Dynasty in Focus: Spanish Football Team 2006-14 Quiz

Answer: Brazil

In their four games, Spain received only six yellow cards and no red cards. The 2006 World Cup in Germany marked only the second time that the award had been shared (the 1998 tournament in France saw England and France share it). Portugal won the award for most entertaining team. Colombia won the fair play award six years later, at the 2014 tournament in Brazil. Belgium failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup.

Answer: Poland

Spain won nine, drew one and lost two of their group games. The team's only losses came in a 3-2 defeat to Northern Ireland and a 2-0 defeat to Sweden. They also drew 1-1 against Iceland. Spain won every home game in qualification.

Greece had the best record of any team in qualification, acquiring 31 points in 12 games. Czech Republic had 29 points, winning a group that contained Germany. Croatia had 29 points as well, winning a group that boasted teams such as Russia and England. Poland won Group A with 28 points, a surprisingly low figure as the group included eight teams, meaning Poland played 14 games.

Answer: Xavi Hernandez

Only six players scored more goals than Villa in the entire qualification phase. The players in question were David Healy of Northern Ireland (13), Eduardo da Silva of Croatia (10), Euzebiusz Smolarek of Poland (9), Jon Dahl Tomasson of Denmark, Lukas Podolski of Poland and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal (8 each). Villa netted seven times.

Xavi scored four times for Spain during qualification for Euro 2008. Iniesta netted three times, Torres scored twice and Morientes scored just once. Alongside this, Sergio Ramos scored twice while Joan Capdevilla, Luis Garcia, Albert Riera and Raul Tamudo all scored once.

Answer: Patrick Kluivert

Villa became the eighth player to score a hat-trick at the European Championships (the first was Dieter Muller for Germany in 1976). Villa was the first player to score a hat-trick at the tournament since Kluivert did so in a 6-1 win for the Netherlands over Yugoslavia in the Euro 2000 quarter-finals. Spain won all three of their Euro 2008 group games, following their win over Russia with 2-1 wins over Sweden and Greece.

Answer: Dani Guiza

After a fairly dull game, Spain opened the shootout with a goal from David Villa, which was immediately answered by Fabio Grosso's equaliser. After Santi Cazorla made it 2-1, Daniele De Rossi missed for the Azzuri. Marcos Senna and Mauro Camoranesi made it 3-2 before Guiza and Antonio Di Natale both missed. Cesc Fabregas then scored the winner.

After their victory over Italy, Spain beat Russia again (they beat them 2-1 in the group stage), by winning 3-0 in their semi-final meeting. In the final against Germany, Torres scored the winner as Spain won 1-0. Spain became the first team to win all their group games at the Euros and then win the tournament, since France in 1984; also becoming the first team to go undefeated in the tournament since Germany in 1996.

Answer: Joao Saldanha

Spain became an utterly ruthless side under Del Bosque's stewardship, with the new manager lending Aragones' use of tiki-taka possession style football to dominate opponents. Spain won all ten of their World Cup qualifiers and on 9th June 2009, Spain defeated Azerbaijan 6-0 for Del Bosque's tenth straight win. This run stretched to 13 wins before a 2-0 loss in the semi-finals of the 2009 Confederations Cup to the USA.
Saldanha had held the record for 40 years, winning his first nine games with Brazil in 1969.

Answer: Gelson Fernandes

The 52nd minute goal by Fernandes was the only one in the game, stunning a worldwide audience. Derdiyok, Inler and Barnetta all started the game too. The loss was a huge shock to the system for Spain as it was only their second loss since 2006 and they had already been crowned champions in some corners of the press.

Nevertheless, Spain still topped the group after a 2-0 win over Honduras, courtesy of a David Vila brace, and a tough 2-1 win over Chile after Villa and Andres Iniesta got on the scoresheet. Spain ended up on six points, tied with Chile but ahead of them on goal difference to finish tp of their group.

Answer: Villa was offside

The game was one of the most hotly anticipated games of the Round of 16 at the tournament. While the Spaniards dominated possession, with 62% of the ball, the first hour of the game did not produce any clear-cut chances with Portugal's Hugo Almeida coming closest.

The second half saw an injection of fresh energy for the European Champions as the Portuguese began to tire. Fernando Llorente's entry into the game, combined with a decline in Portugal's attacking threat, saw the Spanish take control. Xavi made a superb pass to Villa who had his first shot saved but then proceeded to lift the rebound into the net. According to ESPN Axis, Villa was offside by 0.22m when Xavi made the pass. This controversy quickly died as other games in the Round of 16 such as Argentina vs Mexico and Germany vs England had much more infamous controversies.

Answer: Carles Puyol scored, Xavi Hernandez assisted

In the match at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa, Spain controlled possession for a majority of the game, with Germany relying mostly on counter-attack tactics to try and find a way into the game. Still, Spain had the better chances and in the 73rd minute, they won a corner. Xavi's corner was met by Puyol who headed the ball past German keeper Manuel Neuer. Spain then protected their lead until the final whistle.

For Spain, it was a third consecutive 1-0 win in the knockout stages of the 2010 World Cup (after Portugal in the Round of 16 and Paraguay in the quarter-finals). For Germany, it was a second consecutive World Cup that they had lost in the semi-finals of (after losing to Italy in the 2006 World Cup).

Answer: 1978

The 2010 final was the first final to contain two non-former champions since 1978 when Argentina faced the Netherlands in the final. Just like in 2010, the Oranje came out on the losing side in 1978, losing 3-1 to the Albiceleste. Before 2010, Spain's previous best result at a World Cup was a fourth place finish at the 1950 tournament. The Netherlands had two previous losses in the final, losing in 1974 against West Germany along with the aforementioned loss to Argentina in 1978.

The 2010 final on the surface looked like it could be a great game, but it was ultimately marred by poor play and even worse discipline. Referee Howard Webb issued 14 yellow cards in the game while Dutch defender John Heitinga was sent off in extra time. Another infamous moment was when Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong appeared to kick Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso in the chest, which somehow did not result in a red card. Andres Iniesta scored the winning goal in the 116th minute. Spain had completed the Euro/World Cup double. They were now immortal.

Answer: Antonio Di Natale

Spain's incredible defensive performance at the 2010 World Cup carried on at Euro 2012. The only goal Spain conceded came in their first game of the tournament, a 1-1 draw against Italy. Di Natale scored for the Azurri but Cesc Fabregas levelled it for the Spaniards. They then guaranteed their place in the quarter-finals by defeating the Republic of Ireland 4-0 and Croatia 1-0.

In the knockouts, a Xabi Alonso double sealed a 2-0 win over France before a goalless draw with Portugal in the semi-finals ended with a 4-2 win on penalties. Spain then proceeded to route Italy 4-0 in the final, with David Silva, Jordi Alba, Fernando Torres and Juan Mata netting for La Furia Roja.

Answer: German

Del Bosque, who had already had an impressive coaching career at club level, consolidated his legacy with his victories at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. He also became the first coach to win the European Championship, World Cup and
Champions League (he won the Champions League with Real Madrid in 2000 and 2002).

Del Bosque joined elite company with his international success, joining German Helmut Schon as the only managers to win the European Championship and World Cup. Schon won Euro 1972 and the 1974 World Cup with West Germany.

Answer: 10

It would be understandable that the Team of the Tournament would feature several Spain players, given the dominance that the team achieved during the Euro 2012 championship. In total, 10 Spanish players were named: Iker Casillas, Jordi Alba, Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, Xabi Alonso, Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas and David Silva. Iniesta was also awarded the UEFA Player of the Tournament award while Fernando Torres, who did not make the Team of the Tournament, won the Golden Boot.

The other players to be named to the Team of the Tournament squad were Manuel Neuer (Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Fabio Coentrao (Portugal), Pepe (Portugal), Steven Gerrard (England), Sami Khedira (Germany), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Daniele De Rossi (Italy), Mario Balotelli (Italy), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal).

Answer: 5

The five players to feature in each of the four finals were Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Fernando Torres. Casillas was captain in each final. Gerard Pique played in the latter three, as did Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodriguez. Xabi Alonso played in the first three. Cesc Fabregas started both Euro finals and was a substitute in the 2010 World Cup Final.

Some analysts have seen the 2013 Confederations Cup as the beginning of the end for Spain's era of dominance. The humiliating loss was Spain's first in 29 matches and, in many people's eyes, marked the emergence of a youthful, hungry Brazil side against an aging, weary Spain side that had seen better days.

Answer: 5

The first team to suffer this fate was Italy, who were eliminated from the 1950 tournament after winning the tournament in 1938. In their defence, no players from the 1938 squad featured in 1950. (The 1942 and 1946 editions of the World Cup were cancelled due to the Second World War). Brazil were the second victims, being eliminated with losses to Bulgaria and Hungary at the 1966 tournament after winning the two previous World Cups. France suffered the same fate in 2002 as did Italy in 2010. Spain became the third defending champion in the last four World Cups to be eliminated in the group stages.

Spain utterly crashed and burned at the 2014 World Cup. A 5-1 loss to the Netherlands in their first group game (after leading 1-0) was arguably the most shocking moment of the tournament (until the Brazil-Germany debacle at least). Any hopes that it was a one off were dashed when Chile beat the holders 2-0 to seal the elimination of the previously unshakable champions. Spain conceded more goals in their first two games at the 2014 World Cup than they conceded throughout the entirety of the 2008 European Championship, 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship combined.

As with any great team, eventually the great players became old and not so great anymore. The giants of 2006-14, such as Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol, Andres Iniesta, Fernando Torres and Iker Casillas, all aged and Spain have struggled in the immediate years since to replace the old guard. Del Bosque left the position of manager after an unceremonious Round of 16 exit at Euro 2016 to Italy, while experiments with Julen Lopetegui and Fernando Hierro as manager in the late 2010s have all failed.