Liberation of Spain: How good taste in the game and common sense retired tiki-taka | Eurocup Germany 2024

The Spanish team earned the admiration of fans and journalistic critics waiting on the pitch for the Eurocup. This has its merit, since it did not appear on the tournament’s advertising poster, and there were serious doubts about its aspirations even in Spain. Expectations were lower due to the lack of figures and the controversies that arose in recent tournaments, especially the World Cup, eliminated, as was the case in the last matches against Russia and Morocco. The scepticism was so great that if it was noticed in their first matches against Croatia and Italy, and then against Albania, it was due to uncertainty, a circumstance that ultimately turned out to be an advantage, since due to the difficulties related to the quality of the opponents, the Spanish team, which played very good football, much better than, for example, France, England and perhaps Germany.

The match against the hosts was billed as the tournament’s standout after the good performances of both sides and recent precedents, especially the 2010 World Cup semi-final, when Puyol’s header gave Spain a place in the final. The Netherlands. It was a very German goal for a team that, after the revolution of Luis Aragones, had been particularly nourished by the refined football of Barça, the character of the Madrid players and the know-how of Del Bosque. The name sublimated the model conceived by Cruyff and developed by Guardiola. The cult of this style of play ended when the team of world champions and two-time European champions was disfigured and defeated in an exercise in egocentrism called tiki-taka, to emphasize its inoffensiveness and unviability without Xavi, Iniesta or Busquets.

The losses were so great that the last trophy won in 2023 in the League of Nations was not even celebrated. It is not even clear whether the ideal football formula has finally been found in Germany. In any case, the news is that the team had neither the attack of style, nor the fury, nor the dogmatism, it is far from imposture and is seized by a good taste for the game, common sense, without any other tasks than trying to win every game. as if it were the last until reaching the final on the 14th, if possible. This is socialized football, without sponsors and slavery, free from debt, from the personal and tactical yoke, far from noise, conflicts and tensions, independent of clubs. and the bipolarity of the League. Not a collective of authors, but a plurality, seducing with self-love, harmony and diversity of the game, arranged by de la Fuente.

Although this is a team built to have the ball, dominate, attack and press, it can also counter-attack without anyone screaming, just as losing possession does not mean giving up on individuality, especially when you are winning 3-0. The team is stretched and no longer spins the game, as is the case with England, which Southgate has turned into a washing machine, and does not use the ball to rest and ensure that nothing happens (France is an example), but instead uses the pass to damage the team and resort to shooting to finish the game, avoid counter-attacks and overcome walls, as in Georgia. The ball does not pass from foot to foot, it moves quickly and vertically, with just a few touches, from one side to the other, moving by changing the orientation so that the forwards opening the field collide and overflow, helped by a full back turned into midfielders and crowned a unique performance at the European Cup.

Spain are a modern team that boasts two strikers that combine it with classic football, players who replace midfielders and false strikers, players who also act as soloists without losing the feeling of the team, the protagonists of the tournament above Mbappé or Cristiano Ronaldo. Lamine Jamal and Nico Williams symbolize the change in Spain’s football records. Dribbling and deception, the ability to accelerate and stop are highly valued technical gestures in a football that has recently been very even, physical and predictable, more concerned with not conceding than challenging, without the risks that Spain takes. The team has very inventive and creative players, and at the same time they enjoy the game as a community, without unleashed egos – the only dispute is whether Pedri or Olmo should play – and they act naturally, since Spain has stopped playing against Spain.

The question is how mature such a highly rated team will be to face Germany and defeat the host team of a European Championship or a World Cup for the first time. Some Germans have already arrogantly noticed in their opponents on Friday in Stuttgart a certain childishness and naivety typical of a youth team. It remains to be seen how such a versatile team with such skill will react to attacks and miss chances, as happened in some moments of the debut against Croatia. On the other hand, we should not ignore the fact that Spain is one of the teams that commits the most violations – especially to facilitate an exit – and that it has conceded only one goal and an own goal – Le Normand. The question is which of the two teams has found its way after a long period of separation of successes and defeats to qualify for Euro 2024.

In anticipation of the reunification, the Spanish team’s trip to Germany was very useful because it managed to become the protagonist of the tournament thanks to its good football, without the participation of propaganda and with a federation in permanent crisis after the departure of Rubiales, always linked to it. on the field and away from the bustle of the previous ones and the hangover, so that each of its matches in the European Cup is awaited with the greatest anticipation.

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