Meeting after 27 years...

Brazil and Spain are sharpening the knives ahead of their first competitive meeting for some 27 years. For 'La Roja', this represents a golden opportunity to put to bed the demons of the 1986 World Cup, when Australian official Bambridge unforgivably chalked off Míchel's strike in Jalisco.

Going even further back, another hang-up that has plagued Spanish football also has its roots in a Brazil-Spain clash. Who could fail to remember Cardeñosa's infamous miss against the 'Canarinho' during the 1978 World Cup in Argentina?

This Sunday, 'La Roja' will have the perfect chance to remove what is quite possibly the last albatross around the neck of Spanish football: by beating Brazil in a final at the Maracana.


/Marca.Com/