All-Conquering Spain Face Struggle To Retain European Championship Crown

This is a golden age for Spanish football.

The success of their club sides in European club competitions is well-established... the former domination of Real Madrid now being matched, and maybe one day even surpassed, by the current all-conquering Barcelona team.

But it's on a national level where the country has finally fulfilled its potential.

Seemingly the great under-achievers on both the continental and world stage (along with Holland... and to some extent England) Spain are now dual reigning champions.

Head coach Vincente Del Bosque led his team to Euro 2008 success in Austria & Switzerland... followed by World Cup 2010 victory in South Africa.

Players like Casillas, Carles Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, David Villa and Fernando Torres form the basis of a Spanish XI which is justifiably viewed as the best on the planet. They sit at No.1 on the FIFA World Rankings.

Little surprise to see them trade as favourites for the forthcoming Euro 2012 finals, to be held in Poland & Ukraine this Summer.

But are Spain a good bet at 5/2 to win their third major tournament in a row?

That's the big concern for punters.

Great team. Yes. Good manager. Yes. Experienced. Yes.

This is a team, at first glance, which certainly ticks all the right boxes.

Big tournament wins by narrow margins

But look back to the 2008 Euro finals... Spain were narrow 4-2 winners on penalties over Italy in the QF's and only edged out Germany 1-0 in the final.

Spain's Euro 2008 triumph came following a tight 1-0 win over Germany

South Africa 2010... and Spain were rather laboured in the group stages and won each of their next four matches en route to the World Cup Trophy by the odd goal (recording consecutive 1-0 wins over Portugal, Paraguay, Germany and then Holland in extra time).

Ok... they won all those close matches, and deserve great credit for that, but neither tournament success can be described as an 'emphatic' victory.

The squad is also getting older (and is the new talent quite as good?) and one also has to question whether the hunger is still there... many of these players are now winners of their respective domestic leagues, the Champions League, European Championships and World Cup.

There's a fine line between winning and losing

Not much else to win is there? And we should never under-estimate the importance of motivation (or even complacency) in the modern game.

"The mental side to sport is frequently ignored, often dismissed." states noted sports betting expert, Keith Elliott.

Keith Elliott will give football betting tips for Euro 2012

"When placing bets (whatever the sport) punters should look beyond the mere form that's on the page in front of them and dig a little deeper... and with such fine margins separating success and failure these days, the mental aspect of sport is something which must be considered."

Also the more other countries get to see this team, the more they will work out how to play them. Don't think for a moment that whoever follows Fabio Capello in the England hotseat or Joachim Low or Bert van Marwijk or Laurent Blanc haven't begun to think how they will take on (and beat) the Spanish.

And, finally, look at the stats. No country has ever retained the European Championship title since the competition started in 1960 (and, for the record, no nation has ever won back-to-back World Cups during the same period). Defending a title in the modern game is a very difficult thing to do.

Going back to the initial question... will Spain win Euro 2012.

Well, they are certainly more than capable of winning in Poland and Ukraine. And they will take some stopping in the 16 team UEFA-sanctioned tournament.

However, at the price, and given the reasons above it's more likely that the fast-improving Germany (7/2) or the other great under-achievers, Holland (15/2), will offer more value when the action kicks off in Warsaw in June.

	Join Elliott's Premier Sports Betting
	3 Month Subscription	6 Month Subscription	12 Month Subscription
	£195.00	£345.00	£545.00