After years of under-achievement, Spain finally cast off their reputation to win the European Championships two years ago, with Villa ending up as top scorer with four goals to his name although he missed the final with a thigh problem.

Spain have been drawn in Group H alongside Switzerland, Honduras and Chile, with Villa, who joined Barcelona from Valencia earlier in the summer, admitting it is somewhat of a voyage into the unknown (Spain 2/9 to win their group).

The 28-year-old told FIFA’s website: “We could have been drawn against theoretically tougher opponents, but they’re still going make life difficult for us.

“We don’t know much about Honduras, but they’re a solid unit and deserved to reach the World Cup.

“Switzerland are young, dynamic and play a more European style. In my view, Chile are the most dangerous group rivals given their great performance in South American Zone qualifying.

“They’re a very compact team, very competitive and also very dangerous going forward.”

Spain’s Euro 2008-winning squad featured the likes of Iker Casillas, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, David Silva and Fernando Torres, and the vast majority of Luis Aragones’ squad are on board again under Vicente del Bosque.

The new faces are Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Juan Mata, Javi Martinez, Jesus Navas, Pedro Rodriguez and Fernando Llorente – and Villa claims the squad is a settled place to be ahead of the World Cup.

He added: “A few things have been tweaked, but the structure of the team remains intact.

“We’ve got plenty of football still in us, a lot of seasons still to play together and we’ve already won trophies. This team is a continuation of the previous one.”

Villa (8/1f) looks set to partner Liverpool’s Torres (14/1) up front and the Barcelona man claims it’s a marriage made in heaven.

Villa revealed: “We’ve been playing together for a long time now. The fact that we get on well together makes a difference out on the field.

“That’s not vital because at the end of the day you only really need to click on the pitch, but because we’re friends it makes everything very positive.

“The way he plays really brings the best out of me and vice-versa. We’ve got a good partnership and have been proving that for some time.”

Only Germany in 1974 have followed up a European Championships win with a World Cup victory.

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