England vs. Spain at Wembley - A Completely Holistic Preview
Tonight, the world will watch on as England face off Spain in a friendly here at Wembley, the Venue of Legends, as they call it. Even though it’s just a friendly, there’s apparently a lot at stake for both teams.
Spain will look to cement their place as the EURO 2012 favourites with an emphatic victory over the English side. To achieve this end, manager Vicente Del Bosque says he will be playing with his best squad, with the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Villa, Fabregas,
Casillas and Torres, who will be bursting with confidence following their recent successes in all competitions (let’s discount Torres from that generalization).
Spain have a point to prove on the pitch today. Having won only 4 of their last eight friendlies, they think they need to show that they have not faltered.
"It's true we are enjoying a good period of success in Spain but I wouldn't say the differences are that large." said Del Bosque in a diplomatic marvel of a statement that aimed to both humble and flatter the Spaniards.
The England team is already on the back-foot, with star-striker Wayne Rooney out with injury. The squad looks bleak as December rain, and it certainly doesn’t help that John Terry is currently undergoing investigation over an alleged racism attack on fellow
countryman, Anton Ferdinand. The fact that Terry might not be playing alongside them brings forth an air of uneasiness about the team as they look to face off against the European and World Champions tonight. It’s almost as bad as asking the hottest girl in
school to dance with you on prom night, without your two front teeth.
Frank Lampard will be the one leading England onto the green of Wembley. He deserved the armband, owing to what we could call a recent spurt back in form for Chelsea, although some may also credit his rise to captaincy to the aforementioned Terry-dilemma.
Many doubt that he’ll be able to bring his good form onto the pitch for his national side as has been the case in the past.
England manager, Fabio Capello, will be missing his son’s wedding in Italy as it clashes with tonight’s fixture and will want it to be worth the trouble.
"I will be close to my family with the mind," he said on Friday, in a rather subdued tone.
Many are questioning his decision to play Jagielka, who’s suffering from a fractured toe, while Terry will remain on the bench. He also intends to play Phil Jones in a central midfield position instead of central defence, where he usually plays for Manchester
United.
"I spoke with Sir Alex Ferguson," he said. "He was in my mind when I met him in Manchester recently. He said he could play there and of course you know last year he played in midfield,”
Apparently, he has a pretty big mind.
The difference between the two sides is most clearly evident in the following statistic: Between themselves, the named squad for England has won around 45 trophies in total over the course of each member’s career. Spain has won 135.
So statistically speaking, Spain’s squad tonight is exactly 3 times as good as England’s. That, combined with the fact that going easy on the losing side is a thing of the past and everybody’s out to score record-breaking victories for some reason this year,
probably spells disaster for the English squad tonight – with a capital D and an exclamation mark at the end. Two exclamation marks, Incisor-shaped please.