La Selección Nueva

I find myself sitting at my computer tonight, watching the Spain-Bosnia game, which is absolutely meaningless, as Spain have already won the group with 9 wins out of 9 games, and Bosnia have already wrapped up second place, meaning they'll have a two-leg playoff with one of the other second-place finishers from Europe. So in reality, I'm more focused on the results coming in from right next door in Portugal where I find myself rooting for Malta, for the sole reason that I'd prefer not to see Cristiano Ronaldo at the world cup.

But despite the fact that I'm following the events in neighboring Portugal with greater intensity than I am the events of my adopted national team - Spain - the events of Portugal aren't unrelated to my Spanish predilections by any stretch of the imagination. Real Madrid, the new club for the new Ronaldo (and a new Ronaldo for the same club), have said that they stand to lose 90 million euros in marketing value if Portugal, and therefore Ronaldo, fail to make the world cup. It's not that I put any credibility in the financial estimates of the Real Madrid accountants - but even if they're off by 200%, that's still losing enough money that it would make me exceptionally happy.

In any case, Simao has just scored for Portugal to put them 2-0 up, so it's seeming quite unlikely that the Portuguese could blow that lead at home against European minnows Malta, and that'll do the job of putting them, and Ronaldo, the world cup. So while I'm ruing Madrid's good financial fortune, I got to think about why it was so important to them to have Ronaldo in the world cup. And as I was watching La Selección (the affectionate name the Spanish have for their national team) pass the ball around and just dominate the crap out of a pretty good Bosnian side, I realized that today's Selección has very little Real Madrid influence. (Since I began writing that last sentence, Bosnia have scored two goals in stoppage time to pull within three and the game has ended 5-2.)

But not only is la Selección not Real Madrid influenced, it's not even stereotypically Spanish influenced. When one takes the traditionally stereotype of Spain, the images are of Andalucia first, and second Madrid and the surrounding rural area. Cataluña, the Basque Country, and Galicia, are the nationalistic (used here in terms of desiring to be autonomous, rather than in reference to the nation state as a whole) regions which generate the most backlash from the rest of Spain.

But with Barcelona, the Catalan capital and generally leftist capital Spain, being the best club, not just in Spain, but in the world, it only makes sense that la Selección is comprised of a number of Barcelona talents. What aids Barcelona in this is that they have arguably the best youth academy in the world. Even the non-Spanish players coming out of the Barca youth academy are incredible. Lionel Messi and Jeffrén Suárez, for example. But Spanish, and Catalan players in particular, dominate the Barca youth academy products. The short elite list comprises, Xavi, Busquets, Fabregas, Puyol, and Piqué. Busquets is the exception in that if everyone is fit, he doesn't start for Spain. But with Puyol and Piqué anchoring the Spanish defense, and Xavi and Fabregas in the midfield, that's four core players of Catalan birth and Catalan training.

But let's look at the rest of the world's best midfield. The players: Andrés Iniesta, David Silva, Alberto Riera, Marcos Senna, Xabi Alonso, Juan Mata, and Santi Cazorla.

Iniesta, despite being from Castilla la Mancha (a large sparsely populated region outside of Madrid), is a Barca youth academy product and his combination play with Xavi prompted Wayne Rooney to dub him the best player in the world.

Silva is from the Canary Islands - not exactly what one thinks about when thinking of Spain - and plays with Valencia. It's not that this is un-Spanish; it's just not the quintessential Spain.

Riera is from the other set of islands - the Baleares - Mallorca to be more precise, and played in Barcelona with the other team - Espanyol - before moving to Liverpool.

Senna is a nationalized Brazilian.

Although Alonso now plays for Real Madrid, he went to the Real Sociedad youth academy (an all Basque affair), and is Basque by birth. That means he would be more Spanish in the eyes of Spaniards if he were Portuguese.

It's difficult to discount Mata's Spanishness. He was born in Castilla y León, although north enough to not be from anywhere near Madrid, and plays with Valencia.

Likewise, Cazorla was born in Asturias and plays with Villarreal.

So the heart and soul of the Spanish side, the part of the team which gets all the credit for the success, is quintessentially un-Madrid. The starting lineup at the European Championships last year was most commonly Senna, Xavi, Iniesta, and Silva. And the most likely introductions were Fabregas and Alonso.

The forward line, while not being as non-Spanish as the midfield, also has its elements of being non-Spanish. Villa, like Cazorla is Asturian. He plays with Valencia, however. Torres has more or less become the poster-boy of the national team. He's the most widely known player internationally, he scored the goal to win the European Championships, and, well, he's rather handsome. He's from a suburb of Madrid but grew up with the Atlético youth academy and is pretty anti-Real himself. Guiza is of gypsy descent, something not uncommon for European footballers but infrequently talked about. Finally, striking debutant as of today Negredo, is pretty Madrileño. He was born in Madrid and played some football for a Madrid-affiliated club in a lower division early in his career. Now he plays for Sevilla, the team from the Andalucian capital. Now THAT'S Spanish.

The defense also has its "Spanish" influence in Andalucian native Sergio Ramos and Salamancan born Alváro Arbeloa, both of whom play for Real Madrid now. But as I said before, the back line is anchored by the Catalan duo Piqué and Puyol. First string left-back Joan Capdevila was also born in Cataluña, as is evident by his first name, the most common name among Catalan men. Of course there are also Marchena (Andaluz) and Albiol (Valenciano), the latter of whom plays for Madrid now. But of course, there is Andoni Iraola as well, Basque born, the Bilbao-playing right back.

Yet of course, Iker Casillas, the (until today when Negredo made his debut) only remaining Madrid youth academy product, born in Madrid, played his entire career for Madrid is still the captain. At only 28 years of age, he's still in the early part of his career as a goalie, a position where players typically peak in their early 30s. This will permit Negredo or some other Madrileño, Madrid youth academy product to develop into the next Raul of Spanish football so that there is always that quintessentially Spanish player to lead the team.

Disclaimer: I do not believe that the real Spain is limited to Madrid, Andalucia and the surrounding countryside. What I am referring to when I discuss this typical image of Spain is both the stereotypical image from abroad, and the image the majority of Spaniards in these regions have of Spain itself.