Savouring World Cup victory in Madrid

Over ten hours spent under the baking madrileño sun, gallons of Estrella beer spilt and vuvuzelas strewn all over the calles: the triumphant Spanish football team was welcomed home with a parade that spanned that capital city on Monday 12^th July 2010, a date sure to go down in the history of the country’s national sport. However, the ramifications of their World Cup win are sure to be felt long after the collective hangover has shifted.

Like much of Europe, Spain was plunged into recession in 2008 and was hit by unemployment rates of over 20%, with the construction and real estate industries affected worst of all. In May of this year though, the Banco de España announced that the GDP grew by 0.1% in the first quarter of 2010 and so Spain officially climbed out of the recession still affecting the world markets so fiercely; it is worth noting however that the country is by no means out of the woods completely as economic recovery is slow and employment is still difficult to find.

Looking for a scapegoat for la crisis, many Spanish citizens have turned to the opposition Partido Popular, which is calling for the general elections due to take place in March 2012 to be brought forward. Add to this image of Spain in turmoil the increasingly vocal nationalist movements from Catalonia and the Basque region and it is clear that national morale is at a low not felt for many years.

While it would be churlish to suggest the victorious World Cup campaign could act as an anaesthetic to Spain’s woes, the success of the Furia Roja has indeed provided a boost to national pride. In addition to the celebrations held in Madrid, Spanish fans were also seen celebrating throughout mainland Spain, but most surprisingly, in Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia. Of course these demonstrations of unity cannot be solely attributed to the sporting prowess of the team – four of the key players involved in the squad are Catalan and the majority of the players hail from FC Barcelona – but the jubilant scenes from across the Iberian peninsula seem to point towards a new, youthful and united, if not quite unified, national identity.

The football champions are just one example of the golden age of Spanish sport we are enjoying at present. Los españoles are also number one in Europe and the world for basketball, with star player Pau Gasol also a key figure in the NBA (National Basketball Association of North America). Spanish individuals dominate the sporting world equally: Rafael Nadal is currently ranked world number one tennis player; Fernando Alonso frequently features within the top ten in Formula One; Alberto Contador is the first Spaniard to win all three Grand Tours of road cycling and Jorge Lorenzo is looking to be the new king of MotoGP. These are just a few examples of a new Spanish sporting legacy – and they’re all under 30. Could there then be a link between sporting triumph and the younger generation’s national pride? Sport has always been a central feature of Spanish culture, but this new breed of successful sportsmen provides the Spanish youth with recognisable role models and the pan-regional teams consolidate a vision of cooperation that ‘real people’ can relate to.

The Spanish win at the World Cup is not only significant for the country’s prospects, but for the future of football too. The deciding match itself will be hugely influential as it contained a record-breaking number of bookings for a World Cup final – even Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff decried the Netherlands’ brutish behaviour on the pitch. Although the Spanish selection did not (arguably) play their best game, their tiki-taka technique paid off and they were declared the rightful winners of both the game and the tournament. With such fury caused by the Dutch side’s dirty playing, it can only be hoped that other teams will dismiss such tactics, re-focus on the game of football and hone the skills and techniques required to win.

The WAG del dia, Sara Carbonero

Finally, on a more frivolous note, Spain’s triumph has provided us with a new Queen WAG – and perhaps the Spanish Posh and Becks. Sara Carbonero, sports presenter for Telecinco and girlfriend to Spanish captain and Golden Glove winner Iker Casillas, began the competition being blamed – somewhat erroneously, not to mention misogynisitically- on message boards (NOT by the Spanish Press, as it has been noted in some quarters) for diverting their goalie’s attention at pivotal moments during their opening unexpected defeat by Switzerland.

Fast forward to the present, and she is at the centre of a celeb-gossip storm and the envy of millions of hot-blooded women everywhere after copping a kiss off her bemedalled boyfriend on live television. With the British tabloid press tiring of the WAGS of the England team as they either move on from their 2006 stereotype or become a parody of themselves, those with a thirst for celebrity shenanigans are finding it easy to slake with the daily updates on this stunning Spanish pair.

While it is too soon to confidently predict how the win in Johannesburg will affect Spain’s politics and economy (if at all), what is certain is that the chants of olé will continue as the world champions celebrate their historic achievement and look forward to their next chance to prove their mettle – they play Mexico in a friendly on the 11^th of August.