Spain were dumped out of the World Cup at the group stage two years ago, although La Roja remain a major force in European football. Despite what happened in Brazil two years ago, the bottom line is that Spain head to France this summer bidding to win a third successive European Championship.
While much of the personnel that landed Euro 2008 has changed, Vicente Del Bosque still has Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos operating in central defence, while Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta are part of a strong midfield unit.
Del Bosque’s team never recovered from that 5-1 mauling at the hands of the Netherlands at the 2014 World Cup, although it tells a similar story.
Namely that Spain do start these major tournaments slowly, having drawn 1-1 with Italy at Euro 2012 and they also lost to Switzerland in the 2010 World Cup opener before triumphing.
La Roja begin their 2016 European Championship campaign with a clash against Czech Republic, with Del Bosque hoping to restore confidence levels following that ill-fated trip to South America.
On paper, Spain remain one of the strongest European teams and the draw has been relatively kind to them. Turkey and Czech Republic are very much second-string European nations, even if Croatia are capable of causing a stir in Group D.
Qualifying was a walk in the park for the Spanish as they claimed nine wins from ten, with Manchester United keeper David de Gea ready to stake his claim between the sticks at the expense of the highly-experienced Iker Casillas.
However, there are issues when it comes to having a quality centre forward who slots into Spain’s style of play. In truth, they have never found a replacement for the mercurial David Villa who was a hotshot at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.
Diego Costa will be part of the Spanish squad although the Chelsea striker has never really flourished in the centre forward role for the men in red, with Del Bosque considering the possibility of fielding Cesc Fabregas or Pedro in that false number nine role instead.
Striking issues aside, the squad is strong and every player operates for a high-profile European club, with Del Bosque having steered Spain to two major tournament successes already.
Indeed, few expected the former Real Madrid coach to be at the helm eight years after replacing Luis Aragones, with the 65-year-old having won two Champions League titles with Los Merengues during a highly successful second spell at the Bernabeu.
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These knockout competitions often come down to the fine margins and the manager will hope that his players’ collective big-game experience from previous tournaments for both club and country will be enough to get them over the line here.
However, football is a cyclical business and perhaps Spain have had their turn and it’s time for the national team to start looking to the future. A rebuilding process of sorts has to start taking place as a new crop of players emerge to represent Spain at future tournaments.
