Miguel Reina was a substitute for Spain in the summer of 1966 when they met Germany for the first time at the World Cup finals in England. It would seem his son, Pepe Reina, is destined to pretty much do the same when the two countries meet forty four years later in Durban on Wednesday – unless Vicente Del Bosque has an outer body experience and suddenly drops Iker Casillas of Real Madrid for the semi final.
As a man not driven to extremes and radical behaviour of his predecessor, Luis Aragones, it would be a fair bet that the Liverpool goalkeeper will be a bystander for his World Cup match as well.
In predicting the outcome of this encounter the Spanish press and players are naturally happy to refer all doubters to the result of the EURO 2008 Final as the best indication of the Germany’s potential footballing fallibility - given the glory and pride that came following Fernando Torres goal in Vienna. And why not?
It was an exceptional achievement for the National team by a new generation of players who fulfilled the potential that for so often failed to materialise at major footballing events. The victory lifted that weight from the national psyche and as Iniesta, Xavi, Alonso, Villa and Company approach the meeting with Germany they believer in the new status quo – where Spain don’t expect always lose against Germany.
So now the national worry is over confidence.
Undoubtedly they have reason to be confident given the group of Barcelona players that currently form the backbone of the team -following their second la Liga title this season - with Pique, Busquets, Puyol, Victor Valdes and Pedro the supporting cast to the midfield dynamos that are Iniesta and Xavi. But in this German side they face the intellect of Joachim Loew who with masterly tactics has undone the World Cup winning ambitions of Fabio Capello’s, England and then the unpredictable genius of Diego Maradona’s, Argentina.
Without doubt this game will be won on the whiteboard in the team meeting room over the coming forty eight hours as Loew sets his team up to pick apart the weaknesses of Spain in the same manner that John Terry and Matthew Upson were spread by the deft and speedy running of Miroslav Klose. So too will Sergio Ramos be punished for any marauding runs down the flanks by an ever vigilant Lukas Podolski ready to break wide any chance he gets. The agility of movement of play maker Mesut Oesil must already be giving Carlos Puyol sleepless nights as his shortness of pace will be no match for the German.
Although Cesc Fabregas made the difference for Spain when he came on against Paraguay Del Bosque is going to have to consider man marking, to some degree, Bastian Schweinsteiger in the middle of the park if normal service to the German advance division - operating on the edge of the box - is to be cut off. If Fabregas is not the choice, it may mean sacrificing the ball distribution skills of Alonso to cover that role every time the German move midfielder moves forward.
To choose not to restrict Schweinsteiger is too big a risk as he too will run at the Spanish defence posing a variety of headaches for Pique who prefers to clear high crosses than chase people down half his height with the ball at their feet.
World Cup history, which up to this year’s tournament counted as what racing pundits might call “form”, needs to be rewritten as Uruguay are not supposed to be in the semi final, Brazil should not have lost to Holland and Paraguay had no right to make it to the quarter finals out of the same group as Italy. However when it comes to Germany and the World Cup, history always seems to count, as they always beat England and have been known to undo Argentina on occasion– even with Maradona in his hey day and the same with Spain.
In the summer of ’66 the Spanish side were living through another golden era having won the 1964 European Nations Cup, as it was called, hosted in Spain by beating Russia two goals to one at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. Therefore team that played at Villa Park were capable of causing an upset even with Franciso “Paco” Gento on the substitutes bench. On the day they fell short despite going ahead early in the game.
In the end Uwe Seeler fulfilled the script adding a second goal in the 84th minute and Germany marched on to that infamous final at Wembley against England. The next meeting in the 1982 World Cup was in Round 2 where they were drawn in the same group as England and Germany playing all their matches in the favoured Bernabeu.
In July of 1982 England again failed to beat Germany with the game ending goalless and Spain arrived to play Germany burdened with the pressure despite having a competent side mostly made up John Toshack's successful Real Sociedad team that were dominating La Liga at the time - which included, Miguel “Periko” Alonso in midfield, Father of the current Real Madrid player, Xabi Alonso.
On the night Pierre Littbarski and Klaus Fischer scored the two goals that mattered and although Spain replied late in the game it was game over in favour of Germany. As the Spanish players made their way home Germany marched on towards the final in the Bernabeu – after disposing of France and Patrick Battiston in the semi final in Sevilla - ultimately losing to Italy.
In USA 1994 the meeting was at the less consequential group stage in Chicago with passage to the last 16 at stake amidst rival teams such as Switzerland and Bolivia .When both teams met at Solder Field, Germany arrived having reached the finals of EURO 1992 in Sweden, losing to Demark, and the Spanish team fielded a cluster of Barcelona players - amongst them Rafael Nadal’s Uncle, Miguel Angel, and the current Barca Manager, Pep Guardiola.
The end result was a one all draw leaving both teams to qualify for the next stage with Spain losing out in the quarter final to Italy and Germany losing to Bulgaria at the same stage.
Now in South Africa Spain have travelled beyond their previous experiences at World Cup level
In truth the Germans have what the 1974 World Cup winner Rainer Bonhof described as “a bill to settle with Spain" given that one error from Philip Lahm in Vienna was punished by the ruthless finishing of one Fernando Torres – who two years later is but a shadow of the player of 2008.
Joachim Loew’s new breed of 2010 are not unlike Luis Aragones' team as the Germans are improving with each game and have a variety of options through the team. If you add to that the tactical sophistication of the Loew, Han Dieter-Flick and Oliver Bierhoff you have a formula that might just see them overcome the open flair and passing ability that Del Bosque so passionately encourages in the teams he manages
Not withstanding the unpredictability of this World Cup and the failure of precedent to accurately dictate the outcomes of many matches, that all too familiar feeing abounds once again all around - that Germany always seem to reach the final - and win.
No reason to believe this year will any different unless Spain can recover the Fernando Torres of 2008 in time for the game on Wednesday night in the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban.
History suggests it’s unlikely.
Copyright OSM - All rights reserved - First published May 7th 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment