2010 World Cup Preview Group H: Spain
By Ty Duffy
“Art is not the application of a canon of beauty but what the instinct and the brain can conceive beyond any canon. When we love a woman we don’t start measuring her limbs.” – Pablo Picasso
Spain has been neither tormented nor tortured at the World Cup. They just haven’t been very good. They choked. They were charlatans. They were perennial underachievers. Despite stocking one of the game’s best leagues and arguably its two greatest clubs, Spain has not made even a World Cup semifinal since 1950. Their culture of soccer fatalism rivaled any other, until Euro 2008.
Things changed in Austria and Switzerland. Spain sent a ludicrously talented team to the tournament and it delivered. Cesc Fabregas’ penalty beat Italy for the first time in 88 years. Fernando Torres’ poke past Jens Lehmann defeated the Germans in the final. Spain were European Champions. “Its Spain” assumed a different connotation for predictions.
The Spanish enter the World Cup as favorites for the first time in history. They have the best starting eleven and best 23-man squad. They have been the best team in the world for two years. Spain fans would have been happy to avoid embarrassment in 2006. In 2010, anything other than outright victory would disappoint.
Form: It’s nearly impossible to play better than Spain. They owned their soft qualification group, with a perfect 10-0-0 record and a scoring margin of 28-5. They are 37-1-2 in their last 40 matches and have won 24 of their last 25. The only loss came against the United States in last summer’s Confederations Cup.
Tactics: Former Real Madrid coach Vicente Del Bosque kept the Aragones system intact, well, except for the gratuitous racism. Spain play the beautiful game attacking and flowing with incisive passing. With Villa and Torres they player a 4-1-3-2 and without one they generally play a 4-1-4-1. Though, Del Bosque has experimented with a 4-2-3-1. Spain may be more versatile and dangerous playing only one striker. Torres’ injury could make that decision politically feasible.
Squad: Iker Casillas was inconsistent for Real Madrid last season, but may be the world’s best goalkeeper. Liverpool’s Pepe Reina and Barcelona’s Victor Valdes are the reserves, though they would walk straight into the starting eleven of almost every team in South Africa.
Barcelona’s Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique are soccer’s best central defensive pairing. Right back Sergio Ramos has been decent, but not outstanding since Euro 2008. Alvaro Arbeloa shifted to left back at Real Madrid last season, and has been adept enough to unseat Joan Capdevilla.
Marcos Senna was omitted from the 23-man squad. Xabi Alonso will replace him. Xabi is a deep-lying playmaker rather than a natural ball-winner, but he’s commanding and authoritative in the middle of the field. His absence was a prominent cause of Liverpool’s decline.
Xavi will orchestrate the attack, as he does for Barcelona. His teammate Andres Iniesta and Valencia’s David Silva will join him on the wings with Villa and Torres up front. An alternative five-man midfield would insert Fabregas into the attacking midfield bank. Spain could also go 4-2-3-1 with Academy Award Winner Sergio Busquets joining Xabi in a holding role.
To recap, Spain have an elite goalkeeper, an excellent backline, the three best passers in the sport (Iniesta, Xavi, Fabregas), four of the five best midfielders adding Xabi Alonso and two game-changing strikers. They have three formidable formations, allowing them to adjust for injuries and different opponents. The players form a cohesive unit, used to playing, and winning, together. They are awesome.
So, Can They Be Beaten? Yes. The Guardian’s resident brain-in-a-jar Jonathan Wilson analyzed the United States’ victory in the Confederations Cup. Spain’s 4-1-3-2 is narrow. They rely on fullbacks getting forward for width. Spain struggled handling Altidore’s physicality and Davies’ speed simultaneously. Davies’ diagonal runs kept the back four from getting forward, allowing the U.S. to collapse into the middle and keep Spain out. The strategy was not perfect. Spain still forced six saves and could have won on a more fortunate day, but it proved they are human.
Prediction: Spain are favorites, along with Brazil. Their group should not trouble them. The probable route to the final – Portugal/Italy/Germany or Argentina – is tough but winnable. On paper, they should win the tournament, but the tournament isn’t played on paper.
Note: Unlikely, but, if Brazil or Spain finish second in their respective group, they face each other in the first knockout round.
Interesting Fact: In Barcelona, public nudity is a codified right.
[Photo via Getty]
Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece
Group C: England, United States, Slovenia, Algeria
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile