Spain FC Under Luis Aragonés, Spain struggled throughout the 2006 World Cup qualifying stage. Spain were in group 7 with Serbia & Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Belgium, Lithuania, and San Marino. Despite mixed results including five wins and draws, Spain qualified for a playoff spot with Slovakia. Spain qualified for the final tournament after defeating Slovakia 6-2 on aggregate. Many didn't know what to expect of Spain heading into Germany; despite almost failing to qualify, the Spanish side had many talented players. Spain were drawn into Group H with Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia. Spain won their opening game over Ukraine in a comfortable 4-0 result, with two goals from David Villa and one each for Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso. The first penalty of the tournament was awarded after Vladislav Vaschuk was sent off for pulling on Torres. Spain won their second game against Tunisia 3-1. A goal in the 8th minute through Jawhar Mnari put Tunisia ahead, but Spain scored through Raúl in the 71st min and Fernando Torres in the 76th min. Fernando Torres scored from the penalty spot in injury time to get his second goal in the game. Spain beat Saudi Arabia by 1-0 in Kaiserslautern on the 23 June. However Spain fell 3-1 in the second round by the more experienced France team, despite having led the game 1-0 after a penalty kick scored by David Villa. Spanish fans once again faced a premature exit and a performance below expectations. Spain and Brazil shared the 2006 FIFA Fair Play Award. Spain are the best national team in the world on the ranking boards. Raul was the highest scoring player in spain’s history in 1996-2006.

Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a parliamentary government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a with the eighth largest economy in the world based on nominal GDP. Modern humans entered the Iberian Peninsula more than 35,000 years ago. Waves of Invaders colonizers followed over the millennia, including the Celts, Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, and Visigoths. In 711, a Berber and Arab army (known collectively as moros , Moors, by the Spanish) invaded and conquered nearly the entire peninsula. During the next 750 years, independent Muslim states were established, and the entire area of Muslim control became known as Al-Andalus. Meanwhile the small Christian kingdoms in the north began the long and slow recovery of the peninsula by Christian forces, a process called the Reconquista , which was concluded in 1492 with the fall of Granada. Spain also had 1 of the best and strongest armies in the world a long time ago. They invaded a lot of countries like Argentina, Mexico, Peru and more! Spain is a really nice country but a lot of people does not know where is it. It is one of the most important countries in Europe, it is placed in the South western end of Europe and shares frontiers with Portugal and France. Atlantic Ocean, and Mediterranean Sea and Cantabric Sea bath its Coasts. This country is well known for its Sun, its wonderful cousine, its rich variety of wines, and the most important of all things: A cultural and historical background with centuries of different cultures with different religions which left a great amount of monuments and artistical works almost in every place of this interesting country. This mixture of cultures makes this country worth of visiting. Keep in mind one thing : the best thing in Spain is its people. Always friendly and they will make the effort to help you the best they can, cheerful and lovers of good food.

Spanish Pictures