With The Great Tournament less than a week away, the excitement is here and we are nearly finished with the World Cup team breakdowns. We turn our attention to the defending European champions, Spain.

OFFICIAL NAME: Real Federación Española de Fútbol



NICKNAME: La Furia Roja

FIFA CONFEDERATION: UEFA (Europe)

FIFA CODE: ESP

HOW THEY QUALIFIED: 1st place in Group 5 of WC Qualifying

WORLD CUP APPEARANCES (INCLUDING 2010): 13

BEST WC FINISH: 4th place, Brazil 1950

WORLD CUP RECORD (MP: Wins - Draws - Losses): 49: 22W - 12D - 15L

HEAD COACH: Vicente del Bosque

MOST CAPPED PLAYER (# of caps): Andoni Zubizarreta (126)

ALL-TIME GOAL SCORING LEADER (# of goals): Raúl (44)

BRIEF FOOTBALLING HISTORY:
Spain is the 2nd greatest footballing nation never to win a World Cup. Spain has one of the Top 3 leagues in the world, La Liga and continually produces great players. The 2-time European champions have severely underachieved on the World Cup stage. Spain has a European title and an Olympic Gold medal but no Jules Rimet trophy.

PLAYER TO WATCH:
Spain's player to watch has battled injuries over the past two years but when he is on the pitch his club and national teams are unbeatable. He is Andres Iniesta.
(Content © 2010 ZumaPress)
Andres Iniesta is arguably Barcelona's and Spain's most valuable player. His vision and dribbling ability are second to none. Iniesta has had some injury problems but his ability to breakdown defenders, pass the ball, and maintain possession are massively important to Spain's style. Iniesta is a championship player and his health and presence on the pitch will be vital if Spain are to make history.

OUTLOOK:
Spain are one of the heavy favorites and expectations are justifiably high. Spain's impressive record 15-win streak from 2006-2009 as part of a 35 match unbeaten streak has built those expectations. The 2010 WC Spanish side is possibly the best ever put together in Spanish football history. Getting past the quarterfinals for the first time won't be enough, this might be La Furia Roja's best chance to lift the trophy.

FINAL 23-MAN WC ROSTER:
Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Jose Reina (Liverpool), Victor Valdes (Barcelona)

Defenders: Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergi Busquets (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Javi Martinez (Athletic Bilbao), David Silva (Valencia), Xavi (Barcelona).

Forwards: Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), David Villa (Valencia), Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona), Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Juan Manuel Mata (Valencia).

WC GROUP SCHEDULE:
June 16 vs. Switzerland
June 21 vs. Honduras
June 25 vs. Chile

We finish the breakdowns of Group H and the World Cup with Switzerland.