Spain have earned a reputation over the years as a side who have found it easy to qualify for the major tournaments, but then struggled on the biggest stage.
For a while it looked as though the Spanish would break with tradition in qualifying for Euro 2008 as they suffered a dismal start, but Luis Aragones' men soon got back on course and eventually booked their place in the finals with room to spare.
The pressure was on Spain right from the start following their early exit from the 2006 World Cup finals - when they lost to France in the first knockout stage - but there was little sign of the problems to come as they comfortably won their opening European Championship qualifier against Group F minnows Liechtenstein 4-0.
However, Spain, whose goals in that game came from forward trio David Villa (two), Fernando Torres and Luis Garcia, were brought crashing back to earth in their next two matches as they lost away at both Northern Ireland and Sweden.
A Villa strike, one of seven during qualifying for Spain's top scorer, put his side on top against Northern Ireland but a hat-trick from another David, Irish striker Healy, earned the home side a 3-2 victory.
That shock result saw the pressure increased on coach Aragones, and the veteran manager even tendered his resignation in the wake of the defeat.
However, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) rejected the resignation and asked the coach to reconsider.
"The federation has full confidence in him," said RFEF spokesman Jorge Carretero.
"There is no reason why we should accept his departure. He has asked for two days' time to make a definite decision.
"He has our full trust, but it's up to him to make a decision. We will try to convince him but we will obviously have to accept his final decision."
Aragones ultimately opted to stay on, but he risked more criticism soon after with his controversial decision to drop striker Raul for the next game against Sweden.
The Real Madrid captain had started up front in both of those opening two matches, but the experienced hitman - Spain's leading all-time goalscorer and one of only two players to have made more than 100 appearances for his country - was dropped for the first time in 10 years, and he would not play again in qualifying.
Aragones' decision to continue as coach and the absence of Raul did little to change Spain's fortune against Sweden though as they lost 2-0 in Solna in their next outing, with goals from Johan Elmander and Marcus Allback earning the Swedes their third successive victory.
A 2-1 friendly win over Argentina in October 2006 eased some of the pressure on Aragones, with no Spanish coach having ever survived the sack after losing three successive games, but a month later the critics were back out in force after a new-look Spain side crashed to a 1-0 friendly loss to Romania.
However, there were signs of improvement in those two matches and Aragones even described his side's first-half display against Romania - where he named three debutants in his starting line-up - as "one of the best Spain have had during my time in charge".
The end of 2006 proved a turning point for Spain though, as with the new year came improved performances and improved results - to such an extent that they won 10 and drew the other two of their 12 internationals in 2007.
In their qualifying matches, Spain gradually moved up the table with successive victories over Denmark, Iceland, Latvia and Liechtenstein before Iceland halted their charge with a 1-1 draw in Reykjavik.
Spain were already well back in contention in Group F by that stage though, and they would go on to finish top of the standings with successive victories in their final four qualifiers, including triumphs against high-flying rivals Denmark, Sweden and Northern Ireland.
It was Spain's 3-0 victory over Sweden in their penultimate game that finally sealed the nation's place in the Euro 2008 finals, while the 1-0 triumph against Northern Ireland in the last round of fixtures earned Aragones' men top spot in the group.
Despite their slow start, Spain looked to be firing on all cylinders by the end of qualifying and once again they made it through with room to spare.
For midfielder Xavi though, there was never any doubt: "I have been optimistic at all times. I always thought that the team would be in the European Championships and to do it in this brilliant form is good," he said.
"I am very happy for us to have earned qualification and having gone through as first in the group.
"We have finished the qualifying phase with a good taste in the mouth following these victories over Sweden and Northern Ireland."
The pressure was on Spain right from the start following their early exit from the 2006 World Cup finals - when they lost to France in the first knockout stage - but there was little sign of the problems to come as they comfortably won their opening European Championship qualifier against Group F minnows Liechtenstein 4-0.
However, Spain, whose goals in that game came from forward trio David Villa (two), Fernando Torres and Luis Garcia, were brought crashing back to earth in their next two matches as they lost away at both Northern Ireland and Sweden.
A Villa strike, one of seven during qualifying for Spain's top scorer, put his side on top against Northern Ireland but a hat-trick from another David, Irish striker Healy, earned the home side a 3-2 victory.
That shock result saw the pressure increased on coach Aragones, and the veteran manager even tendered his resignation in the wake of the defeat.
However, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) rejected the resignation and asked the coach to reconsider.
"The federation has full confidence in him," said RFEF spokesman Jorge Carretero.
"There is no reason why we should accept his departure. He has asked for two days' time to make a definite decision.
"He has our full trust, but it's up to him to make a decision. We will try to convince him but we will obviously have to accept his final decision."
Aragones ultimately opted to stay on, but he risked more criticism soon after with his controversial decision to drop striker Raul for the next game against Sweden.
The Real Madrid captain had started up front in both of those opening two matches, but the experienced hitman - Spain's leading all-time goalscorer and one of only two players to have made more than 100 appearances for his country - was dropped for the first time in 10 years, and he would not play again in qualifying.
Aragones' decision to continue as coach and the absence of Raul did little to change Spain's fortune against Sweden though as they lost 2-0 in Solna in their next outing, with goals from Johan Elmander and Marcus Allback earning the Swedes their third successive victory.
A 2-1 friendly win over Argentina in October 2006 eased some of the pressure on Aragones, with no Spanish coach having ever survived the sack after losing three successive games, but a month later the critics were back out in force after a new-look Spain side crashed to a 1-0 friendly loss to Romania.
However, there were signs of improvement in those two matches and Aragones even described his side's first-half display against Romania - where he named three debutants in his starting line-up - as "one of the best Spain have had during my time in charge".
The end of 2006 proved a turning point for Spain though, as with the new year came improved performances and improved results - to such an extent that they won 10 and drew the other two of their 12 internationals in 2007.
In their qualifying matches, Spain gradually moved up the table with successive victories over Denmark, Iceland, Latvia and Liechtenstein before Iceland halted their charge with a 1-1 draw in Reykjavik.
Spain were already well back in contention in Group F by that stage though, and they would go on to finish top of the standings with successive victories in their final four qualifiers, including triumphs against high-flying rivals Denmark, Sweden and Northern Ireland.
It was Spain's 3-0 victory over Sweden in their penultimate game that finally sealed the nation's place in the Euro 2008 finals, while the 1-0 triumph against Northern Ireland in the last round of fixtures earned Aragones' men top spot in the group.
Despite their slow start, Spain looked to be firing on all cylinders by the end of qualifying and once again they made it through with room to spare.
For midfielder Xavi though, there was never any doubt: "I have been optimistic at all times. I always thought that the team would be in the European Championships and to do it in this brilliant form is good," he said.
"I am very happy for us to have earned qualification and having gone through as first in the group.
"We have finished the qualifying phase with a good taste in the mouth following these victories over Sweden and Northern Ireland."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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