Spain play the type of football that you want to watch. The game finishes, and you immediately want to find a ball, go outside and play yourself.
Spain hadn’t won an international tournament in 44 years, and hadn’t been in a final for 24 years before Sunday. But, the way that they played, and won, in every single match that they laced up for, is a testament to the sport itself, and the way the game should be played and approached.
I’m going to try and refrain from being repetitive in this article, but it’s hard not to after witnessing one of the most inspiring tournament performances in European history—from a nation of screw-ups no less.
Here are some of my most notable notables from Spain’s dazzling European 2008 campaign.
Marcos Senna was one the most fantastic players of the tournament, holding the midfield in check while protecting the back line with ferocious consistency. I have to say, every time Senna goes into a tackle you’re probably looking at an infraction, but it is a necessary element that has been lacking from a decidedly meek Spanish squad for decades. Pick of the tournament for true all-round football enthusiasts.
Iker Casillas has to be counted as the premier goalkeeper in the world after his performance in this Euro; I’m going to come right out and say it, he’s the best. He was tested once—ONCE—in Spain’s 1-0 win over Germany on Sunday, but even then he was solid. Moment to watch: his flying punch on a dangerous free kick looped into Spain’s box in the second half. Don’t even get me started on the penalties. Magnificent.
A positive collective attitude in both morale and tactical terms pulled Spain towards the finals like a black Andalucian bull. Camaraderie was as high in the Spanish camp as it was unbelievable, considering Spain’s fractured past in football as well as politics.
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6 months ago
First, I respectfully decline the characterization as "a nation of screw-ups". Tournament underachievers, chokers, traditional tournament disappointment: all that's a well-established and therefore fair label "earned" over dozens of years, which this year - at last! - has been shed. I suppose even "tournament screw-ups" is reasonable. But let's just say I'm not entirely convinced that La Liga consists of screw-ups.
With that out of the way, I think the order of presentation is precisely upside down. La Selección has made a quantum leap, bursting through the glass ceiling of potential to reach results, on account of just one man: Luís Aragonés. He's the embodiment of persistence, and stuck with his plan through hell and high water over the past years, when even the Spanish Football Federation FEF saw fit to attempt to derail and sabotage him - right through the very end, even in the middle of this Euro 2008 tournament, when due to a bizarre "initiative" of two FEF officials, Aragonés deal with Turkish club Fenerbahçe was leaked.
I won't divert too much, but Aragonés has weathered quite a few storms, both within and outside Spain. Of course, his somewhat grouchy character made a perfect target; still, it's not an optimum situation to build a cohesive, competitive and qualitative team. Yet he did: he never stopped believing in "his" team, which he modeled with a squad of solid team players, and not flinching to leave some "established" and highly acclaimed players out when their individual charisma threatened to interfere with Aragonés' essential team spirit building enterprise.
The single difference between this successful Spanish national team and previous incarnations is no more than a psychological one; a solid belief in their ability to force the hand of Fortune when needed, if not earning it on the pitch on their own merit. He's been an inspirational and guiding counselor.
As a coach his most notable contribution was his insistence on playing via elaborate, fast one-touch combination patterns. The genius of that approach is that it puts the traditionally very high technical skill levels of players to good use, especially to overcome the physical "handicap" compared to tall, muscular and athletic players elsewhere. His approach was a deceptively but lethal simple one: if we have the ball, they don't. And if we force them to chase it, we'll wear them down physically and gradually open up opportunities to quickly slice through in a counterattack. The two subsequent matches against a highly athletic and technically all-round sound Russia show inexorably that he has a point.
Once his psychological team spirit building took hold, it "clicked" for that other necessary element for any aspiring team: creating a solid backline. Surely it helps to count on a pivotal Puyol, but if the last four don't connect well upfront and the midfield doesn't ply back to support and, moreover, neutralizes the opponent's key player (Senna's critical job) it goes nowhere.
Aragonés convinced the team to play in cohesive unity, with a style that comes "naturally" and intelligently rolls back and forth to probe, find and exploit weaknesses in the opponent. That "intelligent adaptation" was perfectly illustrated in that game that only is interesting for football tactitians and analysts, and otherwise a torturing bore: the game against Italy, where Donadoni's team was forced (due to injuries and absences) to revert to type. The Spaniards adapted to play the Italians' own wait-and-see probing, relentlessly defending, and only occasionally pushing forward, and thereby put the legend of a "weak" Spanish defense to rest.
All that hard work forging a solid, confident, and very cohesive squad led to a strong team - something that showed in all lines, from Torres and Villa upfront to Casillas, and moreover: right through to the reserves. The game of a virtual Spanish Team B against Greece finally demonstrated that Aragonés even had the luxury of rotating out his entire squad, and still could count on that solid teamwork.
It's above all Aragonés' work - the rest is a matter of already present high-quality players falling into place, to finally deliver the result that many people expected for many years.
from 6 months ago
First off mate, I think nationally speaking, they were a nation of screw-ups before this tournament. Not La Liga - Real Madrid is the most successful club of the last century, and Barza has been dominant in shorter spurts. But nationally speaking, on the international stage, I'm sticking with saying that they were screw-ups. Chokers, failures - screw ups! I've been a fan since I was little, and I feel pretty confident saying that.
Second, I didn't get it upside down - I saved the most important bit for last! Obviously, :-P I've already written an article on Aragones, so I didn't want to focus this whole piece on him. I agree with most of what you said about him, you should see the other article.
Thanks for your comment man.
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