As the World Cup approached, however, it appeared Spain’s golden generation was getting ahead of themselves. Spain were unbeaten in 47 of 48 games leading up to the competition. They were right to do so.Ī 6-0 thrashing of Poland in a pre-tournament warm-up increased expectations on the team. Many leading sportsbooks had taken evaluation of Spain’s Euro 2008 and qualifying performances and placed them as the tournament’s favourite. To say expectations were high that Spain would win the World Cup 2010 would be an understatement. Suddenly, they were worldwide football superstars. Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, and David Silva became well-known outside of La Liga circles. While Villa was the star of qualifying, other players became household names as Spain’s results were a team performance.
His World Cup 2010 qualifying performances were one reason Barcelona splashed €40 million on him before the South Africa tournament kicked off. Long a highly regarded striker with Los Che, Villa showed he could score goals on an international level. David Villa, still a Valencia player, picked up right where he had left off at the Euro 2008 tournament. Wins over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Belgium, Estonia, and Armenia left Spain on top of Group 5 and sent them to South Africa as one of the favourites to land the World Cup trophy. Although there can be questions over the quality of opponents they faced off against, the simple result was that Spain had gone through five World Cup qualifying contenders and pretenders. Under Del Bosque, La Roja recorded 30 points from 10 games. Spain’s qualification to the World Cup started with a perfect qualifying campaign. Yet, that shadow wouldn’t leave a long-lasting effect on La Roja when World Cup qualifying began. It was the managerial change that cast a slight shadow over the national team. Rather, the manager contested he was pushed out of the national team position. In subsequent interviews, however, Aragones stated he didn’t want to leave. His feat was remarkable due to Spain’s 44-year trophy drought. Aragones stepped down from the manager’s post shortly after Euro 2008. In fact, the team were better under Del Bosque’s tutelage. Even with a new man in charge of the team, Vincente del Bosque, Spain lost little of their edge from the Euros 2008.
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