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<blockquote data-quote="Ainsthrilln" data-source="post: 890067" data-attributes="member: 68342"><p>I guess that the key word is few. Spain football team had quite a bit of them at some point (Puskas, Kubala, Di Stefano was Argentinian...), but after their successes, Spain used to have very few naturalised players. The odd Argentinian or Brazilian, and nothing else.</p><p></p><p>For this match, only four starters have been born in Spain. Four "full Spaniards", a couple kiwis naturalised via residency, and eleven Frech-born. It is not my case, but I understand why some people feel disconnected from the team.</p><p></p><p>Nowadays, in football, I can only think of Costa, and the great Marcos Senna in 2008. Thiago Alcantara was born in Italy, from Brazilian parents, but having been raised in Spain through age grades make that nobody consider him a naturalised player.</p><p></p><p>In other sports, like basketball or handball, there is a similar pattern. An early failing Spanish NT gets vastly improved by some naturalised players, gets some results, raises awareness of the game, and a few years later the level of the local players improves.</p><p></p><p>I guess that if we get to play the RWC, and considering the incresing number of young players, the level of local might improve as well. Not dramatically, but enough to stablish ourselves in the T2. Especially if British and French clubs start fishing in our u18 and u20 national teams, which are doing well lately.</p><p></p><p>And I understand that for you beating Italy is like for us beating Romania. The next step.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ainsthrilln, post: 890067, member: 68342"] I guess that the key word is few. Spain football team had quite a bit of them at some point (Puskas, Kubala, Di Stefano was Argentinian...), but after their successes, Spain used to have very few naturalised players. The odd Argentinian or Brazilian, and nothing else. For this match, only four starters have been born in Spain. Four "full Spaniards", a couple kiwis naturalised via residency, and eleven Frech-born. It is not my case, but I understand why some people feel disconnected from the team. Nowadays, in football, I can only think of Costa, and the great Marcos Senna in 2008. Thiago Alcantara was born in Italy, from Brazilian parents, but having been raised in Spain through age grades make that nobody consider him a naturalised player. In other sports, like basketball or handball, there is a similar pattern. An early failing Spanish NT gets vastly improved by some naturalised players, gets some results, raises awareness of the game, and a few years later the level of the local players improves. I guess that if we get to play the RWC, and considering the incresing number of young players, the level of local might improve as well. Not dramatically, but enough to stablish ourselves in the T2. Especially if British and French clubs start fishing in our u18 and u20 national teams, which are doing well lately. And I understand that for you beating Italy is like for us beating Romania. The next step. [/QUOTE]
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