Ramos: Spain have to reinvent themselves

Spain have won the last two European Championships and Sergio Ramos says that success has forced them to look at reinventing themselves.

Luis Aragones guided Spain to the trophy at Euro 2008, with Vicente del Bosque adding the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 triumphs.

It formed a glorious period for the Iberian nation marked by a possession-based style that garnered plaudits from across the globe.

But Ramos now believes other teams have improved in their ability to counter Spain’s tactics, and it has forced them to develop.

“It’s clear that all the squads are more motivated when they face us,” he told Marca.

“We are the reigning European champions and we’ve also been world champions [in 2010].

“We have a good history and everyone wants to beat us.

“Our style of play is very characteristic and everyone has been studying it thoroughly so we have to reinvent ourselves to carry on fighting to achieve the highest levels of success.”

Spain begin their title defence against Czech Republic in Toulouse on Monday.

Ramos is hopeful of a third straight triumph but acknowledged there will be competition from France, Germany and England.

“We’re ambitious certainly. We want to win it and we’ll try but we know there’s a lot of competition,” the Real Madrid captain added.

“There are more teams than ever and many top-quality squads.

“The hosts France, Germany, England, [are among the favourites] as usual.

“You can expect a squad who are going to give everything on the pitch to make our country proud, hopefully.”