Are Spanish fans going to revert to type?

First of all I have to admit I am a big admirer of the Spanish national team.

Their style is closely based on that of Barca’s of course. They have won many foreign fans because their style is so easy on the eye.

Expectations

Expectations in Spain were high ahead of South Africa 2010, which is strange for the Spaniards ahead of a major tournament.

Spain’s participation in major tournaments was usually greeted by a sway of negativity and dread.

The Spanish fans had saw their team disappoint on so many occasions. They were considered perennial underachievers.

When Spain clinched the European title in 2008 a lot of those feelings were swept away and replaced by optimism and belief, two qualities that were at the back of the mind of Spanish fans pre-Euro 2008.

Favourites

There was justification for belief and optimism because their team have been simply unstoppable in recent years. Only the American’s had beaten le Seleccion since that European Championship victory. Today’s 1-0 defeat to Switzerland was a mighty shock but the big question is will the fans return to their old mentalities?

Group

Spain hasn’t been drawn in the hardest group but shocks can happen, just like today. Chile defeated Honduras 1-0 to go top of the group. Spain should defeat the Honduran’s with ease. However the Chilean’s will be a different proposition. The South American’s are no pushovers.

Spain should still get through the group and will still be expected to qualify from group H. The European champions have so much quality. They could pick a whole new eleven in the next game and still have a team capable of victory.

Killer Touch

Spain did everything but score against the Swiss and the result could prove just a slight blip. Spain had more than enough chances to defeat the Swiss. They just lacked the killer touch. It sounds like a strange thing to say about a team containing the likes of David Villa and substitute Fernando Torres but Spain missed a hatful of chances.

If Spain play like they did against Switzerland in their next game against Honduras then they are likely to take their chances and notch up a cricket score. This game seems like one of those freak results that sometimes happens at World Cup’s.

Resilient

Switzerland showed in qualifying they are no mugs and wily old Ottmar Hitzfeld got his tactics completely right against the European champions. Switzerland showed that a lot can be achieved by hard work and work rate.

The Swiss keeper Diego Benaglio was superb. He made some good stops and if it wasn’t for him and some poor finishing Spain might have been celebrating a victory rather than a defeat. Switzerland showed in their performance that they will be competing for qualification for the knockout stages but I don’t believe it will be at the Spaniards expense.

Strong

Spain has far too much quality in their squad not to qualify for the knockout stages. Vicente Del Bosque is likely to evaluate the performance and make changes. Spain started with a 4-5-1 formation against the Swiss.

I’m sure against the Honduran’s they will switch to a 4-4-2 with Liverpool’s Fernando Torres coming into the starting line-up. I can also see Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas starting against the Hondurans. I doubt the Spaniards will slip up again.

Optimism

Despite the opening game defeat I’m sure the majority of Spanish fans are still confident and believe that their side can go on and lift the World Cup next month. However I’m sure there are still some Spanish fans back home telling their friends, family and work colleagues ‘I told you we would choke’

Fortunately for Spanish football they are still in with a fantastic chance of lifting the trophy. One group game defeat doesn’t mean the end of the tournament for le Seleccion and I’m sure they will bounce back stronger for the lessons learnt from the Switzerland defeat.