When reminiscing fondly upon the unstoppable reign of Spain’s national team between 2008 and 2012, their legacy remains in many aspects of modern day football. Tiki-taka, defensive domination and the infamous trophy trifecta, the Spanish created a breath-taking template of football perfection with a squad that oozed finesse and flair to provide all of football’s aesthetic pleasures game after game.

Looking at the talent Luis Aragones and Vicente del Bosque had at their disposal is like a who’s who of the world’s best in their respective positions at the time, and amidst the mountain of masterful magic they possessed, one man’s unsung ability remains.

Left-back Joan Capdevila would almost always be the one name people would forget when reciting Spain’s golden boys, but all great teams simply would not succeed with a weak link, be it in the starting XI, the substitutes, the management team, the canteen, anywhere. Watching a team as impressive as Spain’s during that glorious era, you can almost see the puppeteer’s strings working in unstoppable unison and because of that, Capdevila deserves his fair share of the credit for their greatness.

For the Catalonia-born defender, his international career began in 2000 as it meant to go on, with silverware. This came in the form of an Olympic silver medal during the Sydney Games in which a Spain side featuring the likes of Xavi, Carles Puyol fell to a penalty shoot-out defeat at the hands of Cameroon. Despite a relatively successful arrival onto the international scene, it wasn’t all plain sailing from then on.

It wasn’t until November 2002, at the age of 24 when he made his debut for the senior national side in a 1-0 win against Bulgaria, but he failed to cement his place in the squad. Two years on from his debut, Capdevila did earn a place in Spain’s Euro 2004 squad having made his second appearance just three months before, but he, somewhat unsurprisingly, never featured in the tournament.

In the years that followed, the full-back’s frustrations continued. By the age of 29, almost five years since his debut in a period that included Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, he had played just six matches for Spain, none of which were at major tournaments. But after a long time spent defeated on the sidelines, he picked the perfect time to break into the team.

By the end of 2007, Capdevila had more than doubled his caps tally with 13 now to his name, and with Euro 2008 fast approaching, a string of five starts from six including three goals and two assists was enough to stake his claim for a spot in the starting eleven. This accompanied by five consistently solid defensive performances in which one goal was conceded and clean sheets against France and Italy amongst others were kept, the 30-year-old had all but secured the spot that had escaped him for so long.

As the 2008 European Championships kicked off in Switzerland, or Austria, as it was for Spain, Aragones’ men were already starting to pass their opponents to death in signature style, and with a group containing Russia, Sweden and holders Greece, their progression through the group stage with maximum points was hardly surprising and Capdevila played a significant part, featuring in the entirety of their two opening fixtures, in a flawless and fluid display that set the tone for the rest of the tournament.

Now the confirmed first choice at the left side of defence having being rested against Greece in the final group game, he occupied the back line throughout every minute of a knockouts run which saw Spain edge past Italy, cruise past Russia for a second time and finish the job off against Germany without conceding a single goal (besides penalties in the shootout against Italy).

Capdevila returned home alongside a team full of unbelievable talents rightly receiving worldwide plaudits, nine of which were named in the team of the tournament along with the golden boot winner and the player of the tournament, but with an equally gigantic sense of pride, national heroism and desire for many more great international experiences in years to come.

On the back of a title-winning debut tournament, Capdevila’s La Roja career continued to flourish. The experienced left-back was a part of 22 of Spain’s 26 fixtures between Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup which included four out of five starts (having again missed the meaningless third group game) in the 2009 Confederations Cup which saw him and his team mates take home a bronze medal.

Heading into the first ever World Cup on African soil in 2010, Spain had won 12 consecutive matches against opponents such as France and Argentina netting 40 times in the process, was the outcome ever really in doubt?

Yes, it actually was for a few days. A sub-standard display saw Switzerland take all three points in their opening group match, that result was soon put to the back of their minds however, as the major tournament maturity started to show. Capdevila and co. finished top of their group after victories against Honduras and Chile, then, for a second consecutive major tournament, they heard the whistle sound in the tournament’s final having not let a goal in during 390 minutes of knockout football that completely consisted of Capdevila’s pitch presence, and with that, of course, the World Cup and the European Championships were theirs.

Spain’s brilliance was undeniable and unstoppable, but the left-back’s brilliance was understated. At 32 years of age, the Villarreal man (the only to start in the final not from Barcelona or Real Madrid) kept at bay Arjen Robben, the marauding Philipp Lahm amongst others during a campaign within an era that combines so many extraordinary elements that still serve as a benchmark in modern day football.

Unfortunately, Joan Capdevila’s late surge as an incredibly talented full-back is rarely mentioned and understandably so given the unrivalled genius of the Spanish, but his achievements as a player and his performances on the biggest stage of all still claim a page or two in Spain’s footballing history, and as a part of one of the best teams of all time, his international career remains overshadowed but outstanding at the top end of football’s most successful ever left-backs. Not to mention he won in all seven of the major tournament knockout matches he played in without conceding a single goal.