The Underachievers Pt 2

While Holland always had a bit of downside on luck when trying to win a major tournament, Spain has always just plain not performed well in one. With La Liga invaded by world class balls busters such as Zidane and err ... Ronaldo, Spanish players have the luxury of playing against some of the best players in the world, unlike Scottish 'juara kampungs' such as Rangers and Celtic.

With a lineup boasting Joaquin, Reyes, Raul (when he is not moonlighting in a treating room), Puyol and Torres, one would expect Spain to be a frontrunner in any tournament. And they usually are, often lauded by football experts as having the guile and skill to bring it home. And they respond by losing to South Korea on penalties in the last World Cup. Okay, that was below the belt. After all, Morientes did have a perfectly good goal disallowed.

This year, their pool of talent is hardly dilluted. With Hierro finally retreating to a retirement home around the Reebok Stadium, Spain has a new look squad that breaths fire and pungent Spanish chilli. And if they can get Raul to start finding where the goal posts are and getting Puyol to trim that bloody ugly medieval afro of his, then maybe Spain can finally look to bringing something home for their fans.

But if they do fail sensationally again, at least they can now blame it on Beckham's publicity and how it wrecked the concentration of the Real players in the squad. Brilliant.

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