My World Cup: This is a Spain that's a real title contender

By Rafael Nadal Jun 16, 2006, 18:43 GMT

Rafael Nadal of Spain poses with the winner\'s trophy after defeating Roger Federer of Switzerland in the men\'s final of the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, Sunday 11 June 2006. EPA/CHRISTOPHE KARABA

London - Spain, Spain! What a joy and what great entertainment Wednesday's game was.

I saw the best football played up to that point in the World Cup, and the Spanish team played better than in any World Cup so far - at least since I was born, or can remember.

We achieved something very important - starting well in a major competition. I believe it's a vital factor for the confidence and self-esteem of the players.

On top of that, we put on a good display, and I'm sure this will generate a lot of respect for Spain among the other teams.

Without being technically minded or anything like it - just a simple fan - I saw that we played aggressively, used the wings and controlled the ball fast and with rhythm - above all during the first half hour.

As I said, we started well, took control of things and didn't let Ukraine take possession of the ball. Very good.

I don't think Ukraine had the resources to seriously attack us, and their star player, Shevchenko, was disappointing for almost all the match. Only rarely did they get as far as our goalmouth.

For me, the key strength of Spain is the team itself, a compact group in which, if I had to choose a player, I'd say Xavi gave the ball the zip that I've always missed with Spain before.

Up front, we were impressive. The three strikers moved well and created lots of goal chances. I also like Sergio Ramos a lot, mixing it up on the right for most of the game.

But above all I saw a very united team, playing in a homogenous block, very well-coordinated and fluid.

Another factor was that we robbed a lot of balls from Ukraine, exerting a lot of pressure up front so we were never really overwhelmed or overrun at the back.

But we've only won the one match. Now we must progress step by step, carry on working and leave the pitch with the same humility we entered it with.

Of course, it's important to have played well, to have scored four goals. But we still have two games to play and we need to approach them with the same respect with which we approached the first game.

I always say that in my sport, tennis, you have to take one match after another because you never know how long things will go well for, or badly. The difference between one situation and another is small.

I also had the chance to watch Germany, who once again demonstrated that they are a team to fear.

Without playing a great match, they were always present and fought until the last minute on Wednesday. I don't think they played well, but their victory was well-deserved. They also had two other clear chances which they were unable to convert.

To sum up: I'm very happy with Spain's result. It was a game that offered great encouragement about what's to come in this World Cup. We showed that we can play at highest level.

It may be that we won't always be able to play like that, and the players must be prepared for the possibility of playing badly and still winning.

That's how contests are won. I saw a great team that's a real contender for the world title. Hopefully we can carry on the way we started. Let's go, Spain!