Sports Reports Online

Looking into the players available to the Spanish National team, the current European Champions there are many star players and trophy winners. Here we consider the players that could get in the squad amongst the players who are certain to be in the team barring major injuries between now and June.

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (captain), Pepe Reina, Diego López, Andrés Palop, Victor Valdes

Defenders: Raúl Albiol, Álvaro Arbeloa, Joan Capdevila, Carlos Marchena, Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol (vice-captain), Sergio Ramos, Fernando Navarro

Midfielders: Marcos Senna, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Juan Mata, Jesús Navas, David Silva, Joaquin, Santi Cazorla, Albert Riera, Rubén de la Red

Forwards: David Villa, Dani Güiza, Álvaro Negredo, Fernando Torres, Fernando Llorente, Bojan Krkic

In the goalkeeping position there is only one man that will get the nod between the sticks. Iker Casillas of Real Madrid will continue his role as the captain and number one keeper at this World Cup. Alongside him we will most likely see Pepe Reina as his deputy and Villareal stopper Diego López as backup. Sevilla and Barcelona goalkeepers Andrés Palop and Victor Valdes will probably miss out this time round, with the former getting on in years and the latter not impressing anyone with recent perfomers.

In the right-full back role we will probably see Sergio Ramos take up this position with Alvaro Arbeloa providing back up to both full back positions. Joan Capdevilla will continue his first choice role at left back. Raúl Albiol and Carles Puyol will form the central pairing at the heart of the defence and will most likely be given cover by Valencia stopper Carlos Marchena and Barcelona’s Gerard Piqué. Fernando Navarro may miss out this time after not being called up recently.

In central midfield Spain have an abundance of talent. The midfield will probably consist of 4 midfielders in a diamond formation. I expect it to consist of Marcos Senna holding the play, Barcelona’s Xavi and Andres Iniesta alongside Cesc Fabregas. However David Silva will also be close to a place in the starting line up. Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets will provide defensive midfield cover with Valencia’s Juan Mata and Sevilla’s Jesús Navas offering a more attacking approach. The midfielders likely to miss out will be Valencia winger Joaquin, Villareal’s Santi Cazorla who has had a major injury recently, Liverpool’s Albert Riera and the strange case of Real Madrid’s Rubén de la Red who has suffered a bizarre injury. Real Madrid are trying to get out of paying his wages and break his contract.

This leaves 4 positions available upfront. There is no doubt that the first choice partnership leading the line will be the superb David Villa of Valencia and Liverpool’s hotshot striker Fernando Torres. Fenerbahce’s Dani Güiza and Sevilla’s Álvaro Negredo will most likely provide backup. The 2 strikers I see missing out are the Fernando Llorente and Barcelona’s young striker Bojan Krkic who is definitely one for the future.

So the final 23 man squad will probably look like this:

Goalkeepers: 1.Iker Casillas (captain), 23.Pepe Reina, 13.Diego López

Defenders: 15.Sergio Ramos, 16.Álvaro Arbeloa, 18.Gerard Piqué, 5.Carles Puyol (vice-captain), 4.Carlos Marchena, 2.Raúl Albiol, 3.Joan Capdevilla

Midfielders: 19.Marcos Senna, 14.Xabi Alonso, 12.Sergio Busquets, 10.Cesc Fabregas, 8.Xavi, 6.Andrés Iniesta, 22.Juan Mata, 20.Jesús Navas, 11.David Silva

Forwards: 7.David Villa, 17.Dani Güiza, 21.Álvaro Negredo, 9.Fernando Torres

First choice XI:

Iker Casillas
Sergio Ramos  Carles Puyol  Raul Albiol  Joan Capdevilla
Marcos Senna
Xavi  Cesc Fabregas  Andres Iniesta
David Villa  Fernando Torres