High hopes for Group H heavyweights Spain

Spanish football is riding the crest of a wave following Spain’s Euro 2008 victory and the record-breaking achievements of Barcelona in 2009, and La Roja are the favourites for the World Cup.

Having been drawn alongside Honduras, Chile and Switzerland in Group H, they will expect to make the last 16, where Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast are all potential opponents if they top their group.

Their best previous performance was a fourth-place finish in 1950 but in players like goalkeeper Iker Casillas, midfield magicians Xavi and Andres Iniesta and lethal strikers David Villa and Fernando Torres they possess the kind of quality that emerges only once in a generation.

Spain qualified with a flawless record, winning all 10 matches in their European qualifying group, but coach Vicente Del Bosque feels that will count for nothing when the tournament gets under way.

“We don’t know, destiny is impossible to predict,” he said.

“The key will be to prepare as well as we possibly can for the battle ahead, because we?ll come up against very, very strong opponents. This includes those teams who aren?t going into the finals among the favourites.”

Spain will go into the tournament at full strength, after Liverpool striker Torres showed he has regained his customary sharpness following knee surgery in April with a neatly taken goal in a 6-0 romp against Poland in Murcia on Tuesday.

“We can travel to South Africa in good spirits now,” Del Bosque said.

Honduras face a daunting task in just their second World Cup appearance — they went out in the first round in 1982.

Rafael Callejas, head of the country’s football federation, said the team ranked 38th in the world faced an intense battle to match the fitness levels of their opponents.

“We face very high-level teams in Spain, Switzerland and Chile,” he said. “Honduras must prepare itself very well.”

Fellow Hispanophones Chile, ranked 18th by FIFA, return to the World Cup after a 12-year absence.

Coached by enigmatic Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, Chile qualified behind Brazil in the South American zone and boast an exciting young generation of stars headed by Udinese forward Alexis Sanchez, Boca Juniors defender Gary Medel and Sporting Lisbon playmaker Matias Fernandez.

But they are sweating on the fitness of striker Humberto Suazo, who is likely to miss the opening two games through injury.

“I think that Spain are the toughest team in the group, no disrespect to the other sides,” said Chile winger Mark Gonzalez.

“To be honest, it’s going to be very hard to compete for first place but we’ll be looking to finish at least second and qualify for the next round. Obviously the games against Honduras and Switzerland will be crucial.”

Making up Group H are Switzerland, who reached the last 16 in 2006 before falling on penalties to Ukraine.

They overcame a shock 2-1 defeat to minnows Luxembourg to top their pool in European qualification.

The team, now coached by former Bayern Munich boss Ottmar Hitzfeld, features a healthy blend of youth and experience, combining talented youngsters Eren Derdiyok, Tranquillo Barnetta and goalkeeper Diego Benaglio with seasoned campaigners like skipper Alexander Frei and Congo-born striker Blaise N’Kufo.

Favourites: Spain

Fancied: Switzerland, Chile

Underdogs: Honduras