Luis Enrique’s team needs to be more consistent against the greats if they don’t want the round of 16 games to all be a coin in the air
After the clash of shields with Germany, after the draw was passed with the dismissal of a lesser evil, Dani Carvajal said a striking phrase in the mixed zone of Qatar’s Al Bayt stadium. At least it got my attention. “We played this and today it was tails.” This one. What is this? The Real Madrid winger was, of course, referring to a combined, open and risky football that can be beautiful and devastating when it works well, but can also cause serious problems if, due to the demands of the rival, it does so in a flawed way. way. In short, we are talking about a style of play that turns Spain’s games against the greats into a coin toss.
This circumstance invites us to think about the real possibilities of the selection in Qatar, which we still do not fully know what they really are. And when I talk about possibilities, I mean of course winning the tournament. Because Spain can play a good role and reach the semi-finals, just to give an example, everyone takes that for granted. In fact, it is the third favorite in betting after Brazil and France, and millions of football fans admire and respect it for a kind of football that, to its maximum expression of virtuosity and brutality, is dazzling.
The question raised by La Roja has to do with their consistency, a decisive quality for any team aiming to win the World Cup. This is something that many of us learned the hard way, with the didactic power that the great problems of youth have, in 1982. Particularly on July 5 of that year, when Italy became the Brazil of our loves in Sarriá, which of Socrates, eliminated. Zico, Falcao, Toninho Cerezo, Junior, Eder and company. That was a group of artists who left an indelible impression, but when it came down to it, they had to bow to the greater consistency of Bearzot’s ‘azurra’, the future champion.
At this point we have to talk about South Africa 2010, which to date is still the only example Spain has at hand of knowing how to win a World Cup. That team, no doubt about it, was full of great soloists. Most importantly, however, it can also function in a group as if it were the Vienna Philharmonic. Ask the Germans, big fans of classical music. Not only that, Del Bosque’s team was a very consistent group, with a thick skin, to the point of only conceding two goals in seven games. By the way, the first against Switzerland came in a very messy game that Fernandes took advantage of with great luck and the second came from a Chilean Millar’s shot that bounced off Piqué and was poisoned. From the round of 16 to the overall win, no one beat Iker Casillas again.
The games of that team were not a coin in the air. Absolute. Those of us who have had the chance to see them live have never had that feeling, even when they got more complicated, full of knots and traps, and fortune had to lend a hand, as happened against Paraguay in the quarter-finals, for example. Spain has always been superior and always seemed reliable. This is the difference with Luis Enrique’s team, who, if he wants to continue his way to the top, needs more skill and control under pressure – he showed himself again against Germany – and needs to be less vulnerable in the defense than he usually is. against rivals of the same caliber.
La Roja will receive the passport for the round of 16 on Thursday. Except for a big surprise, they are the first in the group, so they have to compete against the second in group F. It could be Belgium, Croatia or Morocco. Assuming this obstacle passes, logic suggests that the rival in the quarter-finals would be Brazil. Big words. Those greats will challenge the ball for Spain and they will work conscientiously to erode the creative core of the squad (Busquets, Pedri and Gavi). On the other hand, they are physically very strong teams and have a lot of talent and speed up front. To overcome them, La Roja has to climb a step in their performance, which means they have to be tougher, better armed. And it is that playing heads and tails from the round of 16 is not a good plan.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
