EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsLOS ANGELES -- Javi Martnez tells a story about how he woke during the middle of the night the day before he and Spain won the FIFA World Cup final in 2010 because he was starving hungry."There were a series of snacks kept in the players' corridor," he recalls. But as he went to feed his midnight munchies he heard a noise.Upon investigation he found a group of five senior teammates -- Iker Casillas, Gerard Piqu, David Villa among them -- playing cards, having a laugh and drinking hot chocolate long after potential World Cup winners should have been tucked up in bed.Jaw slack with amazement, Martnez remembers saying to himself: "Look at how relaxed these guys are!! We're gonna win the final tonight for sure!"- World Cup semifinals: What you need to know, predictions, odds- What's it really like to face Yamal, Mbapp? We asked their opponents- Golden Boot tracker: Who will score most goals at the World Cup?For the last few weeks I have been embedded with the Spain squad during their 2026 World Cup campaign. While I'm not outright claiming that some of the things which catch my eye are going to win Spain a second title on their own, I can tell a similar story to Martnez's which came as La Roja transferred from Dallas to L.A. in the aftermath of their 1-0 victory over Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal.Fair enough, it had been a steely test that required an injury time winner from Mikel Merino. But no extra time or penalties were required, and the Iberian derby was played in a climate-controlled stadium. Theoretically, the tournament's second favorites had been through a much less draining experience than some of the other big-name nations suffered.Luis de la Fuente's players were pretty bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the following morning when they did an 11 a.m. workout at the Cotton Bowl stadium, about 10 minutes drive from their downtown Dallas hotel. But by the time we all boarded the flight to LAX, there were several players who were stretched out on their seats before takeoff -- training shoes shed, heads on pillows, and aiming for a late afternoon siesta.One of the things which surprised me most when I was inside the Spain locker room on July 11, 2010, after the team had won the World Cup, was that the atmosphere was pretty calm, and not at all raucous. Having danced around the Soccer City pitch, sought out loved ones in the crowd and gone back inside with the trophy, many of the newly crowned world champions managed a brief sing-song and that was it. It was nothing like the eventual outpouring of emotions which came the following day when they paraded the trophy around Madrid.It took me aback that the huge effort that they'd all just put into beating Netherlands 1-0 over 120 minutes caused them to catch their breath, to reflect and take it all in rather than explode in joyous release.That flight to L.A. hit me with a similar feeling. The final was still some way off, but the Portugal hurdle was a big deal and, subconsciously, I'd expected buoyancy, noise, jokes and exuberance. But the players were temporarily on low-battery mode, soaking up a few hours of quiet time when they could put aside the continuous demands of football's version of scaling the north face of the Eiger.That was, until the California Highway Patrol sped Spain's convoy the short distance from LAX to Manhattan Beach. It was already late evening when the majority of the squad discovered that their new hotel had a nine-hole golf course literally at their back door, evoking the kind of eruption of noise, energy and highjinks you might get when a school trip reaches its destination.Several groups of players were jostling, joking and hustling to get onto the first tee and smack golf balls into the gathering gloom. There were a few fourballs out there, some as far as the fourth hole, by the time total darkness fell. It was a sign of how much Spain's players absolutely love being together, that they compete all the time and that, energy-sapping matches aside, they're having the time of their lives right now.Players' families are in and out of the camp on a regular basis, and the collective bonhomie which outsiders are required to take for granted is 100% true in this case. And from this spirit of togetherness comes Spain's big chance of beating France, and then either England or Argentina, to win this World Cup.I say that not to diminish the glittering ability which is stamped right across the European champions' 26-man squad. In fact I'm wholly convinced that, on form, Spain are by far the best national team on the planet. By far.But facts are facts: Lamine Yamal (who turned 19 on Monday) hadn't played a 90-minute match for 76 days between his injury in LaLiga against Celta and his full match in that Portugal victory in Dallas on July 6. Winger Nico Williams has had one brutal injury after another and, after being hacked down by Uruguay's Agustn Canobbio in Spain's final Group H game, he wrote a social media post which made it sound like his tournament was in severe jeopardy.Fabin Ruiz and Mikel Merino have fought back from serious mid-season injuries, while Marcos Llorente told me that it was "obviously impossible" for almost any of them to be at "100%" in mid-summer after long, relentlessly-sapping club seasons.So, like some other great nations who have pushed on to the semifinals, or have fallen by the wayside, Spain aren't quite at their peak -- nor at they quite as dynamic and breathlessly brilliant as they were in winning the UEFA European Championship two years ago. But they are resolute, they are a family and are unbeaten in competitive, 90-minute matches since losing to Scotland at Hampden in March 2023 -- De la Fuente's second game in charge.Merino has obviously caught everyone's imagination and passion -- again. His late goals for consecutive victories against Portugal and Belgium have been the stuff of dreams -- the explosions of magic which absolutely define major tournaments.But I think some things that he has outlined across the tournament has the dual role of explaining how Spain have got here ... and why they can legitimately still be considered (by me at least) as favorites to win this World Cup.To set the scene: Spain's first day of training at their Chattanooga Baylor Academy training camp was an open session for the public. It was pretty lengthy and fairly testing. De la Fuente didn't mollycoddle his players. But as the practice ended, Merino took himself off to an adjacent pitch, brought a few balls with him, a couple of training staff and forced himself through some ultra-intense extra fitness, stamina, sharpness and finishing drills.When I spoke to him I was bold enough to tell him that, having seen how hard he was working to get his sharpness back after suffering a foot fracture that ruled him out for much of Arsenal's Premier League title-winning season, I was certain that he was going to be rewarded imminently by scoring goals. Little did I know how that prediction would end up, but he liked hearing it at the time. "When I'm on the bench I'm getting prepared mentally and when a chance falls to me I'm absolutely convinced that I'm going to score," Merino has subsequently said. "Then the feeling is of huge relief, especially after five tough months out injured."It's hard for all of us who are on the bench because we are competitive and we've reached the elite because of our attitudes and self-belief. But this isn't the group for you if you're going to sit there pouting."All of us who would start in our club teams but haven't been starting here know that we can affect the result, win the games, and that shows. It's very complicated but the key is to achieve a balance. Anyone in our positions needs to have a strong ego but to have humility too."Just because you've got a strong self-belief doesn't make you think that you're superior to anyone around you. You need to be convinced that your teammate's benefit is your benefit if you're in one of these short, knockout tournaments. We all pull for each other -- in training, in our spare time, when we travel ... even at breakfast. There are jokes, there's unity, there's very strong team spirit".I'm here to tell you that you can see it, you can feel it, and you can hear it. Games of ragingly competitive table tennis, team gaming tournaments on their handheld devices, croquet, golf, and of course the collejas: when a player walks through a guard of honor from his teammates and receives playful slaps around the head to mark a special day, like a birthday or a return to full training. Merino, Rodri, Williams, Yamal and even coach De la Fuente are among those who have had to run the gauntlet this summer. It all adds up to that sought-after status of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.Over the past two summers, in the semifinals of Euro 2024 and the UEFA Nations League, Spain vs. France has produced 12 goals and two wins for La Roja. Tuesday's World Cup semifinal, on Bastille Day, will carry the narrative that France's four musketeers (Ousmane Dembl, Dsir Dou, Kylian Mbapp and Michael Olise) make coach Didier Deschamps' team stick-on winners.I'm not so sure.Their opponents have their own powerful "all for one" mentality that can push them on to New Jersey, and their second World Cup final.
