There is a word in Spanish used to describe someone or something that is unbearable, something up with which one will not put. The word is insoportable. I used to find the national sporting press in Spain to be insoportable when any football tournament got under way, much as I have already detailed in a previous post. By extension, I would also find the Spanish national team to be unbearable and, in fact, unsupportable.
Something in the bold red print of the sports pages managed to filter into the national psyche and to manifest itself in the national squad in the form of arrogant, stuff-strutting attempts to walk the ball into the net. It was underlined by the attitude that Spain did not have to modify their game for anyone and that they would win doing things the way they had always done them. They never seemed to make the connection between their immutable and predictable style of play and the single trophy it had yielded in over a century of effort. It should be noted that this trophy was gleaned from a four-team tournament in Spain (under Franco's rule) against the USSR in what was viewed, at the time, as the triumph of the right over the left - a victory that never escaped the murky, shadowy influence of the (rather surprisingly) round-chinned Generalísimo.
This evening, as Spain face Italy in the quarter finals, images of Luis Enrique's broken nose (courtesy of Tasotti’s elbow) are all over the Spanish press. The appetite for revenge is immense.
I fear for Spain. I fear that they will try to short-pass their way through the game, past (or passed) the Italian defence, past Buffon and into the net. If they choose to play that way then they will lose because Italy will sit back, let Spain play in front of them and catch them on the break or from a set piece. It will be effective too because Sweden nearly stifled Spain using just that tactic and Italy are much, much better than Sweden. It was interesting that Spain scored their goals against Sweden through an unconventional (quite superb) finish from Torres and, what was effectively, a long ball up from defence to Villa. If Spain are not willing to vary their game then they are in serious danger of doing what they always do, i.e. exiting the tournament in the last eight.
18/06/08 saw Spain play an apparently meaningless game against Greece (with a line-up replete with many players unlikely to be first team selections). The most interesting thing about it was that they beat the tournament’s most negative team (a team that took the lead through a set-piece and readied itself to defend) with their 'B' team - but with Xabi Alonso at its heart. He was a colossus - shooting and nearly scoring from the halfway-line, shooting again off the inside of the post from well outside the box, passing the ball superbly (metronomically when he had to yet willing to vary short and long passes, get the ball behind defenders and around them etc).
Despite a relatively quiet season at Anfield (due to injury and consequent loss of form) he was full of energy, invention and creativity. He brings vision and variety to the team and a nuanced approach that mixes patience and urgency in appropriate measures. I don’t know who to sacrifice from the star line up to make space for him, but I do know that the Italians will not be able to read him as easily as some of ‘first’ team selection.
Xabi, then, could be the difference between exit this evening or a berth in the semi-finals - the difference between a supportable and an unsupportable Spain.
1/2 time and 2 observations.
1) No Xabi.
2) So far Spain are doing exactly as you feared. It’s currently got 1-0 to Italy written all over it.
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:38 pmI fear we’ll see boring, boring Italy playing Germany in the final. And I fear that we’ll see them grind their negative way to a 1-0 win.
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:19 pmThis is beginning to look like penalties - and I can only see one winner there. Even if Italy get through Russia have it in them to tear them to shreds if they play anything like they did against Holland - so the grinders may get their comeuppance yet.
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:28 pmWell I was right.
I was wrong (I meant, of course, d’Italians)! And very glad to be wrong. Sapin showed some cojones considering the circumstances. Bye Bye Italy. You will not be missed.
Now we’ve got Spain v Russia part 2 to look forward to. Bring it on!
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:26 pmI wouldn’t have bet on Italy losing a shootout. There’s always the possibility that, far from revelling in a new-found reliability, the Spanish are merely ratcheting up their traditional choking game by leaving it until later in the tournament. Still, if ever there was a choking test, a shoot-out against Italy would surely be surpassed only by a shoot-out against Germany (an eventuality which may yet emerge).
I hadn’t paid him much attention until I read Gobsheen’s amusing reference to the “hilarious “won’t he or won’t he?” Luca Toni scoring show”, but Jaysus, that Toni is donkey, isn’t he? He’s like a big lumpy “stopper” from a mid-table premiership club who decided one day he wanted to be a striker.
June 22nd, 2008 at 11:42 pmI thought that Italy were shoo-ins based on the way the game had gone - not because of their record.
Going into last night’s shootout Italy’s record (in major tournaments) was played 6, won 2, lost 4 (now lost 5). Not wildly impressive. Spain weren’t much better - played 5, won 2, lost 3. Darragh Moloney suggested that Spain’s only previous victory in a penalty shootout was against Ireland (bah!) in 2002. Not true - they beat Denmark in the Euro 84 semi-final on pens. Go stand in the corner, Darragh…
Anyway, a major psychological barrier has been overcome by the Spanish. In years gone by they’d almost inevitably have bottled it in such circumstances. They’d have gone into the shootout feeling wounded and aggrieved by the Italian approach (and their own inability to turn constant pressure into goals - or clear cut chances) and they’d have blown it.
They’ve every chance of winning it now - though who’d bet against an irrepressible young gang of Russians?
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:57 amInteresting shoot-out stats there Fustar. I had always classed Italy along with Germany as one of those balls-of-steel teams who could be relied upon not to flake when it came to penos. It seems this perception had no basis in fact.
“who’d bet against an irrepressible young gang of Russians?”
In days of old, the BBC used to “adopt” a lowly non-league club playing in the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup, pledging to follow them “all the way to Wembley”. Usually the chosen team would be beaten in their first game. Undaunted, the beeb would simply adopt the team that beat them, and continue in this manner until the final. In that spirit, I’m attaching my affections to the Russians, who won this dubious honour by beating my Dutch boys. But really, a victory for any of the three remaining non-german teams would make me happy.
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:22 amArgentina are probably the only team who push the Germans even reasonably close in the “balls of steel” stakes, True, they did lose their last shootout in 2006 - but you’ll remember who that was against. The Germans!
While I’m sure an improbable Turkish victory on Wednesday would have me leaping from my seat with joy, I’d actually nearly prefer a German win for the sake of a competitive final. Whoever wins on Thursday will have my unwavering support. I’m leaning toward the Russians, because rarely (if ever) have I seen a relatively unfancied team completely dominate illustrious opponents in the way they did on Saturday. It was magical stuff - relentless and unshakably confident.
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:12 pm