Spain could dominate

I know it is scary for some of you to contemplate this. Whether from fear or from boredom this is part of what is fueling the Spain hate all of a sudden. Few want to admit the idea that this might just be the beginning of a cycle and not the end of one. You say all cycles in football come to an end and that's right, they do, but this looks to something that we haven't seen in awhile, if ever. Spanish football, from top to bottom is at the pinnacle internationally. They have won two European championships and a World Cup at the senior level. Their U-21 side are European Champions as is their U-19 side. Their U-20 side was a quarter-finalist at the U-20 World Cup in Colombia. They are stacked and loaded.

It's not as if the players are coming from solely Real Madrid and Barcelona. Their youth teams are represented by the best players from (easily) half the clubs in Spain. Spanish football may not be as rich top to bottom as some of the elite federations in Europe, but this is no Scotland, players are being developed up and down the peninsula. Clubs may not be able to afford to buy superstars, but they have attempted to grow their own. Which is where the crux of my argument lies. The assumption is that Spain cannot maintain their place because this golden generation of players that have won it all is aging and will soon abdicate their position to Germany or France in Europe, or to Brazil or Argentina globally. Let's look at it.

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas is 31 years old. It seems like he has been playing forever, and he has since debuting for Real Madrid as a teenager, but he still has a handful of years left as a top goalkeeper. His backups Valdez and Reina are not significantly younger, but Spain are producing elite level keepers at the youth level as well: David De Gea of Manchester United or Alex Sanchez of Real Zaragoza are very talented and neither are over 21.

Defenders: Carles Puyol may get a few more caps for Spain, but at 34 his days as one of the staunch and stalwart on-the-field leaders for Spain are over. Thankfully both Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos have made the transition to working together as opposed to fighting each other in Clasico matches.  Pique is 25, Ramos is 26 as is backup Raul Albiol. 29 year old Alvaro Arbeloa might be seeing his last action on the wings, but he can play centerback and can fill out a squad. Jordi Alba has been the revelation of the tournament on the left, but there are also many young defenders coming out of clubs like Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona, the likes of Jonas Ramalho and Martin Montoya, that fill out the youth squads in Spain that could take the right back slot from Arbeloa.

Midfielders: the midfield begins and ends with Xavi. With a healthy and motivated Xavi Spain are incandescent. When he is below his best so are Spain. It is honestly what takes this Spain squad from one of the top 5 in the world to the pinnacle of what football can be. He is 32 years old though and it is looking less likely that he will be at the top of his game for much longer. Cesc Fabregas was seen for many years as his eventual heir, one of the main reasons why his transfer from Arsenal was key to the continued success of FC Barcelona, but he is no longer the sort of deep-lying play-maker characterized by his predecessors in that role were.  Thankfully Thiago Alcantara, who plays that role for the U-21 and is being prepped for that role for his club, is seen as more of an ideological fit. That said, other than Xabi Alonso who will be 32 in two years time, everyone else is young and hungry. Busquets, Javi Martinez, Silva, Navas, Mata and even Iniesta will all be on this side of 30 by the next World Cup.  If that were it they'd be in trouble but Athletic's Iker Muniain, Malaga's Isco, or Chelsea's Oriol Romeu are all capable of slotting in to any one of a number of midfield slots.

Forwards: I know that everyone is on the idea of Spain using 6 midfielders with either Silva or Cesc in a false 9 role, but much like AS Roma played a few years ago and were caught out by Sir Alex Ferguson in a humiliating 7-1 loss at Old Trafford in 2007, there are tactical plans afoot to limit the effectiveness of the striker-less system that Spain are playing. Sooner or later Spain are going to have to replace Fernando Torres, who only 28 years old, has put many more years on his knees than any other 28 year old of his generation. Is it Alvaro Negredo? He will have to be more consistent. Fernando Llorente? He will need to have some help at Athletic as there was no one on that strikeforce that had put more hours for his club than the Lion King. If I am Del Bosque or whomever is in charge of selecting the next generation of Spanish striker, I keep my eye on Alvaro Vasquez of RCD Espanyol who is the U-21 lead striker and may be better than any of them.

I know it is fashionable to call an end to the dominance, but Spain are set for years to come. They may never again have the intangibles, the mental strength, toughness or competitiveness that this group has, or see them repeat this level of authority, but we are not going to see the days again when Spain return to being the laughing stock of Europe.