2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Spain The Champion s Story

Spain arrived at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ as reigning European champions, sporting a gaudy world ranking and undoubtedly one of the favorites to lift the trophy. Their quest began with a stutter, though, as they fell to Switzerland 1-0 in their opening match in Durban. To the relief of Spanish supporters everywhere, the ship was quickly righted with wins over Honduras and Chile and The Roja were safely through to the knockout stage. From there on, 1 proved to be the magic number as Spain defeated Portugal, Paraguay, Germany and The Netherlands, all by the score of 1-0. Led by a dominating defense, an All-World midfield and super strikers David Villa and Fernando Torres up front, Spain played beautiful, flowing unselfish football on their way to the title and established themselves as the top team in world football. This is their story.