Viva la Furia Roja! (And photos of the Spanish team being silly.)

July 11th, 2010

Out with it: even if Spain doesn’t win the finals, I’ve become more of a fan of theirs than of Argentina. It isn’t too easy to admire Argentina after that dismal display against Germany, where they seemed to lack not just technique but also heart.

This may be horribly biased because Messi is my favorite, but I think one of the reasons Messi couldn’t shine within the Argentinian team is that they couldn’t give him enough to work with. In Barca, Messi had incredibly smart players like Xavi and Andres Iniesta working with him. Argentina doesn’t have midfielders of the same caliber, and for the most part they had trouble even getting the ball to him.

As for the Spanish national team, these past games have shown just how smart they were as a team. They’ve survived even though Fernando Torres has yet to remember how to play football (he has an excuse, he’s still not in top form after his injury). I’ve already said enough in praise of Villa and Casillas, but again, Xavi and Iniesta are among the world’s finest. Then there’s Ramos, who I don’t even want to like because he plays kind of dirty, but I love the guy’s fire and fighting spirit, especially after that match against Paraguay, in which he kept on playing after taking a boot to the face and getting a bloody head.

And for the sake of non-football fans who don’t care about all that *points up*, here are photos (unceremoniously snatched from the FIFA website) of the Spanish national team being their silly, lovable selves. :D

David Villa scored a goal and now he’s running away from Sex Cesc Fabregas, who looks like he really, really wants to hug him.

Lay off him, Cesc. He doesn't want you. (But I'm digging the synchronized legs.) :D

No joke–this was Carles Puyol (5) celebrating after Iker Casillas makes a save. Check out his celebratory face.

"I will punch you while you pray!" loljk he's still just celebrating in this one too.

And Puyol is not an isolated case. As a team, Spain tends to look rather aggressive when celebrating, as can be seen in the following pics.

Yes, this is what they look like when they're happy about something.

It's like they Volted in and they're about to launch a violent attack. I like how David Villa is sort of just riding on top of the pile.

You can't say this team lacks unity.

Aw, come on, guys, let Xavi into the group hug. He's your best player.

Basketball and other sports usually go with the chest-bump to celebrate small victories. Football makes no room for such subtlety. Behold the man-pile. Spain likes to do this–A LOT.

You can't kick an opponent in the shin but it's ok to bury an outstanding teammate in a heap of fellow teammates 5 or 6 layers high.

Xavi and Capdevila celebrating over the manpile. LOLOLOL I can't tell whose butt that is.

So that’s about it. I’m running a bit of a fever and have been getting sneezing fits, and I’ve got work to do before the match later anyway. Un abrazo! :3

Tags: españa, football, spain