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Innsbruck: Although Spain fielded almost a complete shadow side against Greece in their final Euro 2008 group match, the late 2-1 victory over the 2004 champions proved Luis Aragones's side have developed a powerful winning momentum.
The team have chalked up nine wins on the trot to beat the mark set by Javier Clemente's lineup a decade ago and are now on a 19-match unbeaten streak as they head into their quarterfinal showdown with world champions Italy on Sunday.
Spain crushed Russia 4-1 in their opening match of Euro 2008, they edged a late 2-1 victory over Sweden and the substitutes made it three in a row with their 2-1 win over already eliminated Greece. For the pessimists there are clear parallels with the last World Cup when they team racked up a 4-0 win over Ukraine, left it late to overcome Tunisia 3-1 and then fielded a reserve team which beat Saudi Arabia 1-0.
Talent
They then came up against a France side that had started poorly only to end up being comprehensively beaten 3-1.
But the comparison is misleading.
At the World Cup, Spain were a far greener outfit. They were full of talented young players who had little experience of major international tournaments.
Although they are still a young side, the players have two more years of competition under their belts, with every member of the first-choice lineup having played in the Champions League.
Two years ago, there was no clear agreement over what was the best team and Luis Aragones appeared to be unsure over whether or not to play Raul. At Euro 2008, the 69-year-old has a settled team. In Germany there was an atmosphere of euphoria surrounding the team after the first-round victories.
This time, the team are quietly confident but have been careful to keep their feet on the ground.
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