World Cup: Spain still searching for greatness

Spain has always taken a back seat to the Big Four Quartet of England, France, Germany and Italy when it came to notable and influential human accomplishments. Any inventory of figures from the scores of reputable history books will reveal this. Interestingly, while they are considered a power in soccer once again we notice how Spain comes up short when compared to the four aforementioned nations.

Even when Ferdinand and Isabella began to fund Spain's empire there was but a mere spike in literature and art but quickly receded again as the Spanish squandered their wealth with more zeal than the Romans. True, the Inquisition and Franco were repressive moments in Spanish history but even if we remove this Spanish contributions are unremarkable. Especially considering its population and the wealth it once possessed - albeit temporarily.

The Netherlands, Austria-Hungary, and Russia surpass even a country with Spain's substantial history on any list. In case you're wondering, yes, two of the three have gone deeper more often than Spain has at the World Cup. The former Soviet Union, for its part, matches Spain.

Since Spain joined the EU serious and legitimate efforts have been made to enhance the Spanish identity and to their credit they have succeeded in doing so. Spain has had its accomplished moments as Goya, Cervantes, Fernando Alonso and Real Madrid (to name a few) attest to but; there's always a but with Spain.

Poly-ethnic and poly-religious states tend to face obstacles. And perhaps - and I'm just musing here therein lie clues as to why Spain persistently falters at the World Cup.

Cup after Cup Spanish hopes are dashed. And Cup after Cup blame usually lies elsewhere. Some of its problems are chronic and structural and therefore more difficult to overcome. Others, it must be said, may still be part of the national character and psyche. It's hard to create a responsible and strong cohesive unit when parts of your own country don't mind watching you fall down as was the case when Catalans cheered following Spain's defeat at the hands of the French.

Despite all these obstacles, Spain has managed to produce players of the highest quality. Relative to its talent and population Spain should have won a World Cup by now - or at least reached a final.

Then again, file this under coulda, shoulda, woulda.