Spain vs. Venezuela: Shorthanded Spaniards Will Pull out Tough Win

The Spanish soccer team will take full advantage of its last friendly, beating Venezuela and picking up some knowledge on lesser-used players in the process. 

Joseph Wilson of the Associated Press wrote that the Spanish team will be playing a little shorthanded and without some of their stalwarts. 

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With all-time top scorer David Villa injured and struggling Chelsea striker Fernando Torres dropped for the first time in five years, [Spanish Coach Vicente] Del Bosque has turned to Athletic Bilbao's Fernando Llorente and Valencia's Roberto Soldado for the friendly at La Rosaleda Stadium in Malaga.

Villa and Torres may still make the squad for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. But if not, Wednesday's game could be a tryout for a starter come this summer when Spain aims to become the first World Cup winner to defend its European title.

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Win or lose against Venezuela, this will end up being a good thing for Spain. It is never a good thing to lose a match, but if you have to lose a friendly to know what kind of depth you'll have in the important matches, it's not a bad thing. 

Fortunately for Spain, they will get a chance to test their depth and not have to lose a match in the process. A simple look at the world rankings reveals a rather telling discrepancy. Spain is still the top-ranked team in the world, while Venezuela checks in at No. 46. 

On top of that, the Venezuelan team isn't exactly riding a hot streak. They dropped their last match 2-0 to Costa Rica (No. 63 in the world) and have struggled to maintain any real consistency in their game. An opponent like Spain (in Spain) is not exactly the time to get well. 

It isn't going to happen. Spain's offense might be struggling a little bit right now, but they're defense is still intact. 

On top of that, Southern Hemisphere clubs tend to struggle when playing in Europe, or in the Northern Hemisphere. This match is in Spain, and they will certainly not want their last match prior to Euro 2012 to be a bad one. 

The injuries will make this match tougher than it should be, but Spain will get it done. 

Prediction: Spain 2, Venezuela 1.

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