Somewhere in the last five years, Spain went box office. It doesn't matter precisely when, the fact is they did. And their scarlet shirt, trimmed with its golden braid, has become more of an emblem of beautiful football in the  21st Century than Brazilian yellow or Dutch orange.

Five years ago this week, Spain lost 1-0 to  Romania in a friendly in Cadiz. It was their third defeat in three months. The other two were even more painful, to Northern Ireland and Sweden in Euro 2008 qualifiers. The next game was against England at Old Trafford. Spain won it 1-0 and did not lose again for 35 games.

This record-equalling run stretched more than two years and contained a sequence of 24 wins in 25 games. The blip in this emphatic quarter century was a goalless draw in the 2008 European Championship quarter-final against Italy. Spain won it on penalties.

When defeat finally came against the United States in the 2009 Confederations Cup, the European crown was already in the bag. The world title followed. Spain reached Euro 2012 without dropping a point. All done while thrilling audiences and breathing life into the spluttering beast that is international football.

Just how did they get so good? Or, more  pertinently, how did the nation once capable of eclipsing England's spectacular underachievement crack the enigma?

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