Euro 2012: Why Spain Is Not the Best National Side of All Time

For starters, let's congratulate Spain on their victory in Euro 2012.  There can be no denying that they earned the title with their play over the past month.

For that matter, let me reiterate my stance on their Euro 2008 title and their 2010 World Cup victory, which is that they were deserving champions in both.

Now, let's talk about this side's place in the history of international football.

There has been a lot of emotional talk over the past few hours that is, understandably, laced with appreciation for the greatness that we have been privileged enough to witness. In most accounts of these accounts of the match, most proclaimed this Spanish side to be the greatest in the history of football.

I hate to be the one to rain on this parade, but I will: This showering of compliments is merely an example of the "prisoner of the moment" mentality.

Argument for Spain

Before we outline why this is true, let's look at the facts that are being used as proof that Spain has just become the greatest national team in history.

Spain has won three tournaments in the span of four years: Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.  They broke the record for goals conceded in a European championship by conceding one when the previous record was three. They have not allowed a goal in the knockout stages of a European championship or World Cup since losing at the 2006 World Cup.

There is no denying these facts. In fact, they are impressive enough to make the rationale behind the proclamations of their historical superiority seem almost irrefutable.

However, let's take a moment to attempt to refute them.

Performances in the Three Tournaments

There is no doubt that Spain thrilled us with a 4-0 victory over Italy in today's final. However, I contend that the scoreline flattered to deceive.

Through the start of the match, the Spaniards did indeed look the better side and on their way to a tournament victory. On the other hand, though, Italy had most of the ball through the first half and did create chances.

It was two injuries that really killed Italy and handed Spain the best chances to win: defensive rock Giorgio Chiellini was in too much pain to defend the first goal and came off after 21 minutes and Thiago Motta came on as the last substitute only to be stretchered off four minutes later, reducing his side to 10 men.

Again, in no way am I saying that Spain would have lost this match had the injuries not occurred. I do think, though, that the score would have been much more respectable.

Combine this with the 1-1 draw Spain had with Italy in the first match, the victory over Croatia that came only after the Croats were forced to open up due to circumstances in another match, and the 0-0 penalty victory over Portugal, and you get a portrait of a team that hardly dominated their way to the title.

And does anyone else remember the opening match loss Spain suffered to Switzerland in South Africa?

Or the eked out victories over Paraguay and the Netherlands in the knockout stages?

Again, their victories showed great character and resolve, but it was in no way domination.

Euro 2008 was the closest Spain came to dominating a tournament, and even there they had to defeat Italy in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 two hours.

Three Consecutive Tournaments?

This notion that Spain has won their "unprecedented third consecutive major title" has been thrown around for the past month. I have a few problems with that statement.

What do you call the FIFA Confederations Cup? Did they not lose in that tournament in 2009, 2-0, fielding their best side to the United States of America in the semifinals? I'm sorry, but to me, this counts, making this their second consecutive major title.

Now, let's say for the sake of argument that I do accept the notion that the Confederations Cup is not a major tournament and Spain has won their third consecutive, a feat no team before them has accomplished.

Well, in that case, past teams are being judged unfairly by tournaments that were either not "major tournaments" or were poorly organized.

Look at the old South American Championship, which preceded today's Copa America. Back in those days, the tournament did not have the same glamour the European Championships have today.

Just look at the 1959 South American Championship, where Brazil entered a team only from the state of Pernambuco and finished runners-up despite never actually losing a match.

That does not sound like a major tournament to me.

Hence, three consecutive major tournaments meant three consecutive World Cups, meaning eight years that almost guaranteed you had a different set of players.

Different Set of Players

Between the Euro 2008 and Euro 2012 finals, about half of Spain's team changed.

Yes, half.

That is, five players went from starters in 2008 to not being available for 2012.

While this shows the depth of the Spanish academies, this says to me that these were different teams. Hence, how can that accomplishment be attributed to this team?

Competition

Don't get me wrong with the title of this: I'm not saying Spain had no competition on the way to these three trophies.

No, all I am saying is that in this tournament, every team they competed against had glaring flaws.

The Italians had that lack of depth in the back. The Portuguese had that trouble in front of goal and that over-reliance on Ronaldo. The Croats were just slightly weaker in the back than they could handle. The French and the Irish...were the French and the Irish.

The most disappointing thing about the competition on this run, though, is that Spain has not had that big threat of a capable home nation. In fact, along the way, absolutely none of the home nations got out of their respective groups.

Obviously, none of this is Spain's fault. They have beaten most everyone who was put in front of them.

Still, one would have liked the best team ever to have beaten another great team in hostile territory.

Alternative

The fact is, Spain are one of the greatest sides in the history of football, and I am in no way arguing against that.

Hence, as you probably gathered, I have an alternative choice as the greatest national team of all time that puts Spain second in my book.

That team is Brazil from 1958-62

The Brazilians won both the 1958 World Cup and the 1962 World Cup. Between them, as I stated above, they sent a team only from the state of Pernambuco to the South American Championships. Still, that team finished runners-up without losing a match.

In their 12 World Cup matches, Brazil had no losses, two draws and two matches where they only won by one goal. In all, they outscored their oppositions 30-9.

Their lineup for the two finals differed by only three players, one of which was an injured Pele (who I've heard was an OK player).

They defeated hosts Sweden 5-2 in the 1958 final and hosts Chile 4-2 in the 1962 semifinal. Additionally, they came up against players like Just Fontaine and Bobby Moore.

In short, 1958-62 Brazil played amazing football, dominated their opposition and won consecutive World Cups in hostile territory.

There is no doubt 2008-12 Spain is one of the greatest national teams in the history of football.

However, with this victory today, they only got to second best.

A 2014 World Cup title in Brazil, though, and Spain remove all doubt of their top place in history.

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