Category Archives: Spain

On Losing

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Paolo Uccello, The Battle of San Romano
“Now that the World Cup is over and the Spaniards and everyone else who admired their elegant way of playing soccer is happy, and the few nations whose teams either exceeded expectations or did okay in the month-long tournament have returned to their normal lives, the fans in underachieving countries are still fuming, many of them destined to recall for the rest of their days how their side either disgraced themselves, or were the victims of gross injustice. For those of them that have been following their national team for years, they’ve most likely already suffered more than any holy martyr in the history of the church, and yet it’s doubtful that even one of them will go to heaven, because they cursed and swore till they were blue in the face each time their team lost.” (NYR – Charles Simic)

New FIFA Rankings

“No surprise — Spain is the new No. 1 in the world rankings released by FIFA only days after the completion of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Brazil, ousted in South Africa by the Netherlands, was replaced by the Dutch as the No. 2 team in the world. The rest of the top five: Brazil, Germany and Argentina.” (NYT)

The W-W formation: the future?!

“It is hard to envisage how formations will evolve in response to the current formational hegemony 4-2-3-1. It is an adaptable format which matches up well against other approaches. Two defensive midfielders provide a shield for the back four, which allows the full-backs to advance. The attacking midfielder has the freedom in behind the centre-forward to influence forward play without being mired in the opposition’s central defence – and they also prevent the team from being outnumbered in midfield.” (World Cup College)

Brazilian league lacks bite

“Spain or Barcelona? No contest. Week in, week out, Barcelona combine the midfield interplay of Xavi and Iniesta with the cutting edge of Lionel Messi, Daniel Alves and co. The comparison serves to confirm the impression that these days club football is of a much higher standard than international – as long as we restrict the debate to the major European leagues. The big clubs in Spain, England, Italy and Germany are in front of the national teams because of the time their players spend together and because they count on the best talent from all over the planet. When the World Cup stops and domestic football returns, the level of play goes up.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)

The final analysis, part five: Iniesta takes up increasingly advanced positions before pouncing

“The first sign that Andres Iniesta was the danger man came midway through the second half of normal time, when he found himself through on goal (pink), but took too long to get a shot away.” (Zonal Marking)

Not For Glory Alone

“Two billion souls: One must begin with that. That’s how many people, or nearly so, sat or stood in view of television screens to watch twenty-two men kick a white ball around a green field on a warm July night in Berlin four years ago. The twenty-two men comprised the men’s national soccer teams of Italy and France. The occasion was the final game of the 2006 World Cup. The cagey match, as the world now knows, turned on an extraordinary event near its end when France’s captain and star, Zinedine Zidane, strode toward the Italian defender Marco Materazzi and, for reasons unknown, drove his bald pate into the taller man’s chest. The motion mimicked one he’d used a few minutes earlier to head a flighted ball inches over the Italians’ goal, coming ago nizingly close to winning the day for France. Now Zidane was expelled, his team was rattled, and a player in blue whose name few outside Umbria and Trieste recall darted inside a player in white and curled the ball inside the French goal with his left foot, cueing images, on countless flickering screens around the planet, of his countrymen celebrating Italy’s triumph in the floodlit waters of the Trevi fountain in Rome.” (Laphams Quarterly)

“They Didn’t Have to Deserve It … They Were Just Playing”

Andrés Iniesta
“His control of the ball, his first touch, looked just a tiny bit heavy by the exalted standards of Andrés Iniesta. The football popped up in the air and seemed to hang there, as Iniesta turned toward it with intent. Around the world we held our breath or shouted out or just waited to see if, after two hours of soccer, we would at last see a goal, and thus be spared the cheap drama of a penalty shootout to decide the destination of the World Cup trophy.” (counterpunch)

The final analysis, part four: second half changes on the flanks

“As the game wore on, Arjen Robben took up even more advanced and central positions when Holland had the ball. Indeed, the shot below sees Robben (green) about to race through for his one-on-one with Iker Casillas, and the Spain defence temporarily looks like a back three up against two strikers, with two man-markers and Gerard Pique (yellow) as the sweeper.” (Zonal Marking)

Del Bosque finally proves he’s far more than just a player’s coach

Vicente del Bosque
“‘Vicente del Bosque is a lovely man.’ Rarely has anyone been quite so damned with faint praise; never has a human strength been so readily and immediately presented as a professional weakness, a quality presumed to be a defect. Del Bosque is indeed a lovely man, a good man — impeccably polite, overwhelmingly decent. Loyal, humble, kindly, he is like a favorite uncle with a bushy ‘tache, a portly belly and the warmest of handshakes. But by extension, by definition, he is not much of a coach. After all, nice guys come last.” (SI)

Diego Forlan Deserves the Golden Ball

“World Cup 2010 has been done and dusted, as we have found a champion out of the 32 teams competing for the biggest prize of all in footballing universe, Spain, as well as Thomas Muller, the winner of the Golden Boot award and also for the young German to officially announce his arrival in world football. However, there’s still one more award which drew quite a lot of criticisms and that’s the Golden Ball award, awarded to the best player in the tournament. In World Cup 2010, the winner is Uruguay’s Diego Forlan, and many pundits and fans, especially Internazionale fans out there feel that Forlan is not a deserving recipient of this award, as they feel that Wesley Sneijder, the runners-up for the award, or in other words the Silver Ball winner of this tournament who should have been the recipient of the Golden Ball.” (Beopedia)

World Cup scouting: The 32 – Conclusions

Antonio Di Natale
“Starting with Nicolás Lodeiro back in December last year, Football Further selected 32 players to watch out for at the 2010 World Cup and then tracked their progress through the tournament via weekly scouting reports. Below is a full compilation of those reports, along with conclusions (and marks out of 10) on how each player performed.” (Football Further)

From Total to Anti-Football: Why Holland Lost, and I’m Glad

“Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll provide you with all the post-WC analysis you can handle, but for now, let’s talk about the final. As I was watching the game, I didn’t have a strong rooting interest either way, but I expected a great game. Both teams were stocked with All-Stars at virtually every position. The Spanish had won Euro; the Dutch were working on an undefeated tournament. Although the score line of a lot of the Spanish games this tournament were not as impressive as some of the other teams (Germany for example), anyone who watched a Spain game – watched the execution, understood their dominance on the ball, marveled at their ability to play ‘keep away’ after scoring a goal – knew that they were impressive. Meanwhile, the Dutch had seemingly rolled through the tournament and they managed to defeat mighty and heavily favored Brazil. This game was to be an epic showdown.” (Yanks are coming)

The final analysis, part three: brilliant Busquets

“As is customary after a Spain or Barcelona success, the performance of Sergio Busquets (two La Ligas, a Champions League and a World Cup after two seasons of professional football) has largely been ignored. In the World Cup final he was one of the key players for Spain – keeping Wesley Sneijder quiet, providing his usual solid, reliable passing from a deep midfield position, and dropping between his centre-backs to turn Spain’s 4-2-3-1 into something more like a 3-3-3-1 or 3-4-3 when in possession.” (Zonal Marking)

‘Octodamus’ and other surprises – Eduardo Galeano

Mensaje de Eduardo Galeano para América Latina Cartagena de Indias, Julio de 1997
“Pacho Marturana, a man with vast experience in these battles, says that football is a magical realm where anything can happen. And this World Cup has confirmed his words: it was an unusual World Cup. The 10 stadiums where the Cup was played were unusual, beautiful, immense, and cost a fortune. Who knows how South Africa will be able to keep these cement behemoths operating amid pulverising poverty? The Adidas Jabulani ball was unusual, slippery and half mad, fled hands and disobeyed feet. It was introduced despite players not liking it at all. But from their castle in Zurich, the tsars of football impose, they don’t propose. …” (Dispatch)

The final analysis, part two: different ways of dealing with wingers

“Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s lack of pace was cited as a potential weakness before every Holland game, and the Dutch captain seemed to acknowledge his weakness in that respect. Therefore, he made sure to stick tight to whichever winger he came up against. Here, Pedro comes very deep to get the ball, and van Bronckhorst tracks him all the way.” (Zonal Marking)

All Hail Spain, Champions Of The World

“Obviously, for a football snob like myself, even the best televised football is a poor substitute for watching a couple of Scottish lower league sides playing kick and rush on a muddy pitch, but I have to say I enjoyed that World Cup. More than any other since 1994, at least, though admittedly I didn’t watch so much of the last couple. Maybe there weren’t any real classic games like the Romania v Argentina game of that year, or France v Brazil from 1986, maybe there weren’t many outstanding individual performances, but after a quiet start it developed into an enthralling tournament.” (twohundredpercent)

World Cup 2010: A tactical review

Marcello Bielsa
“At the dawn of the tournament Football Further posed ten tactical questions that the World Cup would answer. Three days after Spain’s tense extra-time victory over the Netherlands in the final, the answers to those questions reflect a tournament in which defensive rigour was overwhelmingly de riguer and tactical innovation conspicious by its rarity.” (Football Further)

The final analysis, part one: the basic shapes, and pressing

“Here is Holland’s basic shape when they have the ball with their goalkeeper, Maarten Stekelenburg. This shows their defence (red), their holding midfielders (yellow), the attacking band of three (green) and the striker (blue). Note how wide their side is, starting from the centre-backs. Another interesting feature is how much more advanced Mark van Bommel (the right of the holding midfielders) is compared to Nigel de Jong.” (Zonal Minute)

Spain’s success could inspire Brazil’s return to attacking style

“The status of the Brazilian national team — and its value to its international sponsors — does not rest solely on the fact that it is the only country to have won the World Cup five times. It is a style thing. There is a way of playing associated with Brazil, joyful and expressive, which has made the Selecao a favorite of people all over the planet. Inventors of the joga bonito, Brazil is sold as the spiritual guardian of the game.” (SI)

A Reaction From the Streets of Catalonia

Catalan
“Standing on the streets of Barcelona – capital of Spain’s Catalonia region – last Saturday, one would have had no idea that the country was preparing to watch its national team compete in the World Cup the very next day. That afternoon, over a million people flooded the downtown to protest a decision issued Friday by the country’s constitutional court striking down some provisions of the territory’s 2006 autonomy statute.” (TNR)

Finale

“Two days after the World Cup final, the whole event seems slightly surreal. I’m returning from South Africa today, having survived on my last day here a gauntlet of baboons and a march up a gorgeous mountain, after arriving on the 26th of June just in time to see Ghana beat the U.S. I’ve had the privilege of watching seven games, including the Cape Town semi-final and the final in Johannesburg. I’ve come to know and love the vuvuzela — and, yes, I’m bringing one home to blow at Duke soccer matches this fall. It was rapture on many levels, and now it’s passed.” (Soccer Politics)

Spain’s Moral Victory

Nico Di Jerlando. …A MORAL VICTORY AND HIS SPIRIT LIVES ON FOREVER…
“Sunday was a moral victory: Spain clearly deserved to win not only the World Cup but also the actual game at hand. The great Johann Cruyff came out today and accused the Dutch of being anti-football and, among other crimes, ‘hermetic.’ He’s right about the anti-football. The Dutch strategy was as predicted: Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong set out to kick the Spanish into submission so Robben and Sneidjer would have a chance to win the game for Holland. Spain refused to let this happen and, as with Germany, imposed their methodical game of possession, albeit with more bruises, and won, as they so often did, 1-0.” (The Paris Review)

A Reaction From the Streets of Catalonia

“Standing on the streets of Barcelona – capital of Spain’s Catalonia region – last Saturday, one would have had no idea that the country was preparing to watch its national team compete in the World Cup the very next day. That afternoon, over a million people flooded the downtown to protest a decision issued Friday by the country’s constitutional court striking down some provisions of the territory’s 2006 autonomy statute. That legislation devolved a number of important powers to the region, but was challenged by the country’s conservative political party, the Partido Popular. In their ruling, the judges found that “Our constitution recognizes no nation but Spain,” in effect dealing a blow to Catalan nationalists.” (TNR)

“dick tuinder on holland winning the world cup” – dick tuinder

“Yes, I also hope for a dutch victory,
if only to reward the high expectations of the dutch,
and the incredible deception that awaits the populous
(and my dear son) in case of a spanish defeat.
Although it does seem that the spanish,
as a nation, need it more these days.

It has been complete madness these last few weeks here.
It lead me to the conclusion that people will take any
excuse to go out of their mind.
It is a most peculiar thing.
On the other hand, like that thing called love, it has a lot to do with beer.”

Spain 1-0 Holland: Iniesta settles a tight game

“Spain are the World Champions. They were the better side and played a more positive, cohesive brand of football throughout. There were no surprises when the team line-ups were announced just over an hour before kick-off, they were as predicted in the preview. Vicente del Bosque kept with the side that beat Germany in the semi-final, meaning Pedro Rodriguez started ahead of Fernando Torres. Holland, meanwhile, welcomed back Gregory van der Wiel and Nigel de Jong from suspension, meaning they returned to their first choice XI – as evidenced by them lining up with the numbers 1-11.” (Zonal Marking)

Spain dominates in distinctive way

“Now, that is a postmatch interview. And what a difference a month makes. At the end of Spain’s first match at this World Cup, a 1-0 loss to Switzerland, Sara Carbonero was waiting in the tunnel for Iker Casillas, clutching a microphone. Now, for those who have not been acquainted with her, Carbonero is a journalist and interviewer with the Spanish television channel TeleCinco. She is also Casillas’ girlfriend. Not that you would have known it as she held out the microphone and asked bluntly: “How did you manage to lose that?” Casillas barely looked her in the eye, mumbled some cliché and departed.” (SI)

It’s not the Cup, it’s the qualifying

“A European team has finally won the World Cup outside its home continent. More than that, for the first time since 1954, Europe is now ahead of South America in the number of World Cup wins – with a strong advantage. Europe has staged the tournament 10 times and South America just four – but in 2014 the World Cup will return to the continent of its birth for the first time in 36 years.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)

The 2010 World Cup Final: Netherlands 0-1

“It’s a curious sight. The BBC’s panel is sitting, for the first time in this tournament suited and booted, in its base studio outside the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, almost eight hundred miles from Johannesberg, where the match itself is being played. It looks deserted, behind them. It probably is – everybody will be at home, watching the build-up to the 2010 World Cup final. Still, at least they won’t have anybody banging on the glass behind them and laughing at Alan Shearer’s male pattern baldness. The preamble to this match carries a somewhat curiously dislocated air to it. The Netherlands have never played Spain in either the European Championship or World Cup finals, so there is no historical precedent between the two teams that can particularly drawn upon, no matter how irrelevant it may be.” (twohundredpercent)

Spain v. Netherlands – Red Herring Revisionary

“The end of the World Cup is like quitting smoking cold turkey, only you can’t cheat. No matter how hard you try, no matter how many old recordings you have of classic games, the sensation, the media overload, the frenzied tidal wave of live games cannot be reproduced. As the tournament progresses, the teams get eliminated, and the games get even tighter, you find yourself searching for an equivalent fix. But there’s no hidden pack in your car’s glove compartment. There’s no friend who you can bum a smoke off of. There’s just an old archive of youtube clips, a tome covered in dust wit a few words written about something that people back in the day thought was exciting. Take a deep breath. And try to hide your disappointment.” (futfanatico)

Front Page: Barcelona Win The World Cup

“Most of the Spanish newspaper front pages today go with a variation on a simple ‘Spain, world champions’ headline (as El Pais does), but as commenter ursus actos noted yesterday in our discussion of Catalan nationalism and the complicated support for Spain’s national team in the region, a victory for Spain could easily be seen as a victory for Catalonia, with half the Spanish team having also represented the Catalan national team.” (Pitch Invasion)

Taking a turn ‘in the woods,’ confronting the goalkeeper’s choice

“As Paul the Octopus shows, a life fully lived—even as an exotic sea creature—involves choice. Probability experts could state the odds of Paul’s being right about the World Cup final between Holland and Spain. Every cephalopod is due a hot streak. Theorists of chance and the mind long ago started applying their models to football games, with special attention to the penalty kick.” (The Global Game)

Spain wins first World Cup on Iniesta’s goal late in extra time

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“Spain rules the soccer world, winning the World Cup at long, long last. It came after an exhausting 1-0 victory in extra time over the Netherlands on Sunday. Two years after winning the European title, the stylish Spaniards did even better.” (ESPN)

Did Spain Deserve to Win?
“The best part of this match was that it ended before penalty kicks, where the Dutch could have squeezed out a win and enjoyed the fruits of their goonish performance. Simon Kuper wrote a great column in last week’s Financial Times, where he bemoaned how Holland had turned away from idealism in its football and in its politics.” (TNR)

World Cup 2010 final: Andrés Iniesta finds key for Spain to beat Holland
“To Spain the glory of a World Cup triumph in which they prevailed over a deplorable Holland side that was reduced to 10 men when the English referee Howard Webb eventually dismissed the Dutch defender John Heitinga with a second caution in the 109th minute. Cesc Fábregas, on as substitute, fed Andrés Iniesta to score the winner seven minutes later.” (Guardian)

Netherlands 0-1 Spain (aet)
“Andres Iniesta struck a dramatic winner late in extra time to give Spain World Cup glory for the first time but condemned the Netherlands to their third defeat in a final. Iniesta drilled his left-foot strike across goal – but the Dutch were incensed after referee Howard Webb had failed to award their side a corner moments earlier when a free-kick took a sizeable deflection off Cesc Fabregas.” (BBC)

Netherlands 0-1 Spain – Video Highlights, Recap, Match Stats – World Cup – 11 July 2010
“The 2010 FIFA World Cup final featured two sides who had never won the title as the Netherlands faced Spain. The Dutch have played in two previous finals while it was the first for the Spaniards.” (The 90th Minute)

Holland v Spain: tactical preview

“So here we are, the biggest game in football. A clash of the two most successful sides in World Cup history to have never won the trophy itself, it is tactically fascinating in a historical sense. Taking into account both the qualifiers and the six World Cup games itself, Holland are P14 W14, Spain are P16 W15 L1.” (Zonal Marking)

Ballet of Frost

“Someone wrote on Twitter yesterday that “Is Spain boring?” is the new “Will soccer ever make it in America?” And yes, it is, in the same way that it’s the new “Can Lampard and Gerrard play in the same midfield?” and possibly the new “Can Asians think?” It wants a word, nevertheless, if only because Spain-Germany was so divisive; and because this is the World Cup final, and a bubble of resentment against the pre-tournament favorites and anointed Best Team on Earth is one of the conditions in which history’s about to happen.” (Run of Play)

Spain vs. The Netherlands: A Neutral’s Dilemma

“World Cup soccer is often the continuation of war by other means, a ritual reenactment of past conflicts that allows those who perceive themselves as victims to claim some sort of symbolic vengeance. Algeria’s coach sought to raise his players’ passion for their showdown with England by showing them watch The Battle of Algiers, a movie depicting their country’s battle for independence from France. England’s tabloid newspapers couldn’t resist the temptation to evoke memories of Churchill and World War II in their coverage of the match against Germany. And most Argentines have little problem with Diego Maradona’s 1986 ‘Hand of God’ goal against England, coming just four years after hundreds of their soldiers had been killed in a war with Britain over the Falklands/Malvinas islands.” (TIME)

England left behind in a world for the fleet of foot

“This was the World Cup that killed the fixed identity. At assorted moments in the preceding years Brazil woke up and wanted to be Germany, the Germans decided they would quite like to be Dutch and Holland thought it would be a good idea to make a pantomime horse out of an Italian rear and a Spanish front.” (Guardian)

The Football Stamps of Spain – Los sellos de fútbol de España

“Following on from yesterdays post featuring the football stamps of the Netherlands today it’s the turn of fellow 2010 World Cup finalists Spain. The first Spanish stamps to feature a football theme were released in 1960 as part of a 12-value set commemorating various sports.” (footysphere)

Slavoz Zizek Predicts the World Cup Final

“Despite the parakeet, the octopus, and an assortment of other animals, only one entity can accurately predict the World Cup final: Slovenian philosopher and critical theorist Slavoj Zizek. We had a quaint chat with the man to wax Marxism, the Lacanian real, and Mark Von Bommel. What he had to say will probably only confuse you, unless of course you obtained a doctorate from the European School of Philosophy. But not the University of Chicago – everybody knows those hacks just say really big words. Ahem. Now onto the interview!” (futfanatico)

Thirteen World Cup Theses

“1) Nobody plays “total football” any more, so please stop referring to it unless you are providing helpful historical context. Even if you call it Totaalvoetbal, teams would get slaughtered if they tried it against modern tactical sides. 2) The current Dutch team aren’t the “heirs” of anything except perhaps the drills created and overseen by coaches and trainers at Ajax’s football academy. 3)…. (Run of Play)

Zero Hour in South Africa

“There are two games left. The third place playoff takes place on Saturday, Uruguay against Germany in a game often described as one nobody wants to play in. It can be well worth watching though—teams have been known to forget about tactics and play with something approximating wild abandon, which in this World Cup will come as some relief. Then on Sunday, it’s Spain against Holland; one of two favorites going into the tournament against the perennially-highly-fancied World Cup bridesmaids.” (The Paris Review)

The Beautiful War – Rinus Michels & The Reinvention Of Dutch Football

“One of the more surprising requirements made of the Dutch team playing in this week’s World Cup final is that it is not enough for them merely to win the tournament. They are still widely expected to win it with style, and this level of expectation is largely the responsibility of one man – Rinus Michels. Never mind the fact that the Netherlands has a population that is one-third that of England, or that they didn’t even qualify for the finals of the competition between 1938 and 1974. The Dutch team that Michels built inspired such awe that the burden of expectation continues to cast its long shadow more than three and a half decades after it made its debut.” (twohundredpercent)

Myths Of The Near Past

“I’m loathe to mention him here, particularly in a vaguely positive light, but Nick Hornby once said something interesting about football. It was in Fever Pitch, if I remember rightly, and it was to do with the way that supporters tend to use players as a mirror of their own values. So, a certain kind of middle class, thinking man’s fan will praise players for their intelligence and their artistry, particularly ones with a ‘cultured left foot’.” (Minus the Shooting)

Stars as Teammates: Not a New Concept

“Welcome to the World Cup, where every team is the Galácticos. The nickname refers to Real Madrid, the most famous and successful soccer club in the world, which has made a practice, in the past generation, of spending enough money to recruit Zidane and Beckham and Cannavaro. Oops, almost forgot Cristiano Ronaldo.” (NYT)

And Then We Came to the End

“In the World Cup, as in any tournament, half of the field is eliminated in the first round, and half again in each succeeding round—a method of crowning a champion devised by Zeno and guaranteed to bring the whole thrilling spectacle to a buyer’s-remorse anticlimax. (You can see the diminishing interest in the now-trickling coverage in outlets both mainstream and semi-pro.) Whichever second-rate European nation triumphs on Sunday—if they can control the midfield as smugly as they did against Germany in Wednesday’s semifinal it will surely be Spain—will look a lot less truly top-dog than simply last-man-standing.” (The Paris Review)

Tiki-taka and Total Football

“Spain Soccer News Topics are currently averaging 1.17 goals per game at this World Cup Soccer News Topics, sitting right behind the United States (1.25) in 12th place out of the 32 teams who started the tournament. Of course, unlike all but one of those teams above them (the Netherlands, in 3rd place, averaging 2.00 goals per game), they still have a chance to win the whole thing. But that hasn’t stopped the criticism of Spain’s ‘dull’ play.” (Big Soccer)

Orange Devolution

“Like all soccer writers, I have a debilitating nostalgic streak, and like all soccer writers, I love Holland. The Dutch, who face Spain in Sunday’s World Cup final, are soccer’s most gorgeous losers, a team defined by a single generation of players who brilliantly failed to reach their potential. The Dutch teams of the 1970s—led by the mercurial Johan Cruyff, who’s widely considered the greatest European player of all time—launched a tactical revolution, played one of the most thrilling styles of their era, and lost two consecutive World Cup finals in memorable and devastating ways.” (Slate)

How to Stop Them? (Part 1/2)

“The semifinals of the World Cup 2010 have come and go. Holland managed to overcome the resilient but under strength Uruguay in a thrilling 3-2 encounter, while Spain finally managed to shake off their ‘flopping on a big stage’ curse and cruised to the final to face Holland after totally turning off the goal tap of Germany and finished them off by a narrow 1-0 scoreline. Holland and Spain will battle it out in a high stakes battle to become the very first European nation to win the trophy outside of their own continent and also for each of them to win the thing for the very first time in their respective histories. One main question which is undoubtedly in the minds of everyone associated with the respective teams the moment Spain defeated Germany 1-0 last night is surely just like what the title above is saying, ‘How to stop them?’. The following will be some possible ways that could be employed by the respective teams to halt the other in their quest for glory. In this first part, it will be about how to stop the first team that reached the final, and that’s Holland.” (Beopedia – How to Stop Them? (Part 1/2), How to Stop Them? (Part 2/2)

The Question: What have been the tactical lessons of World Cup 2010?

“This has been the tournament of 4-2-3-1. The move has been apparent in club football for some time; in fact, it may be that 4-2-3-1 is beginning to be supplanted by variants of 4-3-3 at club level, but international football these days lags behind the club game, and this tournament has confirmed the trend that began to emerge at Euro 2008. Even Michael Owen seems to have noticed, which is surely the tipping point.” (Guardian)

Exclusive Soccer Club? Not Anymore

The Lower Buttons – Intogeymy 1967
“Arriba, Puyol! That’s how I will think of him from now on, this muscular defender, with his ringlets flopping all over the place, leaping above the tall timber of the German defense and heading the Spanish where they have never been before. Carles Puyol looks so much bigger in the photos, but in reality he’s short for a central defender, reminding me of Yogi Berra, who could hit a ball off his shoe tops and send it over a building in the biggest of games. Puyol can leap beyond his 5 feet 10 inches and did it in the 73rd minute Wednesday night to give Spain a 1-0 victory over Germany.” (NYT)

German counterattack negated by Spain’s dominant possession

“So in the end, Germany came up against a team that could defend, and the great counterattackers were exposed in a 1-0 loss to Spain in the World Cup semifinals on Wednesday. Without an early goal to protect, without opponents that poured forward and left spaces behind them, the Germans were left bereft, and as they chased a goal in the final stages, it became clear just how limited they are as a creative force.” (SI)

Spain 1-0 Germany: Pressing, passing and Puyol

Carles Puyol “A narrow but deserved victory for Spain, who simply carried out their gameplan more effectively than their opponents. There were two issues to be decided with the starting line-ups. Joachim Loew chose Piotr Trochowski ahead of Toni Kroos to replace Thomas Mueller, whilst Vicente del Bosque finally dropped Fernando Torres, opting for Barcelona’s wide forward Pedro instead.” (Zonal Minute)

Puyol’s header enough to advance Spain to first World Cup final

“Spain outplayed Germany yet again. And now the Spanish have the biggest prize of all within their sights. Spain will play for the World Cup title for the very first time, thanks to Carles Puyol’s goal on a powerful header in the second half Wednesday night. The 1-0 victory over Germany was a repeat of the teams’ meeting in the European Championship final two years ago, which gave Spain its first major title in 44 years.” (ESPN)

World Cup 2010: Germany 0-1 Spain
“Two years is not a long time in football, especially when you consider that national sides evolve, certainly more than club sides. In that respect, you would have expected quite a few rematches from European Championship finals happening in subsequent World Cups. However, of the twenty-six finalists in the first thirteen European Championships, six of them have failed to qualify (including Czecholslovakia Denmark and Greece, who were European Championships), and three others have failed to get out of the group stages.” (twohundredpercent)

Germany 0-1 Spain – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – World Cup – 7 July 2010
“Germany faced Spain with a spot in the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals on the line. The winner would face the Netherlands in the final on Sunday while the loser would play Uruguay in the third place match on Saturday.” (The 90th Minute)

Spain optimistic despite facing their toughest game

“Confidence in Spain’s World Cup hopes has been fragile ever since Gelson Fernandes bundled home Switzerland’s winner in their opening group game. Concern at their lack of fluidity has expressed itself in the form of debates about tactics and personnel, the latest of them revolving around Fernando Torres’ misfortunes in front of goal. Yet since Saturday’s nervy win over Paraguay that faith has suddenly returned, a strange turn of events considering the identity of Spain’s semi-final opponents, the form team of the tournament.” (WSC)

Germany v Spain: tactical preview

“The pre-tournament favourites versus the most impressive team in the competition so far. A repeat of the 2008 European Championships final it may be, but this is completely different contest. For a start, David Villa and Mesut Ozil – the two star men – were not involved two years ago. Of the Germans, only Miroslav Klose, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski remain in the same positions from that final, whilst Spain will start with a different formation to in 2008, even the side contains a number of the same players.” (Zonal Marking)

The World Cup and National Narratives

“As I mentioned when we discussed what constituted an American-style of play here a couple of weeks ago, outsiders like to form a stereotypical view of how a national team plays based all-too roughly on certain past performances. It helps us organise stories in our heads about each team when the World Cup rolls around every four years.” (Pitch Invasion)

I tipped Spain but Germany’s pace could expose them

“Everyone wanted the FA to build its own version of Clairefontaine when France won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship and they had a consistent production line of young talent. Now the talk is of copying the coaching system that produced the young Germany team that has excelled in South Africa. The debate is cyclical but what is constant is Germany’s ability as a tournament team. Eleven World Cup semi-finals since 1954 says this isn’t a recent phenomenon. It says they’ve had it right for over 60 years.” (Guardian)

Europe is still football’s dominant force

“Wasn’t it just a few glasses of Chardonnay ago that European soccer was melting faster than a wedge of warm Brie? France, Italy and England — three of the continent’s soccer superpowers — had gone home in various levels of disgrace. To make matters worse, all five of South America’s entrants had moved on to the knockout round, with all but Chile winning its group.” (ESPN)

The Currents of History: What does it take to win the World Cup?

Giovanni Battista Di Jacopo, Pieta
“‘What does it take to win the World Cup?’ asked Henry D Fetter of The Atlantic a couple of days ago, in a post called ‘What It Takes To Win The World Cup’.” (Pitch Invasion)

Özil the German
“No player has fascinated me more at the World Cup than Mesut Özil. He has the languid self-assurance on the ball that comes only to the greatest footballers. Where others are hurried, he has time. He conjures space with a shrug. His left foot can, with equal ease, caress a pass or unleash a shot.” (NYT)

Tap-in and Taboo
“If this happens, what will people say about Bryan Thomas (on Twitter, in newspapers, on comment threads)? Will anyone say that he has violated the ethics of the game, that he deserves further punishment? Will anyone argue that the rules of the game need to be changed so that teams cannot benefit from committing a penalty? I suspect, rather, that Thomas will be generally credited with a very smart play. How is what Luis Suárez did at the end of yesterday’s match against Ghana any different?” (Run of Play)

when i get older
“Brian at the Run of Play did a very good job crushing the idea floated in The Atlantic that countries with an authoritarian history play more winning football. The idea memed, nonetheless. (Shocked that highbrow soccer dorks — my favourite phrase this World Cup, used by TNR Goalpost to describe their ideal reader base) appear not to check RoP before coffee.) Laughable, snobbish solipsism — it’s not just for FIFA anymore, kids.” (Treasons, Statagems & Spoils)

Time Can Do So Much
“What I want to know is whether we’ll remember any of this in ten years, or if we’ll look back on it as the mass blackout during which we all wrote mystic texts. I can’t remember two more deranged or thrilling days of soccer, or four more shocking games, in any recent tournament, and Euro 2008 made me compare Aphrodite to a Toyota Prius. It was all the more stunning because it came out of nowhere—that’s not to say this World Cup had been boring, but it had rolled along at a pretty regular tempo and, apart from a few moments of madness and bliss, within a fairly livable emotional band.” (Run of Play)

Argentina Flounder Before German Unity

“Out of the chaos of the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup has come some degree of consensus. If today’s newspapers have one theme running through them, that theme is that Germany are currently the best football team in the world and that, to a point, it would be a travesty if they didn’t win the competition. All of this is somewhat odd, since it is effectively an admission that they got their predictions wrong before the start of the tournament (there weren’t many in the mainstream press that didn’t predict Brazil or Spain), but this groundswell of opinion has been building for the last few days.” (twohundredpercent)

Spain 1-0 Paraguay: Spain squeeze out a result again

“A familiar story for Spain. Good ball retention, a struggle until Torres departs, and Villa saves the day, scoring in a 1-0 win. That could quite easily be a description of their previous game, against Portugal. Spain lined up with their usual lopsided 4-2-3-1 formation and the expected XI, whilst Paraguay made six – yes, six – changes to the side that scraped through against Japan in the previous round.” (Zonal Marking)