Win for Spain means victory for football

In a World Cup in which conservatism has taken a front seat and defensively orientated tactics have led to a below average goal return, Spain won an important victory for attractive, attacking football on Tuesday night, when they beat Portugal 1-0 in a compelling Iberian showdown in the second round.

It wasn’t a classic by any means, partly because of Portugal’s defensive stability, but the game was lifted when David Villa eventually broke through the opponent’s stubborn back line to grab the winner, taking his tally to four in this competition. That puts El Guaje level with Gonzalo Higuain and Robert Vittek at the top of the scoring charts and moves him to within one goal of Raul’s Spanish record of 44.

For a long time on Tuesday, the game looked destined to end in a stalemate, but a second half change by both managers just before the hour mark ultimately decided the encounter.       

Carlos Queiroz could make a very strong case for having formulated the best defensive blueprint of any team in this competition. He would have a very competitive rival in Dunga and his innovative Brazilian system, of course, as was evident when the two nations cancelled each other out to sleep-inducing effect when they met in the group stages.

Any one of Portugal’s defenders would be contenders for the team of the tournament so far, and Fabio Coentrao, Bruno Alves, Ricardo Carvalho and Ricardo Costa were tight as ever in the face of Spain’s multi-layered attack.

Queiroz made special amendments to reduce Xavi Hernandez’s influence on the game by playing Real Madrid centre back Pepe in a holding midfield position. Pepe’s job was to limit Xavi’s space, which he did well, but no one can stop the Barcelona playmaker from getting on the ball. Tiago Mendes and Raul Meireles completed the Portuguese central midfield three, with instructions to disrupt Spain’s rhythm.

Spain tiqui-taca midfield always dominate possession, it doesn’t matter whom they play. That is partly due to the fact that they have the most technically gifted passers in world football and partly due to their shape.

With the ball, Vicente Del Bosque’s team set out in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with David Villa high left, Andres Iniesta high right and Fernando Torres furthest forward. That was adjusted slightly to a more restrictive 4-4-2 shape when they were defending. Iniesta’s natural tendency to drift towards the middle of the pitch meant that Spain often outnumbered the Portuguese central three, as Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso (holding) and Xavi and Iniesta (roaming) amounted to a numerical advantage.

Sergio Ramos and Joan Capdevila also supported in wide areas high up the pitch so, at times, it looked like Spain had as many as eight players knocking on Portugal’s door. This made La Roja most vulnerable to the counter-attack in wide areas, but Simao Sabrosa and Cristiano Ronaldo failed to successfully exploit this potential weakness.

The reason why Spain are able to play this system unlike, say, England, is because, with two defensive midfield players in Busquets and Alonso, they have a contingency plan if they lose the ball, as those two are never caught out in the offensive third, which can not be said of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry. Sergio Busquets rarely moves more than ten to fifteen yards away from his centre backs and Xabi Alonso is always close to him. In addition, Spain seldom lose the ball unnecessarily, which is precisely where England’s lack of concentration, ill-discipline or plain technical inferiority lets them down. Also, in Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol, Spain are blessed with far more pace than England with John Terry and Matthew Upson.

But enough about why Spain are vastly superior to England. In this match, Portugal held their own until midway through the second half. La Roja had the possession and territorial advantage for most of the game, but there were a couple of scares for Vicente del Bosque’s men. Most notably in the first half when Iker Casillas had to block a Tiago effort from the edge of the box and then tip away the rebound as the physical presence of Hugo Almeida closed in, and in the second half when Almeida’s searching cross deflected off Puyol and looped just wide of Casillas’ far post.

The turning point was the first set of substitutions on 58 minutes. Del Bosque retired Fernando Torres, who was dangerous here without hitting top form, and replaced him with Athletic Bilbao’s more obvious target man, Fernando Llorente.

Queiroz’s move saw Danny replace the tiring Almeida, which meant the Zenit St Petersburg midfielder playing wide right and pushing Cristiano Ronaldo alone up front, where he would find himself completely isolated from the game.

It was immediately obvious which change had been more successful. Llorente nearly scored within minutes of his introduction as he dived on to a Sergio Ramos cross to head the ball straight at Eduardo from point blank range. He should have scored, but he was already looking more incisive than Liverpool’s number nine had been.

Llorente was also involved in the build up to Spain’s goal as laid the ball back for Iniesta to roll to Xavi who flicked it into David Villa’s path, and Barcelona’s new signing took two efforts to eventually beat Eduardo on the rebound.

It says a lot for Spain’s mentality that the match actually livened up after they took the lead. It would have been most teams’ prerogative to retreat into a defensive shell but Del Bosque urged his side forward in search of more goals. This stretched the game at both ends and made for a fantastic finale.

The similarities in mentality and style between La Roja and the current record-breaking Barcelona side are deeply manifest, which is really no surprise when you consider that the spine of this Spanish team is made up of Los Cules finest.

Pressing down the pitch, keeping hold of the ball and tiring your opponent by making them chase pass after pass is definitely the best form of defence. And this against the considerable Portuguese talent; compare it to England’s “run it into the corner” tactic employed against lowly Slovenia and we have another prime example of where the Three Lions are going wrong. Spain won the game in style. Portugal were quite desperate in defeat, especially after Ricardo Costa’s late sending off for an elbow on Joan Capdevila.

Next up for Del Bosque’s side is the encouraging prospect of a quarter-final against Paraguay, which, if they win, will lead them to a mouth-watering semi-final against the winner of the Argentina vs Germany match. Spain is certainly looking likely to record its best World Cup finish since 1950; but finishing 4th would surely be an insult to this side’s potential.