It was just two years ago when Germany played Spain in the final of the 2008 European Championship. In that game, Fernando Torres was the difference between both sides. Today, it’s another game completely where Germany must be seen as the clear favorites to advance to the final. But never underestimate the Spaniards.
Braking news: Pedro will start instead of Torres for Spain.
In many ways, today’s game for Spain is a pivotal moment in their history. Does the team deserve to be considered one of the best in the world or are they going to crumble once again as they have done so many times in previous World Cup tournaments?
Before, during and after the game, feel free to post your comments in the section below. Let’s hope that this is a wonderful game of football to watch. I certainly hope so.
I wonder how this Spain would do if they restricted access to Catalan and/or Barca outfield players.
A Catalunya XI would basically be a Barca 11 and in this case more than half of Spain’s team.
Puyol was a lion on the ball and from a defensive perspective + scored the winner. All credit to Germany for defying pre-tournament odds.
Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Pique, Sergio, Pedro and Villa are all Barca so 7 starters for Spain are signed with Barcelona
actually 8 if you go Barca or Catalan: Capdevila has some Catalunya caps as well. and while Ramos & Alonso are unquestionably great players, I wonder if maybe this team would be better without them
Hi Alex,
I get your point. I misunderstood and thought you were talking about Barca players only and not Catalans in general.
Xabi Alonso has actually been a disappointment in the WC so far. Well I think Alonso and Casillas haven’t had the best of tournaments. Ramos has been inconsistent. It might be politics forcing the Coach to pick three starters from Real Madrid to balance the others from Barcelona.
Barca’s the most entertaining side in the world and the only additions to Spaniards on the team (who are key players) are Messi and Seydou Keita (Henry rarely played and will be offloaded while Ibra slowed down and was on bench in the latter stages of the season).
Hold on Mrs Know-it-all Schweinsteiger is pro not wooden
Spain’s got to find a way to deal with Germany’s height on defense. Xavi having an excellent game so far — making Schweinsteiger look wooden.
“Spain’s got to find a way to deal with Germany’s height on defense.”
-Don’t know… I’d say Germany very lucky to have not conceded a goal. still impossible to call though. Germany look very dangerous on their much rarer chances but I’d assume Spain shut down the game if they get one….
Do you make any changes if you’re Spain? I like Germany’s substitutions.
Spain has most of the ball during the game, therefore making Germany look a lot under their skills. They also have to watch the height differences on headers. Other than that… Spain has a very good chance at beating Germany.
Good luck to both Teams.
Why is Germany shading so much to Iniesta?
Why are they only showing the defensive breakdown on the goal? Iniesta had acres of space on the play that earned the goalsome corner
weird
I wonder who the octopus predicts for the final?
Hi Scott,
Agree Re Villa’s tendency to flop. I think the difference is how Robben makes it look even worse and indirectly provokes opponents.
As for R.v.P, it’s been documented by various sources that he does not get along with Sneijder. The two apparently had their issues during Euro 2008. Robben is on good terms with Sneijder, so that could explain why R.v.P looks isolated sometimes.
I just hope Final will see more open play but I know this won’t happen because the stakes are very high indeed. These players know they might not get a 2nd opportunity to play in a WC Final. I think the Dutch players could be in danger of getting yellow cards in the first-half if Xavi and Iniesta maintain control forcing the likes of v.Bommel to execute some crunching tackles.
As to flopping, I agree but I find it hard to place much blame on the players whether it be Robben or Villa or whoever. There really are 2 things that get me: when one player or one nationality is blamed for it when others are doing it as well and more importantly that those in charge don’t do anything about it. As it is, there is a perverse incentive for the players. I mean how much can you really blame Suarez for punching the ball when the rules are crafted to reward his behaviour in that exact situation? It’s the same with diving. I personally think that FIFA should enact strict penalties and then deliver them even handedly. At minimum UEFA should be moving in this direction. And the suspensions have to be clear and announced ahead of time. Too often the penalties are whimsical and driven by press hysteria like the Eduardo dive a few years back.
Agree R.v.P Sneijder Robben. That being said, I think that they are likely to put aside the feud for this game but only because it is final.
As to the play. I really don’t know what to expect from the Netherlands on this one. Taking something out of Mourinho’s playbook would make a lot of sense but if it is truly Mourinho like, it’ll have a surprise as well. I don’t expect Spain to deviate.
hope the final is a lot better than that
Scott,
Dutch will likely play defensive. With all respect anyone who says this Dutch team plays “total football” has not watched any of the Netherlands games because this team relies on defending deep and getting players in numbers behind the ball and then relying on Sneijder and Robben to do something.
I expect Final to be similar to Germany vs Spain with the Spaniards patiently looking to break the Dutch’s defensive strategy.
Rami,
I have no problem with defensive. I find joy in things like good tackles and smart tactics but I’d say Spain (despite having the better players) won today because Germany was sloppy and for the third time their youth betrayed them. Of course I follow Chelsea and Palermo so maybe I have skewed perceptions.
As to the flow of play, it probably comes down to whether there is an early or somewhat early goal. If Spain gets one, then they’ll go into the highly effective defensive possession play to choke the life out of the game until/if an equalizer comes. If the Netherlands grabs one then we’ll probably get something a lot more exciting to watch (like Barca chasing Inter). That said, I expect a bit of magic from Sneijder so either way you’re probably looking at a much more exciting match
I think Xavi & Sneijder will be key for each time. I just hope Robben will not be flopping around (and same for Torres if he starts).
The problem is it’s a high pressure game so either team will attempt to shutdown the opponent if they score first.
The only difference is I believe Spain’s defensive line is better than Holland’s. The Dutch had some lucky calls vs Uruguay and prior to that had F. Melo to save them against Brazil. Even against Slovakia the Dutch GK saved 2 certain goals when the score was just 1-0 for the Dutch. The Netherlands have a susceptible back-line.
The problem for Spain is Torres isn’t 100% so they don’t have anyone to act as a complementary player to D. Villa and if one looks at games Villa is playing more and more on the left wing or even sometimes attacks from the right as opposed to being a central striker. Germany have Klose, Dutch have R.v.Persie, but Spaniards seem to have no fixed presence inside the penalty area of the opponents. Even Pedro was more withdrawan than usual in his position.
They key is to hope as you and Gaffer said for a good game and I’d add perhaps a few goals for entertainment and minimal flopping and acting.
Rami,
I’d be very surprised if there isn’t a lot of flopping but I’d include Villa to the chief culprits there…. I’d also add Iniesta and de Jong to the big players to watch. Not sure if it matters if the Dutch have Van Persie as Robben and Sneijder appear very uninterested in using him. I’m sure his talent and pace create space but it’s almost like they think that he’s Emile Heskey. Find it odd too that Kuyt isn’t getting more touches when he has space
Like Scott said, let’s hope the final is better than that. Spain was in slow motion for most of the match. Definitely the opposite of Premier League soccer.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Spain play patient football, but as I mentioned before this is first true test for Germans and they couldn’t score first to run rampant on the counter.
I predicted a Spain vs Brazil in the Final before the tournament began and if it were not for the F. Melo Show against the Dutch it would have been Spain vs Brazil.
I think the Dutch were lucky against Brazil and Slovakia and then got the key calls in their favor against Uruguay as the officials seemed desperate to punish Uruguay for the Suarez handball against Ghana.
the Dutch have been lucky but so have Spain (and Villa most particularly). But you need some luck, whether it be to get through tight spots, a lucky swerve, to get a penalty instead of a simulation call, the right matchup, et cetera.
Hello Scott,
I totally agree with the need for luck! Even Brazil of WC1994 needed luck to beat Italy in the Final on penalties. However, the Dutch’s luck has been over the norm:
- Two deflected goals credited to Sneijder
- Van Bommel escaping yellow cards on at least 2 occasions against Uruguay
- Offside goal by Sneijder vs URU if one checks carefully the replay. It’s not a defender giving a back-pass in this case.
- F. Melo put on a show for the Dutch with his own-goal, red card and fault on goal from corner as he did not properly mark Sneijder
- Against Slovakia: best chances in 2nd half were for Slovaks before almost an open net allowed Dutch to score 2nd goal.
- Robben yet to be cautioned for his persistent flopping.
I don’t really disagree with much here but I would say that I think the Sneijder goals were going to go in whether they were deflected or not and that the only place that those are consistently marked as own goals is in Italy
definitely agree with the Sneijder offside goal. that was one of many really really bad calls and Robben acting like a fish out of water but I’d also say that Villa’s dive to get the PK against Paraguay was right up there
Yes, very different to the Premier League, thank goodness. It’s not necessary to try and do everything at breakneck speed and in fact, almost impossible, as Argentina found out. The Spanish style of play is vastly superior to the ‘Oh my God, I’ve got the ball, now what do I do with it’ approach. Headless chicken football might enthuse some but it’s a poor substitute for skill.
Smart move to bring Torres in at the end there — Villa was getting some real room as Germany pressed forward at the end there. Torres was bound to get some some room to work (which he did). Too bad Pedro couldn’t reach him for that one break.
Acctually when i watched the game agian from last night I saw more paralels with the 74 team then I expected.
Here some total footballl basics apperent in the 74 78 and 2010 squads;
1 The team spirit and will to fight for every ball
2 Hunting on the ball when opponent is passing. Although the 74 team was master in this and did it most impressively.
3Changing positions with several strikers during the game.
4 Using break outs to reach the other end goal with 3 touches. In fact holland in 74 already played some kind of counter attack football mixed with hunting on the ball with the whole team, including strikers, which van persie and robben and Kuyt were doing yesterdAY also.
5 Always assisting and mending the mistakes made by other members of your team, OPERATING AS 1 unity.
6 The will to score an extra goal when the score was already 3 to 1 and where most european teams start to dig in.
7 Most of all there is the same mood of strength , invincibility, balance and control that surrounds the team when they move the ball and move forward.
There were some moments when i saw almost the team of 78 again and in the way they were playing with grace and force whenever needed the most.
all the above mentioned are traits of total football and when we continue like that we can have a good chance against spain
At the end, the team which won- Spain- deserved to win it when compared with the Dutch who clearly got away with a few mysterious calls from the referee who should have sent off 2 Dutch players.
In the second-half and extra-time, the referee was seen as a weak man so the Dutch players became even more aggressive yet he also was unable to control some flopping from the Spaniards who couldnt cope easily with the aggressive nature of the Dutch.
The Fact the Ref failed to send-off van Bommel and De Jong meant the other Dutch players were emboldened to keep tackling recklessly while the Spaniards resorted to some flopping.
Ugly series of plays and an interrupted final due to fouls and rough play but the Spaniards deserved to win.
Hello!
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Hi, I am newbie.This is my frist thread …lol.
say hello to everybody.