Spain play Holland in the final of the World Cup. On Sunday, whoever wins, the world of football will have a new and unpublished champion.
But, before I air my views on the game which will bring the World Cup in South Africa to a close, allow me to express my opinions and sensations about the extraordinary semifinal match played between Spain and Germany.
It was a true display of the game of football, of knowledge, of nobility between two great teams. Amid so much generosity in providing the spectacle and just as much respect for the game itself, I think back and ask myself how long has it been since we witnessed such a game, played at such a level, with so much at stake?
For a game like this to be possible, it is not enough for just one team to want it. A happening like this needs two teams who are prepared to give of themselves totally, such as Spain and Germany. Spain won, but nobody really lost, because thanks to the German team, we all emerged winners.
Almost thirty minutes without a foul, the ball hardly left the pitch because showing courage means possessing the bravery to play and not seeking to deceive with cheap tricks.
Football is order, disorder and organization, all qualities which Spain possesses. Seven players on the field play for the same team, Barcelona, and wear all the above qualities like a second skin, the result of a manner of coaching, an individual style and a lot of experimentation and competition.
Order is the idea, the idea is the elaboration, the planning of a game, to keep possession of the ball and then to force the action when the state of play, space or the individual decisions of talented players allow this: Pedro’s sudden bursts of speed, for example, or the deep passes of giants Iniesta and Xavi, or the decisive, steely determination of goal-getter David Villa.
Disorder because the players constantly traverse 7,000 square metres of the pitch and there is no way all these movements can be marked and planned with numbers on a tactical diagram — be they 4-4-2, 3-4-2-1, 4-1-2-3, all of which could just as well be telephone numbers.
Iniesta played through the left, the right or straight down the middle, Xavi stroked the ball to whichever teammate could give it the most effective caress. But also Piqué, Puyol, Ramos, Pedro, and Busquets — all were involved, everybody contributed their thoughts, all ready to take the risks. Almost the whole team was permanently in the opponent’s half. Piqué and Puyol constantly at the centre circle, combining themselves into an exceptional two-man defence, forming their own little secret society, courageous as few before them. It is this kind of strategic disorder which allows Spain to organise itself in a way which is very difficult to control.
Germany was pure nobleness. However, they seemed under pressure when in possession of the ball, they wanted to play, in fact they never gave up trying. But Spain was always there, always in action, re-taking possession of the ball and playing their own game.
So then, how to get out of this siege situation? Somebody could have said: “Let’s try a long ball into the opposing half and get into the Spanish area”. It seemed on the night however, that someone had forbidden this new German trait, the new philosophy which first began in 2006 and which, the team, still being young, will surely take forward into the future. (c) 2010 César Luis Menotti, distributed by gms