Jose Enrique’s Natural Position – Defending Spain
Words by Kevin Doocey onEnrique - Believes Spain the credentials to lift the greatest trophy in the world
Jose Enrique, left back extraordinaire for a talented Newcastle squad, will most probably be one of Spain’s primary defensive juggernauts in the future. As the team vies for a World Cup Championship on the heels of a European Championship (2008), he made his comments regarding Spain’s chances of winning.
Never one to shy away from hullabaloo, the six-foot defender emphatically stated that Spain has a great shot at winning the World Cup, and is only one of eight teams in the world capable of the feat.
La Furia Roja will certainly need to play at its peak in order to best the incredibly difficult field. Jose remains a realist in citing that there’s a good possibility victory won’t happen, but his confidence that it will has inspired teammates.
With inspired teammates comes an inspired country, and with an encouraged Spain motivated to claim football supremacy in this summer’s tournament, bookmakers and odds-jugglers are also feeling the inspiration.
Brazil, with their immense pool of talent—not broken up by separate European countries—was the odds-on favorite to win. Many of the top US online casinos with betting options and other betting-specific sites had them going off at as low as 4:1. Now it’s Spain with the favorable numbers of 4:1 and 9:2 as the odds-on favorites.
My, my how things change as the months progress. Of course, it wasn’t Jose’s comment and an invigorated Spanish team that changed minds around the betting world. That’s not to say that it isn’t a causal agent on some level. But footballers still ball as the big games approach, and there’s plenty of time to make adjustments in predictions.