Perhaps no team over the last few years is better acquainted with the European Championships than Spain. A legendary dynasty began when David Villa’s golden boot-winning exploits led the Spanish to the Euro 2008 title over a decade ago, which saw them win the World Cup in 2010 and then retain their title at Euro 2012. There’s nothing quite like the atmosphere at a big Spain match in a major tournament, and there will even be games played in Seville this summer involving their home team. Can they recapture their old glory after crashing out in the last 16 in 2016? Here at NetBet, we have them priced at 15/2 to win the tournament outright, while a quarter-final elimination appears most likely at 7/4. They’re certainly expected to get out of the group stage, with elimination at the first hurdle a whopping 16/1 shot.
Key Players
They’re without legendary defender Sergio Ramos, who was surprisingly left out of the 26-man squad by boss Luis Enrique. The former Barcelona boss is clearly a winner, having picked up multiple league titles in Spain as a manager, not to mention his playing career, so fans will have to trust that he knows what he’s doing with his squad selection.
Speaking on the decision to remove Ramos, Enrique said: “I’ve not included Ramos because he’s not been able to play much this season, especially since January he’s not been fit enough, and at times not even training with the group at his club.
“It wasn’t easy, but I called him last night and we had a difficult and tough conversation. I feel bad as he’s a player who has always been at the top level and has a future with the national team. It’s a decision that I’ve taken for the good of the national team and the group as a whole.”
Ramos responded on Twitter, saying: “I’ve fought and worked with my body and soul to be 100 per-cent fit for Real Madrid and the national team but sometimes things don’t work out.
“It hurts me not to be able to help my teammates and not defend Spain.”
Should they manage to pull off something of an upset fourth tournament victory without their former captain involved, it would be the first time any nation has achieved the feat of winning four Euro championships. Until their defeat against Croatia in the third group game of the last Euros, Spain had lost a single one of their previous 14 matches in the final. They won all six in 2008, and again in 2012. They only won two in 2016, first losing to Croatia and then being eliminated by Italy, who they hammered 4-0 in the previous final. This time around, they certainly don’t have the depth of squad that they had all those years ago. Ferran Torres is a good option, but he’s not quite Villa or his namesake Fernando, both of whom were top strikers who put the fear of God into even the best defenders in the world.
David de Gea will be looking to come back from a devastating Europa League final performance with Manchester United, where he conceded 11 penalties in the shootout before missing his own to hand the title, and millions of pounds of prize money, to Villarreal. He looked like he was struggling for confidence and motivation, but that shouldn’t be a problem at international level, and if it is then Enrique has a very serious call to make. He has decent backup ‘keepers in Robert Sanchez of Brighton and Unai Simon of Athletic Club Bilbao, but he won’t feel under too much pressure for his position, which could affect things.
In terms of what Spain bring to the table, you’re looking at a side with players from around the country, as opposed to just top teams. In fact, for the first time ever at a major tournament, no representative from Real Madrid will be in the Spanish squad. Expect to see some sleek passing play, particularly against inferior opposition like Sweden. Slovakia and Poland will attempt to rough the Spanish up a bit more, but they’ll stick with their formation regardless of the team across from them.
Can Spain win Euro 2020? We’d be surprised, but they definitely aren’t out of the running. They’ll probably win their qualifying group which would set up a better draw, in theory, for the round of 16, and once we get to the knockout stage of the tournament, anything can happen.
Spain Euro 2020 Squad:
Goalkeepers: David de Gea, Robert Sanchez, Unai Simon
Defenders: Aymeric Laporte, Jose Gaya, Jordi Alba, Pau Torres, Eric Garcia, Diego Llorente, Cesar Azpilicueta
Midfielders: Marcos Llorente, Sergio Busquets, Rodri, Pedri, Thiago, Koke, Fabian
Forwards: Dani Olmo, Mikel Oyarzabal, Gerard Moreno, Alvaro Morata, Ferran Torres, Adama Traore, Pablo Sarabia
