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Spain finally ready to pass biggest test

By Simon Kuper
July 8 2010

Alfredo di Stéfano, the Spanish forward, once summed up Spain’s football history in a phrase: “We played like never before, and lost like always.”

On Sunday, Spain should finally win a World Cup. They deserve it not so much on the basis of this month – a mostly mediocre one by their own standards – but because of their uncynical and brilliant football of the past decade.

Spain, in recent years, have finally found their own style: a game that venerates the pass. They are the most authentic team here. They don’t worry about opponents and don’t bother trying to score on the break. When they get the ball, they gather themselves and pass the ball up and across like men filling in a crossword puzzle at speed. Entering the semi-finals, Spain had the best passing accuracy (87 per cent) of any team, according to Opta.
The veneration of the pass originated in the Masía, the brick farmhouse that houses Barcelona’s youth academy. Six of the Spaniards who beat Germany 1-0 in Wednesday’s semi-final are Masía men. One of them, Xavi, has completed the most passes of any player in South Africa, and most of his nearest rivals are Spaniards.

As the tournament has progressed, Spain have become even more like themselves: the big unruly Madrilene forward Fernando Torres made way against Germany for the neat little Masía boy Pedro. Now, only Real Madrid’s big unruly Sergio Ramos sometimes spoils the passing fun for the Masía lot.

Spain have not merely found a style that suits them, but they play it with the best players. Almost all their starters come from Barcelona and Real. No other team here could make the same claim. Only Spain are as strong, man for man, as the best clubs. Yet this friendly bunch isn’t even arrogant. Perhaps their team’s miserable past saves them from that.

Still, Spain have often looked mortal. Xavi and Andrés Iniesta misplaced some passes in early rounds, a career first for both. Torres shore off his locks and lost his strength like Samson. Ramos has often looked dimwitted. Only Iker Casillas, Carles Puyol and David Villa have been on form, and if Villa hadn’t scored five goals, they would have lost like always. Sometimes they seem to pass for passing’s sake, as if the rules say you have to walk the ball into the goal following 100 completed passes.

Knowing exactly how Spain play, opponents have spent months figuring out countermeasures. Spain passed and passed and lost their opening game 1-0 to Switzerland, whereupon Argentina’s coach Diego Maradona quoted his sidekick Héctor Enrique: “If the goals were on the touchlines, Spain would have won 10-1.” Paraguay tried to kick Spain off the park, but the Spaniards scarcely complained or retaliated and won 1-0. They have won only one game here by more than a goal’s margin: the 2-0 triumph over Honduras.

Finally, after five drab performances, they outclassed the Germans. At last Spain looked like the team that had won more than 70 per cent of their matches in a decade – an achievement even Brazil have never managed.

Football’s eternal losers should become the logical winners of this World Cup.