Three Reasons Spain Won’t Win the World Cup in Brazil

Holders Spain are one of the favourites to win the World Cup in 2014 in the latest betting odds, however there are various reasons why I don't believe they will retain their World Cup crown in Brazil.

Ahead of next summer's World Cup in Brazil we take a look at the three main reasons why Spain will not win the World Cup in Brazil. Their recent dominance of International football could be over in 2014.

As World Cup 2014 gets ever closer we will have regular betting tips and updates ahead of the tournament in Brazil.

Location:

Firstly the fact that the tournament is being played in South America goes against Spain before they even kick off.  A South American team have always won the tournament when hosted in its own continent. So you can expect Spain to find it tough to win when teams like Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Columbia who all have strong teams are playing in their host continent. Whether its the climate, the humidity or just coming up against strong South American teams who are familiar with the environment, European giants have never come away with the World Cup glory.

At the Confederations Cup this year in Brazil, Spain were brushed aside by the hosts in comfortable fashion in the final and this could be a sign of things to come for our World Cup 2014 predictions.

Players:

When Spain won the World Cup in 2010, their key players were in the prime and form of their lives. Four years on it is a different story, midfielders Xavi and Iniesta will be 34 and 30 respectively, whilst they have still been key figures for Barcelona, they have not quite been the force they were. The same goes for David Villa and Fernando Torres who have struggled for form in the last couple of years, the former particularly struggling with injuries, the latter looking half the player he was in his Liverpool days. Former captain Carlos Puyol is now 35 and has struggled with injuries, he may not make the finals and Gerard Pique's form has noticeably dipped in recent years. Whilst they are still a world class side, they are not at the level they were when they won in South Africa.

Opposition:

Finally the strength and quality of Spain’s opposition has risen since 2010. South American giants Brazil and Argentina both had teams that struggled to live up to their names in South Africa; Brazil were uninspiring, they barely got past North (competition code: 4637) Korea in the group stages and went out tamely to Holland but are much improved since then having won the Confederations Cup this year.

Argentina showed signs of life but four years on they have more experience and gelled team who are led by a more astute manager in Alejandro Sabella. He has an impressive 68.18% win percentage and has made Lionel Messi captain which could be the inspiration he needs to finally flourish on the World Cup stage.  Germany have even more exciting young talent to chose from and Holland also have potential to go all the way. This will be a very open World Cup where I believe Spain will get to the latter stages of the tournament but will ultimately fall short.

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By Luke Haynes