Spain Honours Its World Champions Ahead of World Cup Semi-final: "A Match for the History Books"

Names such as Iker Casillas—the only player to have lifted the FIFA World Cup with Spain—Jesús Navas, the most decorated player in the national team's history, World Cup winners Fernando Llorente and Pepe Reina, and Spain greats Fernando Hierro, Emilio Butragueño and Míchel Salgado were honoured by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Monday evening (early Tuesday morning in Spain), ahead of the historic clash with France in Dallas.

Casa España, located in Dallas' Trinity Groves district, welcomed a wide cross-section of the Spanish football community, including representatives from LALIGA, presidents of Spain's regional football federations, professional clubs, members of the RFEF Board of Directors and many other distinguished guests.

RFEF president Rafael Louzán opened the event by describing the semi-final against France as "a historic occasion—only the second World Cup semi-final in Spain's history—made possible by the outstanding work of head coach Luis de la Fuente and a wonderful group of exemplary players of whom we are all immensely proud. We are equally proud of our 2010 world champions, who are with us today as a demonstration of their commitment and loyalty to a national team that has given us so much and continues to do so."

Louzán also highlighted the success of Spain's youth teams, saying: "The achievements of our young players, both women's and men's, are another source of pride. Just a few days ago, our Under-19 national teams won two UEFA European Championships. The future is in very safe hands."

Speaking on behalf of the former internationals, Iker Casillas emphasised the importance of unity behind the national team.

"We should all be incredibly proud of this team, just as we wanted all Spaniards to be proud of what we achieved. It's wonderful to experience these magical moments again, and hopefully we'll be able to embroider that second star onto our shirt in New York."

As a symbol of Spain's unforgettable World Cup campaign, Louzán presented the former players with the national team's white away shirt. The gesture represented the bond between the side that conquered the world in 2010 and the current generation, who dream of following in their footsteps by defeating France on Tuesday before taking one final step towards football's greatest prize on Sunday.

With just two matches separating Spain from World Cup glory, this team has already captured the imagination and the hearts of an entire nation.