The European Championships are fast approaching and Spain will feel they are in with a chance, especially if their dream pair of David Villa and Fernando Torres is firing on all cylinders.The pair are widely expected to start for Spain after the ever-present Raul was left out by Luis Aragones. They both played as strike partners in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and finished joint top scorers for Spain.

They both are very similar. Both of these strikers wear the number 9 jersey for their respective clubs. They have been the only positive for their clubs, as Valencia finished 10^th in the La Liga and Liverpool just managed to qualify for the Champions league, which isn’t good enough. Torres 24 goals propelled Liverpool to 4^th place, while Villa’s 18 league goals helped his team greatly. Torres and Villa are nicknamed El Nino and El Guaje, both meaning “the kid”.

But now, both these star strikers need to unite for a common cause. The European Championships are just around the corner and the expectations of a country lie on their young shoulders. Behind them lie a compact and creative midfield and a miserly defence. But this has been the case with under achieving Spain for the last few major tournaments.

This is the second major tournament where these two will play together and even the thought of it had my mouth watering. Both of them are quick, comfortable on the ball, confident to take defenders on and are drowned with pure skill and craft. Villa is good in the air and Torres’ lightning pace makes the pair of them a force to reckon with. But most importantly, both of them have an eye for goal and a knack of generating something out of nothing.

The world will be keenly looking forward to this partnership for Euro 2008 and if all doesn’t go well Daniel Guiza and Sergio Garcia are on the bench.