Posted on
7/10/2010
Discuss It With Asif On: Twitter
Day 29 - 3:00 p.m. EST
Despite their crisp passing and possession oriented football, solitary moments of brilliance have defined Spain’s march to that country’s historic first World Cup final.
The reigning European champion has never reached this stage of the tournament that it covets most. But they were always meant to be here, weren’t they?
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| David Villa (#7) is a five-goal hero for Spain in the 2010 World Cup. (Getty) |
Three and a half weeks after that humbling 1-0 defeat to Switzerland in the Group H opener, Spain is now in a position to make that their only loss and leave South Africa as just the eighth champion of the world’s game.
It’s always better to lose the first match than the last.
Spain didn’t do much wrong against Switzerland. It held a 63%-37% edge in possession and outshot its opponents 24-8. What lacked that evening in Durban was a burst of individual glory from one of its many superstars.
Worse still, their most reliable man – captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas – made an uncharacteristic error in judgment that helped to deliver the Swiss victory.
After the loss Casillas pronounced “I think the way we play the game will bring us rewards … Spain always (gets) back up after a fall.”
They haven’t fallen since.
Instead of panicking, Spain stuck to their game plan. In doing so they rolled over Honduras with similar dominance on the ball and attack, this time David Villa hitting for a brace to make all their hard work count for three points.
Next, Chile felt the wrath of Spain’s fury in the Group H finale. On this occasion Andres Iniesta led the charge after Villa again put La Roja ahead with another breathtaking strike.
Portugal was no match for Spain as the intensity of the passing game picked up in the Round of 16 under the guidance of midfield maestro Xavi. His cultured back heel threaded Villa toward goal and the Iberian derby was settled soon thereafter.
“We’re taking things step by step,” said Villa in his postgame comments. An understatement if there ever was one in this tournament. They were at this point storming through their opposition.
Nobody will care that Portugal beat North Korea 7-0. Nor will they remember a moment of involvement from Ronaldo as he was tactically marked out of the match by Spain’s “vigilant” defending that coach Vicente del Bosque praised after the game.
After Villa, Iniesta and Xavi had proved their worth one by one, it was Casillas’ turn at redemption.
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| Still struggling for fitness since a season-ending knee surgery in April, Fernando Torres has yet to score a goal for Spain in South Africa. (Getty) |
The captain earned it by smothering Oscar Cardozo’s penalty against Paraguay. It was yet another in what was now becoming a string of remarkable efforts to take Spain from one stage to the next.
Buoyed by their captain’s remarkable spot kick save, Spain rampantly went on the offensive, leading to Villa’s fifth goal after excellent work from Iniesta and Pedro on a quick rush up the pitch.
This all led to the day Spain was to be eliminated by Germany in the semifinals. The Mannschaft had scored eight goals in their two previous outings, pounding England and Argentina for four apiece. Pundits felt Spain were unconvincing since they hadn’t bagged as many goals.
German striker Miroslav Klose was surely riding on that confidence when he gave his side the edge in a pregame press conference. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, herself weighed in on a 2-1 decision for her country. Even The Christian Science Monitor – that paragon of football knowledge – called Germany “the team to beat” ahead of the semifinal because of its ability to score goals at will.
Observers who watch football for goals alone, miss everything else that’s great about the sport. Spain hasn’t done much wrong aside from a lack of abundant scoring – which is unnecessary anyway, if a team controls the flow of the game, as Spain does.
The Germans hit the English and Argentines early and then capitalized on the counter when those teams were forced to go forward. As a result, Germany’s goal count was slightly inflated. Spain not only didn’t give Germany the luxury of an early advantage, but put them under siege with fluid midfield passing from the first whistle.
As the match wore on, the question remained who would ignite that single spark that would give the Spanish a deserved victory. A new hero emerged in the form of an old warhorse, 32-year old defender Carles Puyol, who broke the German resistance with a leaping header at the 73rd minute.
The man who delivered the ball to Puyol’s head, Xavi, put aside a poor performance against Paraguay and emerged as the man of the match. “We dominated Germany,” he later said. Only a handful of people and an octopus had predicted as much.
Spain has displayed the most dominant team football in this World Cup on a consistent basis. Beyond that, they are even more special and dangerous due to these moments of singular inspiration that has carried them into the final.
Villa, Iniesta, Xavi, Casillas and Puyol have all delivered. Is another protagonist set to emerge on Sunday?