but one was enough........................

Sergio Garcia is very talented but a bottler who should have won a couple of majors by now. Plus I dont like the way he absconded to the US at the earliest opportunity.

Spanish players haven't won any majors sice Olazábel and Sevi many years ago now.

However, I saw on the news this morning that Spain are also world champions at handball and waterpolo so we can add them to football, tennis, basketball and motorsports as being the best in that field

Git another pack o tinnies then, they help in any language.

Jiminéz has won the Paris open this week. He is a nice guy met him a few times. Never been keen on Garcia.

Spain has really done well this year. Friends on the CDS always complain that sporting facilities are poor on the CDS. Maybe it is different outside Andalucia.

I think the sporting facilies here on the CDS are great. The football pitches, tennis courts and golf courses are top class and strongly subsidised for school kids. What more do they want?

There is a lack of organised sport, junior teams and input from parents. I don't know as don't have young kids.....still, neither do you if I am correct!

No I dont, but I play tennis, football and golf regularly myself here. And I see the kids being coached in all of these sports.

Spain has more qualified coaches for football and tennis than almost any other country (many more than the UK) so I am very suprised by your friends comments.

I play golf and tennis, both are private clubs as are most others. They do coach kids, at a price. Nothing in school hours.

4 euros a court down at the Benalmadena Club de Raquetas, great hard courts too. There were NO courts like this in London. My local club in Putney had a 3 year waiting list, then you had to pay £3,000 membership per year! There were zero public courts that had a competition level surface in London. Almost every court has this in Spain.

It was 30 euros a month for schoolkids in Barcelona for 10 hours of lessons a week. Yes, less than 1 euro an hour! And they were amazing. Dont know if they do that in the CDS though.

Congratulations on living in a country which will in three days time taste the sweetest honey sport can offer. There is no way that Spain would not win that match, they are a class above the Dutch.

Who would have given the Dutch a cat in hell's chance, when they were one down to Brazil at half-time?
It's a funny old game and whilst Spain are favourites, I wouldn't risk a bet either way.
World cup finals have a habit of not always going quite according to plan.

WellSpain won, but it has to be said there was some odd referring. One red card was not given out when Alonso was kicked in the chest. The a red card was given for a minor incident. Plus some say the goal should have been off side. But this is not the first time this ref has been controversial. The other time was when Switzerland beat Spain.

Had the ref given a red card in the first half he would likely be accused of wrecking the game.
He made the best of a bad job, considering the Dutch rough-house tactics and the repeated lack of respect and intimidation he suffered from the Spanish.

I think the lack of respect was from the Dutch, even continuing after the whistle.
Now we know why the Dutch are called cloggies.
He did have a hard game, but to let that chest kick go and Van Bums 7 or 8 fouls after he got his first yellow was unbelievable, he definitely made it hard work himself.

Lot of violence around the country last night according to TV. Lot in Barcelona and basque country. Some locally

http://www.diariosur.es/20100712/loc...007121057.html

Some comments below re. spanish flag