has the most International Caps with the Spanish National Team? The answer is Andoni Zubizarreta, who was also goalkeeper of FC Barcelona.

The news is that another goalkeeper is on course (respecting injuries) to break records & almost certainly surpass the Zubizarreta milestone. Real Madrid player, current Spanish National goalkeeper & Captain IKER CASILLAS will equal tomorrow against France 2nd placed Raúl with a mark of 102 games, also current team-mate at Madrid.

Having said this, Casillas will most likely then set course to take over the all-time International games record seeing that the player is only 28 years of age & has plenty of years ahead of International games to protect the Spanish goal.

Top 15 all-time Spanish International Caps list:

1. Zubizarreta: 126 International games.
2. Raúl: 102
3. Iker Casillas: 101
4. Fernando Hierro: 89
5. Xavi Hernandez: 82
6. José Antonio Camacho: 81
7. Carles Puyol: 80
8. Gordillo: 75
9. Fernando Torres: 71
10. Emilio Butragueño: 69
11. Arconada: 68
12. Míchel: 66
13. Xabi Alonso: 65
14. Luis Enrique: 62
15. Miguel Angel Nadal: 62. Tweet

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SPAIN vs FRANCE INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY 2010: TEAM PHOTOS

Click here for ACTUAL GAME details & goal videos: http://spanishfootballsports.blogspot.com/2010/03/international-friendly-france-0-spain-2.html

SFS has lots of readers who continue to solicitate photos of players & teams for their collection & /or Social Media sites. With the excuse of the upcomong France vs Spain International Friendly tomorrow here are the lastest starting team line-up photos of the Spanish & French National Teams:

Note: Fernando Torres was injured when this last photo was taken. You will also notice that Cesc Fabregas is absent, although he is an important piece of the team.

Q: However, who will you take out of the above photo to give room for Torres & Fabregas?

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SPAIN WILL DEBUT AGAINST FRANCE WITH NEW "AWAY" OUTFIT

SPAIN with debut with its "new away outfit" tomorrow night against France in their International Friendly game in Paris. Below is the new shirt that goes recovers its darker traditional blue with "retro" elements from 1964 Euro Cup Champions side & the 1998 World Cup team.

What do you think? Like the new look?

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SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM: LIST OF 23 PLAYERS GIVEN FOR UPCOMING FRANCE FRIENDLY

Spanish National Football Coach & Selector, Vicente Del Bosque, has
announced his list of 23 called up players to represent SPAIN in the
upcoming Friendly International match against France at Paris next
Wednesday.

Each list calls the attention of the media as the South African World
Cup Finals are just months away, & lists of this nature may give hints
to what the National Team Selector has in mind for his final 23 names
to make up the Spanish team for the ultimate Football event.

Here is today’s list of 23 players that make up the Spanish National
Team:

Real Madrid: Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Albiol, Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso
Barcelona: Piqué, Puyol, Busquets, Xavi & Iniesta.
Valencia: Marchena, Silva, Mata & Villa.
Villarreal: Diego López, Capdevila & Senna.
Sevilla: Navas & Negredo.
Liverpool: Reina & Torres.
Arsenal: Cesc Fábregas.
Fenerbahce: Güiza. Tweet

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SPAIN BEGINS ROAD TO EURO 2012 AGAINST LIECHTENSTEIN & ENDS WITH SCOTLAND

SPAIN begins its long road towards the European Nations Cup final
in 2012 on the 3rd of September against Liechtenstein playing away.
Spain is in Group I along with, these 3 other nations, Lithuania,
Czech Rep & Scotland, who have all agreed to set their games
schedule this afternoon.

(photo: Spain celebrates a goal_as.com)

















Euro 2012 qualifying Match schedule:

- 03/09/2010 Liechtenstein-Spain
- 08/10/2010 Spain-Lithuania
- 12/10/2010 Scotland -Spain
- 25/03/2011 Spain – Czech Rep.
- 29/03/2011 Lithuania - Spain
- 06/09/2011 Spain -Liechtenstein
- 07/10/2011 Czech Rep - Spain
- 11/10/2011 Spain -Scotland Tweet

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EURO 2012: SPAIN "COMFORTABLE" IN GROUP I

The Group draw for the 2012 European Nations Football Cup to be
held jointly in Poland – Ukraine has been held earlier today. SPAIN,
the current European Champions, has been drawn in Group I & have
been matched up with the Czech Rep, Scotland, Lithuania &
Liechtenstein.


















A comfortble group in theory with opponents not in the upcoming
South Africa World Cup, plus Spain has defeated them in the past.
However, there is a clear need for humility, respect & total
concentration in order to secure Top spot in the Group & the direct
pass into the Finals. Tweet

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SFS FLASHBACKS: SPAIN vs KOREA WORLD CUP 2002

It´s the 2002 World Cup, SPAIN is playing KOREA & playing well with
eyes on the final stages. However, two controversial referee
decisions – disallowing two legitimate goals – sends Spain home
missing the semi-finals with a cruel sense of injustice once again.



This is an ever present situation that we hope will be absent in this
years 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa. Tweet

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FIFA TOP 10 RANKINGS DECEMBER 2009

FIFA has made official its National Team Ranking for December issuing
their table today. As advanced earlier in the week, SPAIN regains the
Nº1 spot from Brazil.

Here are the Top 10 places:

1. Spain 1622 pts
2. Brazil 1592
3. Holland 1279
4. Italy 1215
5. Portugal 1181
6. Germany 1170
7. France 1122
8. Argentina 1085
9. England 1063
10. Croatia 1050

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AUSTRIA 1 - SPAIN 5: VIDEO OF GOALS

Always a risk "YouTube" could take the video down...enjoy while
that does not happen... Tweet

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INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY 2009: AUSTRIA 1 - SPAIN 5

SPAIN ended its last International Football game for 2009 with a
convincing 1-5 victory over AUSTRIA in Vienna tonight. The Austrians
started with aggression & surprised a "cold" Spain in the 6th min
when JANTSCHER scored for the home team.
























This awoken the "red beast" as Spain turned on the machine with Xavi,
Iniesta, Silva, Villa & CESC FABREGAS taking over the ball & equalizing
via the later in the 9th min. From here a Spanish "whitewash" that
began with a DAVID VILLA goal in the 19th to take Spain ahead into the
lead.

The Spanish domination was so overwhelming that it frustrated the
Austrian players with their only answer being strong & dangerous play.
So much so, that PEHLIVAN was given a direct RED CARD after a
terribe late tackle on Busquests that left Austria from the 26th min
onward with 10 men on the field

With this advantage Spain was unstoppable & DAVID VILLA scored

his second goal in the 44th min.

Spain in the 2ºnd half gave its substitutes a run (Guiza, P.Hernandez,
Negredo, Jesus Navas, Reina & Iraola) & continued where they left

off.



















GUIZA scored in the 56th min & then PABLO HERNANDEZ followed

with Spain´s fifth in the 58th min. Spain had more chances but took the

foot off the accelerator as time move towards the 90 minutes.

Excellent & convincing victory for the current FIFA Nº1 Ranked Nations
Team.

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FIFA WORLD RANKING: SPAIN REGAINS Nº1 SPOT

FIFA will hand in its December 2009 Football rankings in a few days,
but until then we can advance that SPAIN will regain the Nº1 Nation
position after defeating Argentina 2-1 last Saturday.
















Spain overtakes Brazil who is the only country in which Spain hasn´t
played or defeated, being a World Champion. Spain has defeated
Italy, Germany, Argentina, England & France. Although Uruguay is
the other nation, Spain has won them in a their last friendly.

It seems destiny is preparing a meeting between Spain & Brazil in
the 2010 World Cup Finals competition. Tweet

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INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY 2009: SPAIN 2 - ARGENTINA 1

The Spanish Football Federation celebrated its 100th Anniversary
with a 2-1 victory over ARGENTINA in a Friendly International that
was everything except friendly.
























SPAIN deserved to win even if in the 2ºnd half their domination fell
to a more concentrated & determined Argentine team. The 1ºst half
was all Spain, with XAVI ALONSO scoring in the 16th min after a
magical build up. However, the 2ºhalf saw Argentina go all out &
equalized via a penalty thanks to MESSI in the 61st min.

But Spain again took control & in the 86th min XAVI ALONSO again
scored with a penalty to give his country a deserved victory.

Excellent game & Spain takes the FIFA Nº1 ranking spot again, or that
is what SFS understands Tweet

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