Advantages: Villa hat-rick, both teams scored
Disadvantages: None

...I said the Holland V Italy game was the best, but know i may be changing my mind. This game was surrounded by much hype as people asked themselves could this Spain squad finally live up to the expectations that others hadn't. The answer was a definite YES. Casillas was captain for Spain in this game. Villa did however stand out in this game which took place under the terrible weather in the Tivoli Neu stadium, Austria. There were some surprises before the game even started, Fabregas wasn't starting for Spain, nor was Xabi Alonso. This meant that there was a midfield which had no Premiership players in, there team was still a very strong one. PS. First game where both teams have scored. The game didn't have a very fast start. Russia's Shemshov had the first chance of the game, he did however put ball a long way wide. His shot was from... Read review

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Advantages: Young talents, fast, skillful, solid keeper, great captain (Puyol)
Disadvantages: Never been very successful

...I think Spain will win it. They will win because their bright young talents have now become world-class players. They have the speed and strength of Fernando Torres upfront (33 goals for Liverpool in his debut season and many have come at vital times). There is no dubt he is one of the best strikers in Europe, they also have the brilliance of David Villa (Valencia scored 58 goals in 3 seasons). Arsenal's wonderkid Cesc Fabregas (24 assists 07-08 for Arsenal) will also give Spain that edge over the other teams, he has amazing passing abilities as well as being able to score often and can play defensively when needed to.They do of course have the Real Madrid keeper Casillas who has won 77 Spanish caps and is a very safe pair of hands. Puyol will be captaining this great side, he plays in the centre-back position and is widely regarded... Read review

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Advantages: good quality, strong league, successful at club level
Disadvantages: Mentally weak, tiredness, lack of commitment at national level

...It's the same old story. The Spanish national squad always qualifies in style and then fails miserably in the final stages of every competition. Many lines have been written about this, but no solutions are found. The most important problem is that Spain is a country of football clubs and the national team is for 'second plate'. If you consider the 99-00 season, the success of the spanish clubs in european competitions has been absolute. Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona dominated the Champions League. Therefore, by the time the the national team competition starts, most of these players have already won something and they only think about where to go on holidays! On top of that the Spanish players are used to have armies of foreign stars around them. SO when THEY are the ones that have to carry the team on their shoulders... Read review

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Advantages: Climate/Cheap in certain items/Friendly country/Close to the UK/Breathtaking places
Disadvantages: Traffic congestion/unemployment/Sun/

...country , for some reason everybody in Spain seems to eat at the same time. So your looking lunch from 2.00pm onwards. You will find that all the restaurants are at their most busiest between these times. & Dinner ,( this again applies to the whole of the country ) is normally served between 9.00pm onwards. So when travelling to Spain take this into consideration. Spain offer a mixture of British , Spanish & international dishes BUT if you want to enjoy the really typically Spanish food you will have to find suitable restaurants - dishes such as “paella” mainly found in the Valencia region or the “fabadas” of the north spicy bean dishes that can include almost every sort of poultry , meat etc & the well known fish dishes of Catalonia. So I stress when going on holiday ask around for a good Spanish serving food... Read review

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Advantages: lots of sun
Disadvantages: coming home

...from Morocco into Europe. Also as there are a lot of clubbers and students you will find a lot of the harder stuff being offered around in the toilets, be careful let them try it first to make sure its okay. At around 6am most people move on to the Marina where most of the clubs are (remember in Spain they are called Discos as Clubs are Brothels), they play everything from cheesy latin dance music, to samba etc. Depending on the club you go to, you may find you get a ticket, in Spain you will pay for your drinks when you leave as depending on how many drinks you bought you may not have to buy the entrance fee so do not lose the ticket. Around 10am you will find the clubs getting quiet and people move to beech to chill out or party on. At the end of the night Churros with a cup of thick hot chocolate is the Spanish equivalent of a kebab... Read review

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Advantages: our weather, our people... Certainly Spain is different ;-)
Disadvantages: Come to Spain, probably you´ll finally find one or two ;-p

...This is my first opinion here in Ciao Uk. I have a little experience in Ciao España but for me it´s a challenge writte an opinion in a foreign language. So sorry for my english and I hope it worth the trouble of reading it. I´ll try to make it comprehensible and interesting for all of you that have only a remote desire of visit my country ;-). First of all some details about us: - Spanish people are somewhat used to give the welcome to foreign travels around the world. So, don´t be afraid of asking anything. People would make the effort of understanding you although they didn´t know a word of english. Don´t expect something like it in Paris for example ( I talk about my personal experience). - Bullfighting is a controverted subject. You´ll find here people that love it like some kind of religion... Read review

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Advantages: unique lodging
Disadvantages: none

...Queridos Amigos! Dear Friends! When travelling in Spain you might have passed some plain signposts with the word "Parador" on it and always wanted to figure out where it leads to. Well, you are advised to give it a try if you have ever had the desire to bed your worn body not in a standard hotel room, but ? for a change - in a former monk´s cell, in an elegant mansion of a proud Andalusian count, in a knight´s chamber of a castle or even in a dormitory of a magnificent moorish palace. Since 1928 some 82 former palaces, castles and mansions in the most interesting towns all over Spain - from Aiguablava on the Costa Brava to Ayamonte on the Costa de la Luz, from Ferrol in Galicia to the Morroccan enclave Ceuta just across Gibraltar - have been restored and modernized to meet the the high demands of today´s pretentious travellers. Don... Read review

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Advantages: Quality players many of whom will be hungry for success
Disadvantages: I wouldn't bet on it, get some cheap PS games instead

...with Mallorca. Villareal's Marcos Senna is sure to be solid as he provides cover for the back four, but one of the terrific trio of Fabregas (Arsenal), Xavi and Iniesta (the latter two of Barcelona) is likely to be shifted wide, possibly Iniesta in a similar situation to that recently at Barcelona, thus reducing the player's effectiveness. A disadvantage could be that there is not a great deal of height, especially amongst the midfield, so they might be slightly susceptible at set-pieces. Of the defenders, Marchena has been on a losing Spain side for a competitive match just once, and looks set to make up the centre-back pairing with Barcelona captain Carles Puyol. On the right side of defence, is Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) and on the wrong - sorry, I mean left side, Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), both of whom have the odd goal in them - handy... Read review

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Advantages: gr8 goalie
Disadvantages: none

...to carry on playing football ) in mostoles a small village on the borders of Madrid. He is quite short for a goalkeeper towering at only 185 centimeters. In Spain his nicknames are san iker or el santo. Iker casillas' time at real Madrid Casillas showed an emerging talent between the posts from an early age and his potential was soon recognized as real Madrid took him on as a youth he played for them from 1990-1998.Iker Casillas went through the youth ranks at Real Madrid and continued to impress with strong athletic performances and he got rewarded with a debut in real Madrid C in 1998 and immidietly caught the eye of some people which got him promoted to real Madrid B the following season. It was then that he suddenly started to hit his top form and caught the eye of the first team coach which then got promoted to the first team... Read review

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Advantages: excellent game of football
Disadvantages: could of been better

...I found this game an enthralling prospect, both spain and italy where at the top of there game before coming to the ernst staduim in a hot vienna evening. I was looking forward to an absoultly amazing game of football between two passianate and colourful nations. But what we got was a cat and mouse kind of game, both teams being very careful in there play, spain had the better of the ninty minutes, they played with flair with there hearts, italy were quite frankly negative in there play, quite defensive tactics, after the ninty minutes spain deserved to win, they created more chances and looked more comftable on the ball, even so you can nether write the italians off, So it came down to extra time, and still no chances, so we had an agonisong penalty shootout, and italy missed two penalties and up stepped cecs fabregas to slot home... Read review

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