Spain rounded off their preparations for the UEFA EURO 2012 with a harder than expected 1-0 victory over China on Sunday.

Manchester City striker David Silva grabbed the winning goal with six minutes remaining as a well-organised Chinese side proved difficult to break down.

With several Spanish players looking to press claims for a place in Vicente Del Bosque's side for their EURO 2012 opener against Italy next Sunday, it was Santi Cazorla, Fernando Torres and Silva who most caught the eye.

The World Champions completed their preparation in defence of their European title tonight with a 1-0 win over China in Seville.
Spain played an unimpressive first half creating little of note and indeed it was the visiting Chinese, coached by former Real Madrid and La Roja legend Jose Antonio Camacho, which came closer to scoring.

La selección española de fútbol la actual campeona del mundo y Europea defenderá su trono en Polonia y Ucrania durante la Eurocopa de naciones.
Todavía recordamos los lances de Iker Casillas, salvando a su equipo y atajando penales, a Xavi como el jugador del equipo y a Iniesta derrochando calidad en el rectángulo verde, pero ¿se los imaginan como los súper héroes del momento?

Spanish football daily, 'Marca', recently published a series of adorable childhood photos featuring some of Spain's most prominent players to date. It's a nostalgic glimpse into the beginning of Xabi Alonso and Mikel Arteta's friendship, which started out when they both played for Basque amateur youth side, Antiguoko, in San Sebastian and has remained strong till today.

Mais um jogo amistoso, foi disputado no dia 29/02/2012, na cidade de Malaga-SPA, onde jogaram as seleções da Espanha (1º no ranking da FIFA) e a seleção da Venezuela (46º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
Amistosos
Puerto La Cruz 07/06/2011 VEN0:3 (0:3)ESP 2004Las Palmas Gc 18/08/2004 ESP3:2 (1:1)VEN 1981Caracas 28/06/1981 VEN0:2ESP
Mundial Sub-20
2009Cairo 01/10/2009 VEN0:3 (0:2)ESP Group matches
O árbitro desse jogo, foi: Andris Treimanis (LVA)
Scout:
Andres Iniesta (37.

The UEFA Euro 2012 tournament kicks off in less than 10 days and in anticipation of the much awaited event, global digital media and fantasy sports brand FanXT has launched two highly interactive applications.

With the ambition of offering users the most digitized Euro 2012 experience, the company has designed a Euro 2012 Live app that would serve as an efficient information tracker and a Fantasy Euro 2012 league that promises loads of fun.

As all squad rosters for Euro 2012 have been made official to UEFA, so have Italy's Group C adversaries: SPAIN, IRELAND, and CROATIA. If you want to find out who Del Bosque, Trapattoni, and Bilic have selected to feature in this Summer's tournament, look no further!

As all squad rosters for Euro 2012 have been made official to UEFA, so have Italy's Group C adversaries: SPAIN, IRELAND, and CROATIA. If you want to find out who Del Bosque, Trapattoni, and Bilic have selected to feature in this Summer's tournament, look no further!

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain did not look as though he would be given a schoolboy contract by Southampton because he was told that he was too small for the game.

A year later, when he was 15, he was looking around sixth-form colleges to consider what career he might pursue if he could not become a professional footballer.

Below is the Spanish squad for the upcoming 2012 UEFA European Championships. The list is dominated by Barcelona and Real Madrid players.

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Victor Valdes (Barcelona), Pepe Reina (Liverpool)

Defenders: Jordi Alba (Valencia), Raul Albiol, Alvaro Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos (all Real Madrid), Juanfran (Atletico Madrid), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Javi Martinez (Athletic Bilbao)

Midfielders: Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas (all Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), David Silva (Manchester City), Santi Cazorla (Villarreal), Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Juan Mata (Chelsea)

Forwards: Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Fernando Torres (Chelsea), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla), Pedro (Barcelona)

Follow @jrf90thminute

Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS

Spain name Euro 2012 squad: Torres in, Soldado out - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Vicente del Bosque has the task of bringing home a third straight international tournament success this summer, with the triumphs at Euro 2008 and in the 2010 World Cup meaning Spain are favourites for this year's Euro 2012.

This is Spain's national football team roster for the Euro 2012.

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Victor Valdes (Barcelona)

Defenders: Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Juanfran (Atletico Madrid), Jordi Alba (Valencia), Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Javi Martinez (Athletic Bilbao)

Midfielders: Xavi (Barcelona), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), David Silva (Manchester City), Santi Cazorla (Malaga), Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona), Juan Mata (Chelsea)

Forwards: Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Pedro (Barcelona), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Fernando Torres (Chelsea), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla)

Barcelona forward Pedro has been rewarded for his two goals in the Copa del Rey final on Friday by being included in Spain's 23-man squad for the European Championships.

Sevilla's Alvaro Negredo was also selected among manager Vicente del Bosque's strikers, meaning there was no place for Roberto Soldado or Adrian Lopez despite the latter's goalscoring debut against Serbia on Saturday.

By Chris Wright

Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 (both sets of fans Catalan and Basque booed the Spanish national anthem) to win the Copa Del Rey in Pep's final game in charge last night, with Lionel Messi scoring his 73rd goal of the season sandwiched between a brace from Pedro all inside the first 25 minutes.

By Chris Wright

Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 (both sets of fans Catalan and Basque booed the Spanish national anthem) to win the Copa Del Rey in Pep's final game in charge last night, with Lionel Messi scoring his 73rd goal of the season sandwiched between a brace from Pedro all inside the first 25 minutes.

Siempre las presentaciones de los uniformes son polémicas, en este caso el Barcelona causa controversia con su segundo uniforme en esta ocasión es naranja ,anteriormente con colores muy llamativos y chillones esta ocasión no fue la excepción.
El FC Barcelona presentó el nuevo diseño de su uniforme, el cual utilizará para la temporada 2012-13.

By Chris Wright

Time to put the welding goggles back on, as we've managed to get our hands on a few more photos of the new Barcelona kits, this time in their full monstrous majesty as modelled by Thiago Alcantara and Andres Iniesta, who is sporting the clearest 'I really don't want to be here, doing this' smile we've seen in quite some time.

Nike: "My Time Is Now" Ad - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Nike Football "My Time is Now" campaign features a global roster of the world's best players, and celebrates the hunger and impatience of young players ready to tear up the rule book to make their mark in football's elite ranks.

Like the "Write the Future" ad/short film that debuted before the 2010 World Cup, Nike has once again assembled a mess of footballers for a bombastic, three-minute bit of Euro 12 advotainment that will air during the all-adidas Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Chelsea.

What starts out as a match between the Netherlands and France (with Pep Guardiola taking notes in the stands for some reason), is invaded by a third squad that multiplies quickly.

Spain head coach Vicente Del Bosque has made a number of surprise inclusions in his preliminary 21-man squad for Euro 2012.

Included in the squad are Benat Etxebarria from Real Betis, Isco of Malaga and Javi Garcia of Benfica, however many of these players can expect to be dropped after players from Chelsea, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao have played in their upcoming finals.

The Nike Clash Collection Football Boots - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Striking color design stands out on pitch and delivers performance engineering for best players in the world.

As the countdown to Poland and The Ukraine builds momentum and the scene is set for the biggest of football showdowns, Nike is introducing the ‘Nike Clash Collection' to celebrate what promises to be an exciting summer of football.

Barcelona's Summer 2012 Tranfer Targets: Who's coming in and who's going out? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Depending upon the outcome of Copa del Rey Final on May 25th against Athletic Bilbao, FC Barcelona can finish the 2011/2012 campaign on a (relative) high.

Winning the domestic Cup competition is nothing to sniff at but it pales to the accomplishments achieved in previous seasons.

Pep Guardiola Over-Reliance On Lionel Messi Hurt Barcelona - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

What is there left to say, or write? Though I won't be as harsh as Jose I will also refrain from championing Pep Guardiola the best in the business. He did exceptionally well but let me ask you a question:

How is it possible to not win a title when you can call upon the talents of say Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi?

Barcelona's squad contains a number of talented individuals such as Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas as well as the world's best player in recent years Lionel Messi; however, this season the Spanish league title went to a deserving club: Real Madrid.

There are several reasons as to why Los Blancos triumphed in La Liga following Barca's recent domination on both the domestic and European fronts.

Does size matter for footballers? According to Tony Karon, it might be - depending on whether you are a Chelsea or Barcelona supporter...
Watch the pre-kickoff handshake between the players of Barcelona and Chelsea ahead of Tuesday's Champions League semifinal showdown and you'd be forgiven for believing the Catalans had sent a youth team to face the big men from London.

Andres Iniesta was truly disappointed with Barcelona's failure in reaching the Champions League final after being eliminated by Chelsea, but the Spanish international midfielder believes that his team will come back stronger after this current slump.

Just like some of his teammates, Iniesta also believes that Barca's elimination from Chelsea was not a fair result for them, considering how dominate they were in the two legs, but he believes this situation will eventually be solved by them.

Andres Iniesta was truly disappointed with Barcelona's failure in reaching the Champions League final after being eliminated by Chelsea, but the Spanish international midfielder believes that his team will come back stronger after this current slump.

Just like some of his teammates, Iniesta also believes that Barca's elimination from Chelsea was not a fair result for them, considering how dominate they were in the two legs, but he believes this situation will eventually be solved by them.

Dissecting the disappointment: 4 key reasons for Barcelona's failure this season is a post from: Just Football

The first thing to point out here is that this is no obituary piece.

Barcelona are not in crisis, this is not intended to imply that Barça are a crumbling empire or spent force (let's see what Pep Guardiola decides regarding his future first) and this is not meant to be an overly critical sharpening of the knives.

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has hailed his side's performance last night as one of the finest he has ever seen and believes that the Blues' unbreakable spirit triumphed over Barcelona's beautiful football.

The Blues dramatically surrendered their 1-0 first-leg advantage within eight first-half minutes as Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta struck either side of John Terry's infamous sending off.

Barcelona's bad run still continue this midweek as they once gain said goodbye to one of their trophies target after failing to overcome Chelsea in front of their packed house at Camp Now.

Seeking at least two goals to overturn their 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge, Guardiola's team pretty much failed badly as they only managed to get a 2-2 draw, despite the fact that the Blues were playing with only 10-men for the larger part of the game.

Chelsea shocked the experts by advancing the UEFA Champions League Final 3-2 on aggregate. It was a great effort from the London side as they would were down 2-0 (2-1 on aggregate) late in the first half and had their captain John Terry sent off.

The match started out a bit slowly but would gradually start shifting in Barcelona's favor.

Everyone said Chelsea would have to play two perfect matches to beat Barcelona in their Champions League seminfinal. They patiently waited in defense and held on for a 1-0 win at home in the first leg. In the first half of the second leg, Gary Cahill went off with an injury, Sergio Busquets equalized for Barcleona, John Terry got himself sent off to put Chelsea down to 10 men after just 37 minutes, Andres Iniesta put Barcelona ahead against a team with just 10 men and no centerbacks and then Ramires lobbed in a beauty to give Chelsea the advantage on away goals.

El Clasico might have taken place at Camp Nou on Saturday, but a true classic unfolded there Tuesday.

Despite being reduced to 10 men in the first half and facing a deficit, Chelsea stunned Barcelona to advance to the UEFA Champions League final after a 2-2 draw (3-2 win on aggregate).

Roberto Di Matteo's Chelsea continue to surprise everyone as they managed to overcome Barcelon'a attacking wave and grabbing a ticket into the final without picking up any defeat in two leg of Champions League semifinal.

After beating the defending champions 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, the Blues' bravery was displayed again at Camp Nou as they successfully held Pep Guardiola's men into a 2-2 draw, despite playing with 10 men for a large part of the game.

An extremely resilient Chelsea side fought against all odds to defeat FC Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate and progress to the UEFA Champions League Final in Munich on May 19.

The Blues, who carried over a 1-0 advantage to Camp Nou from their first leg home win, clawed back from 2-0 down on the night to draw 2-2 with a very late equalizer.

A mere two minutes after Barcelona's barrage of shots resulted in the first goal of their Champions League second leg against Chelsea, John Terry decided to give Alexis Sanchez a knee up the backside and was promptly shown a red card.

You can debate whether Terry deserved to be sent off instead of just shown a yellow for his act, but one way to help ensure you don't get sent off for something stupid is by, you know, not doing something stupid.

Barcelona took a bold step to ensure their continued dominance by petitioning FIFA to rewrite the rules of football so that possession of the ball counts for more than goals scored. Following two important losses over a four day span to Chelsea and Real Madrid in which Barcelona dominated possession of the ball but still failed to score more goals than their opposition, they decided that now was the time to act.

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has rubbished suggestions that Barcelona have fallen from their winning ways this season and argues that his fellow Spaniards such as Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez can play any opposition out of the game by simply refusing to give the ball away.

Barca's failure to capitalize on their extra-ordinary possession in the 1-0 first leg defeat to Chelsea last Wednesday was one of the subjects of debate across the football world and although the Blues' defense remains confident as ever, Torres is wary that the holders can be unstoppable a lot of the times.

Barcelona's disappointing loss to Real Madrid was a result of a number of factors which went against the Catalans. No doubt Real's players and coach Jose Mourinho deserve credit for properly implementing the plan to contain Lionel Messi and for using the perfect tactics to neutralize Barca's other key players such as Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

Puyol and Iniesta walk from the pitch in frustration following 1-0 loss at The Bridge (Photo: LLUIS GENE/AFP/Getty Images)

In what can only be described as the most underwhelming victory of all-time, Chelsea pulled the ultimate smash-and-grab job, defending for their lives all match, while scoring with their only shot of the game to steal a 1-0 victory heading into the return leg at the Camp Nou next Tuesday.