Spain also has its own “golden generation” of players – Fernando Torres, David Villa and Andres Iniesta are admired across Europe, while Xabi Alonso of Liverpool and Cesc Fabregas and Jos?ntonio Reyes of Arsenal have enhanced their reputations. It’s felt that Spanish players now have a winning, rather than fatalistic mentality. Football aside, Spain has made remarkable cultural progress since the shackles of fascism were unlocked by Franco’s death in 1975. It staged a wonderful Olympics in 1992, and in design, film-making, fashion and architecture it has such world-class players as Javier Mariscal, Pedro Almodovar, Adolfo Dominguez and Elias Torres. There’s a vibrancy reminiscent of the Swinging Sixties that England surfed to World Cup victory on in 1966. Spain also has some of the best restaurants in Europe, and certainly its most innovative chef in Ferran Adria. As English businesses have found out, and the British Airports Authority is currently discovering, Spanish financial institutions now have global clout.
The days of clumsy waiters, productivity-defying siestas and ma?-minded workers are gone. A World Cup win is overdue for Spain, and national self-confidence is high. Besides, the French and Italian teams are too old, Germany’s is too young, and ours is too hyped But wait till after the final before booking.. For England this could be David Beckham’s World Cup He’s a special talent, he’s on top of his game and he’s fit. In previous tournaments he’s not done as well as he could have, for various reasons, and he’s aware of that. Maybe things have conspired against him in the past but now, with the age he is and with the focus so much on Wayne Rooney, I believe it could be his time
Make no mistake, Beckham is a special talent And one who works incredibly hard.
No one should fault his work-rate and his delivery is exceptional And that will be crucial to England’s goal threat. He always puts in his shift and you cannot always say that about other fantastic players of his talent I just have a sneaky feeling he will be England’s main man.. The BBC’s Match of the Day will show Premier League highlights until at least 2010 after they were successful with a £171.6m bid for the rights. The deal will see the BBC show highlights for the three seasons from 2007-08 to 2009-10 on Saturday evenings, Sunday mornings and some other evenings.
The Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said: “The BBC and Match of the Day have been almost synonymous with our great competition since it started and this deal allows fans to continue to access their high quality coverage through to the next decade.