Simon Collings looks at the dynamics within the Spanish team ahead of final clash

Transcript

00:00 Hello and welcome here to Terregal, England's base for this World Cup.

00:05 Not a bad spot is it if you're looking to recover ahead of a World Cup final.

00:08 England of course taking on Spain on Sunday for a chance to win their first ever World

00:13 Cup but it's also Spain's chance to win their first ever World Cup.

00:16 They've been over in New Zealand for much of this tournament but they're flying over,

00:19 they're in Sydney now, they trained this morning and the Spanish media were there to run their

00:23 eyes over them and for Spain it's been a difficult tournament.

00:27 We've spoken a lot in these videos about England having their own issues with the bonuses before

00:31 the tournament, the release date, injuries and Spain's issues really started back in

00:35 September of last year.

00:36 They had 15 players contact the Spanish Federation and say they were unavailable for selection

00:41 and the main issues that they were bringing up were around the professional set up of

00:46 the place.

00:47 They felt like the training methods weren't as good as their clubs, they didn't have the

00:50 same nutritionists, rehab, things like travelling to games by bus instead of plane and Jorge

00:57 Vilda the head coach was also someone who was in the firing line, obviously he's the

01:00 man at the top of that coaching set up.

01:02 He had a difficult record with Spain until the tournament and actually won a knockout

01:06 game and he was appointed in 2015.

01:09 So Spain were really in a state of crisis to be honest, 15 players from a squad not

01:13 wanting to come and play felt like a tipping point but the Federation stuck by Vilda and

01:19 it sort of rumbled on all throughout this season and we've got to the point before this

01:22 World Cup where three of those 15 players agreed to be part of the 23 player squad and

01:27 even then you could see the tension between the players and the head coach.

01:31 They had a farewell party in Madrid and on stage Vilda was introduced and I mean you

01:36 can go Google the video and you will see it, the reaction from those Spain players is not

01:41 one of a united group but it is now.

01:44 Actually there's a piece on the Standard Sport website with Maria Tixas from Sport

01:48 newspaper in Spain and she talks about how this group has become united, basically in

01:52 their common will to win and win the World Cup and they've got so many talented players

01:56 in that group.

01:57 Artana Bonmati is just one of them in line to win the Ballon d'Or but right through that

02:01 squad they've got players who really are among the best in the world and when you look at

02:05 club football, Barcelona have won the Champions League this season, they've won it before,

02:10 it's the reason why Spain are at this level and I think a lot of people believe they should

02:13 have won a major tournament before this and now they're in the final, they all believe

02:16 that they can stop England.

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