On the brink of his 100th appearance for Spain, Sergio Ramos would love to welcome that milestone with a victory over Finland on Friday. The Real Madrid defender could and most likely will become the eighth Spanish player to reach 100 appearances for Spain, and he would also become the youngest player to reach 100 caps, beating out Germany's Lukas Podolski by 21 days.
Vicente Del Bosque's side is first in their group, even with France on seven points from three matches. The only points both sides dropped was against each other in a 1-1 draw.
Currently enjoying an 18 match unbeaten run which stretches back to November of 2011, Spain should be able to add another victory to that remarkable streak on Friday against a Finland side that will struggle to keep the European Champions at bay.
If Spain is to defeat their opposition, they will have to do it without a few key figures. Carles Puyol and Iker Casillas are both out due to injury. Two other names which will not take part in Friday's match will be Fernando Torres and Javi Martinez who were not called up by the Spanish manager.
Replacing Martinez will be Manchester City star Javi Garcia. He had been previously called up before Euro 2012, but was not part of the selected players for the tournament. This time around, he will have a chance to take part in a World Cup Qualifying match.
"The first time I was called up was before Euro 2012, but this time it is more important because it is for a World Cup Qualification match," Garcia told reporters. "I feel very happy to return to the Spanish team. It is very difficult to get called up for this team, so it is better late than never."
Without a victory in their first two matches, Finland will be praying for a monumental miracle if they are to knock off Spain. The last time they met was in 2007 when they played to a scoreless draw in Helsinki.
Having only lost 0-1 against France, Mixu Paatelainen will make sure his players are well aware that although they may have slim chances, anything is possible.
Their captain, Ajax defender Niklas Moisander will offer some security at the back, but when you play against a team like Spain, it is far from easy to put a stop to their tiki-taka style of play. While keeping Spain off the score card will be nearly impossible, the Spanish defenders will need to keep a close eye on Mikael Forssell who spent some time with Chelsea.
Spain's Previous Matches
09-11-12 Georgia 0-1 Spain (WCQ)
10-12-12 Belarus 0-4 Spain (WCQ)
10-16-12 Spain 1-1 France (WCQ)
02-06-13 Spain 3-1 Uruguay (Friendly)
Finland's Previous Matches
09-07-12 Finland 0-1 France (WCQ)
10-12-12 Finland 1-1 Georgia (WCQ)
01-23-13 Thailand 1-3 Finland (Friendly)
01-26-13 Sweden 3-0 Finland (Friendly)
02-06-13 Israel 2-1 Finland (Friendly)
Prediction
It is hard to go against Spain, especially at home and against Finland. The visitors have never qualified for a major tournament and unfortunately for them, it does not look like it is their time to shine this time around.
Sitting last with one point to their name but one less match played, Finland will have nothing to lose, but they will be hoping not to leave Spain with too heavy of a defeat. Fortunately for them, Spain has an important match just a few days later in France, so the players could have an eye on that match already.
Spain 3-0 Finland
