The team
History lesson
Long perceived to be the perennial bridesmaids of world football after flattering to deceive at the past nine tournaments. Semi-finalists in 1950 they should have matched that in 1994 against Italy before Mauro Tassotti's vicious elbow poleaxed Luis Enrique and left him with a nose resembling Charlie Magri's. Brilliant in the group matches in Germany four years ago, they were undone by an ageing France in the last 16, a result which finally allowed them to draw a line under the Raúl era. Without their supposed talisman they won Euro 2008 with a brand of exuberant purist football that has made them many people's favourites (again).
Tactics board
Vicente Del Bosque has used 4-1-4-1, 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 with Xavi and Andrés Iniesta pivotal in midfield in front of Sergio Busquets, David Silva teeing up chances from the wing and David Villa and Fernando Torres (when fit) combining with brilliant effect up front. Doubts persist about the defence, where Carles Puyol lacks pace and height and Sergio Ramos has yet to grasp positional discipline.
Grudge match
Portugal will be gunning for them in a neighbourly feud and they owe Italy a gubbing after 1994's bloodbath.
Also known as
La Furia Roja – The Red Fury – named after the singer Billy Fury because they used to leave their fans halfway to paradise.
The players
Vuvuzela superstar
Take your pick from midfielders with exquisite touch, scintillating widemen in Jesús Navas and David Silva or either of two sadistically destructive strikers. Even among this array of talent, however, Villa stands out. Magnificent at Euro 2008 he is even better now after scoring 58 goals for Valencia and 18 for Spain in the two seasons since. Combines lethal finishing with feet and head (despite being stumpy) with superb ball skills and positioning.
There's always Bolton
In their dreams. They will have to wait till one of them is past it in La Liga, as they did with Fernando Hierro, to have a sniff.
Laager lout
Sergio Ramos likes to taunt opposition players then hides behind his hair and the referee when someone stands up to him.
The coach
Body double
With that sparsely-furnished pate and "I'm still virile" luxuriant tache, he could twin with the BBC's senior political correspondent John Pienaar.
Big game hunter
Vicente Del Bosque won five titles with Real Madrid as a player, two as a coach as well as a pair of European Cups. The only man to make the gálacticos policy work successfully, he took the Spain job after the Euro 2008 triumph and promptly won every qualifier.
Loved or loathed
Admired for his humility and light-touch style but expectation is onerously high.
The country
Commentators' kit
Manuel Cáceres, better known as Manuel el del Bombo, the team's self-styled No12, has been following Spain and banging "that fucking drum™" since the 1982 World Cup. The rotund Valencia bar owner returned from supporting the side in 1987 to find his family had walked out on him, a bittersweet timpani if ever there was one.
They gave the world
Tapas, potatoes in omelettes, most of the new world even though it was already there, the Armada, the language spoken by Dora the Explorer among others and the fiendish torture ordeals of the Inquisition, not including the comfy chair.
National monument
Old Spanish women rocked the goth look long before the snakebite-supping hordes of West Yorkshire adopted widow's weeds.
Qualifying
Played 10, won 10 and had to break sweat only when Turkey and Bosnia held them to tight 1-0 victories on the peninsular. David Villa scored seven and Gerard Piqué became a defensive linchpin.
The Triesman tapes ... what he didn't say
"Disciples of the Bernard Manning school of race relations and serial bull tormentors in league with the Russians."
Statistics
World Cup: record 12 finals
P49 W22 D12 L15 F80 A57
Highest finish: Fourth place in 1950
6: In February 2009's match against England, David Villa became the first Spain player to score in six consecutive games
Fixtures
Switzerland, 16 June, Moses Mabhida Stadium, 3pm
Honduras, 21 June, Ellis Park 7.30pm
Chile, 25 June, Free State Stadium, 7.30pm
The verdict
They have been a joy with their intricate yet incisive passing style. The speed of Fernando Torres' recovery from a knee operation is debatable but with Xavi and others on the scene they ought to cruise through the group. Spain won Euro 2008 and any concerns reflect the workload of the players. Can they still be fluent? Semi-finalists.
