Brian Reece

The Real Federación Española de Fútbol (the Spanish FA) released the full schedule for the 2010-11 La Liga season, and Jornada 1 will be held on the last weekend of August. Both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona will commence their campaigns away from home as they visit Mallorca and Racing de Santander respectively. Real Sociedad, […]

After Euro 2008, Vicente del Bosque took the reins of the Spanish national team from Luis Aragonés, the man that led Spain to their first international tournament conquest since 1964 when they hosted and won the second UEFA European Championships, known then as the European Nations' Cup. Aragonés' tactical style went completely away from former […]

David Villa became the talisman for the Spanish national football team, scoring five of Spain's six goals in the tournament. Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta controlled the midfield with their incisive passing and ball possession. Fernando Torres could not get into stride as he struggled for form from his April knee surgery and was eventually […]

When Spain fell to the hands of Switzerland in the opening match of World Cup 2010, the vultures suddenly appeared from the sky and circled around their "dying" carcass. No team has ever won the World Cup after losing its first match. The ghosts from yesteryear are rising from the dead and haunting this current […]

With an unfathomable yet realistic possibility of an unceremonious exit from FIFA World Cup 2010, the Spanish national football team tussled with a Chilean side that has been one of the most impressive teams in this tournament thus far. Marcelo Bielsa, Chile's manager, insisted on a positive approach with an indirect emphasis on flair that […]

This writer has not fallen off the face of the earth after the season concluded in mid-May. I am writing this as I leave on a boat from Napoli en route to Palma de Mallorca. I have been traveling through Europe these past weeks, and I was in Barcelona to cover the FC Barcelona presidential […]

Once Lionel Messi scored his club record-tying 34th goal of the season in the 76th minute to increase the lead to 4-0, the 98,772 Culés at the Camp Nou, save for a few hundred Real Valladolid die-hards, began to chant the song that every team wants to hear at the end of the season, "Campeones, […]

On Tuesday, the goalkeepers and defenders were discussed, and Wednesday, the midfielders were discussed. With all of the creative talent in the midfield, that will bring the pressure on the forwards to convert the multitudes of chances that Xavi, Xabi Alonso, etc. will create for them. Obviously, the two starting men up front would be […]

Depending on the results of the final round in La Liga this upcoming weekend, Atlético Madrid can finish as high as ninth and as low as eleventh in Spain. Fulham completed their 2009-10 in the Barclays Premier League in twelfth position. All mattered not as they both navigated through massive European obstacles to arrive at […]

Yesterday, the goalkeeping and the defense were discussed, and while the three goalkeepers contending for the final goalkeeping spot will state their cases to Vicente del Bosque on and off the pitch, they will have little to no chance of participating in the World Cup. The players who will compete for the final midfield spots, […]

On Monday evening, Spanish national team manager Vicente del Bosque detailed the initial squad he will invite to Spain's World Cup training camp. The thirty-man team will be whittled down to twenty-three by May 19, and for the most part, the squad has picked itself. The competition for those final few spots will concentrate on […]

The Race for the La Liga Crown If there were a match on which Barcelona would stumble in their path to a second consecutive La Liga title, Villarreal would stand in their way. All involved with FC Barcelona said the right statements after Inter Milan eliminated the Catalans from the UEFA Champions League. Barça president […]

There will be a Spanish team in a European final, but it is not the team that many expected. Atlético Madrid completed their strange and wonderful trip to the Europa League final with an extra time goal by Diego Forlán against Liverpool. As per usual, Atlético did not win the second leg of their Europa […]

The sprinklers rose up from the pitch and sprayed the Inter Milan players and staff. The Barcelona anthem, "Cant del Barça," blared through the loudspeakers as the Culés did not know whether to clap off their Blaugrana heroes or vehemently whistle at the unwanted visitors from northern Italy. This sense of confusion permeated throughout the […]

Juan Ramón López Muñiz brought Málaga into La Liga in 2008 after a two-year hiatus in the second division. Throughout his playing career, he played on teams constantly scrambling either to stay in La Liga or to be promoted to the first division. He knows the mentality that a team needs to eschew whatever poor […]