Four nations rolled through their 2016 European Championship qualifying schedule unbeaten, and one of them, England will square off against the defending champion Spain in a friendly Friday nightin very different situations.
England manager Roy Hodgson has said he’ll test a few younger players and won’t field Wayne Rooney, even though the opposition is Spain,which like England stumbled out of the 2014 World Cup after the group phase yet presents far more pressing problems for Vicente Del Bosque.
Their qualifying records were nearlyidentical; England won all 10 of its games in Group E while outscoring opponents, 31-3, and Spain lost to Slovakia, 2-1, in Zilnius and won the other nine Group C matches. Given the Spanish ascendancythat claimed a first World Cup title in 2010 bracketed by Euro crowns in 2008 and 2012, its tumble in Brazil seemingly defies explanation.
The causes were myriad, and the ebb and flow offortunes following up a World Cup are well documented if not always comprehended. The Netherlands lost to Spain in the 2010 final, 1-0, and two years later failed to garner a point in its threeEuropean Championship group games. In Brazil, the Dutch fell short of a repeat appearance in the final, on penalty kicks to Argentina, and missed out on the 2016 Euros by finishing fourth in agroup that included runner-up qualifier Iceland.
But the glorious, mesmerizing run of games Spain produced year after year etched a special place in the collective memory of fans, pundits,journalists, and players all over the world. Yes, it plowed to their 2010 crown through a pragmatic series of 1-0 games but few teams could sparkle as brightly on their best nights.
There is tension of politcal origin. Barcelona iconGerard Pique’s staunch support of Catalan independence has prompted such severe jeering from fans of rival clubs that the match against England, originally set for Madrid in the EstadioBernabeu, has been moved to the home of second division Hercules, Estadio Jose Rica Perez in Alicante. Sergio Ramos has withdrawn from the squad with a shoulder injury, yet still Del Bosque hastoo many attacking options to accompany keystone Sergio Busquets.
Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, Juan Mata, Santi Cazorla, Isco, Koke, Pedro,and Thiago Alcantara all logged starts during the Euro qualifiers. David Silva is injured but still Del Bosque could change his midfield entirely for a match with Belgium next week andnot lack for talent.
In goal, David de Gea’s long wait in the wings continues. Several outstanding saves last month in a 1-0 defeat of Ukraine prompted suggestions he replacelongtime captain Iker Casillas, who sat out that match because Spain had already qualified. Critics have been hounding Del Bosque about Casillas since a nightmare showing during a 5-1 thrashingby the Netherlands in Brazil. De Gea is in excellent form for Manchester United but Casillas, who moved to Porto last summer after 15 stellar seasons for Real Madrid, is also playing well, so DelBosque will likely continue his preference for Spain’s all-time caps leader (164). De Gea has seven.
Friendlies are just that, yet in the case of Spain its poor recent record against topnations is unsettling. Since the World Cup, it has failed to score in losses to France, Germany and the Netherlands. Fans and observers accept that change is inevitable in the wake of great playerslike Carles Puyol, Xabi Alonso, David Villa, and Xavi moving on, but the collapse in Brazil has prompted fears that leaner years may be inevitable.
“Given the Spanish ascendancy that claimed a first World Cup title in 2010 bracketed by Euro crowns in 2008 and 2012, its tumble in Brazil seemingly defies explanation.” – no, it doesn’t. Their run started in 2006 after the WC, and lasted until 2013… a run the world had never seen before, they had the longest winning/unbeaten streak in history, and the best team of all time, after nearly 8 years of dominating the world, how can you expect that to go on forever? Their golden generation got old. Of course they are still a very high quality group.
“Yes, it plowed to their 2010 crown through a pragmatic series of 1-0 games but few teams could sparkle as brightly on their best nights.” This is a ridiculous statement. These 1-0 games were due to a world that were afraid of La Furia Roja… every team, EVERY TEAM played hunker down, anti-football against the Spaniards for a number of years.. the WC2010 being no exception. If you’re a baseball person, you’ll understand this analogy… you don’t minimize what the dominating team can do if everyone who comes up to the plate is put on base by a base-on-balls philosophy of the other team.
EXCELLENT COMMENT – WELL SAID “But the glorious, mesmerizing run of games Spain produced year after year etched a special place in the collective memory of fans, pundits, journalists, and players all over the world. “
Del Bosque has ONE MAIN MISTAKE in all his tenure at the helm of Spain… Diego Costa. Costa is a thug, who has never fit into the Spain system. It was obvious to a huge portion of Spain BEFORE Costa was ever called up.
“Pique’s home stadium, the Bernabeu” – how can you make such a glaring mistake?Pique plays for Barcelona, and their home field is the “Camp Nou”. The Santiago Bernabeu stadium is Real Madrid’s home stadium.
I don’t think Ridge was blaming the Spanish side for those boring games (for the reasons you cite). It is difficult to play entertaining soccer when one team is completely hunkered down and afraid to come out to play.
Even the crippled Spaniards destroy England