Spain Face Massive French Fixture
After surprisingly drawing 1-1 at home to Finland in their first fixture of the international period, Spain face an absolutely crucial fixture on Tuesday evening, when they travel to the Parc des Princes to face France.
It is unusual to see two such international heavyweights playing at this stage of a qualifying campaign, but France’s recent poor form has meant that they are no longer seeded first for the qualifying stages of tournaments. The French national team has been plagued by infighting and poor morale in recent years, and though they have been heading in the right direction of late, this match will act as a timely barometer for how great their recovery has been.
When a team has been has dominant as this Spanish one – and ‘dominant’ is the only word that could accurately describe the last five years of performances from the current European and World champions – then the general public await signs of chinks in their armour impatiently, and any such signs are proclaimed to be signs that the team is in decline. Thus, a series of ordinary performances have had critics proclaiming that Spain are in decline.
It seems rather too early to say this, and has been dismissed by the Spanish camp, but this match will indicate what sort of shape their team is in.
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