On Tuesday, Spaniards everywhere endured a sad but inevitable day. Xavi Hernandez, arguably the greatest midfielder ever to put on his country's shirt, announced his retirement from the world stage. Xavi accumulated 133 caps during his tenure and won 100 of those games.
There is probably no fiercer rivalry in world soccer than the one between Real Madrid and Barcelona. The two Spanish sides are not only renowned for their respective greatness but also for their tremendous spending habits during transfer windows.
The last time a World Cup champion won back-to-back tournaments was in 1962, when a Pele-led Brazil managed the feet. That generation of players was widely considered the greatest international team of all time. However, another team has managed to enter into that conversation after being the first team to win three straight international tournaments in a row. That team is the current defending champion Spain, which enters the tournament after winning the 2008 and 2012 Euro Cups and the 2010 World Cup. Can Spain make history by winning its second straight World Cup and its fourth straight major tournament?
