Yesterday's 5-1 demolition of Spain was long due. Ever since they first won Euro 2008, Spain has been on an astonishing winning run. The major credit should go to Pep Guardiola who instituted the short passing game into the Barcelona side. Spanish national team merely adopted that style along with the high tempo pressing, another Guardiola trademark. This combination of short passing and intense pressing to win back the ball as quickly as possible ensured their possessional dominance. Spain's plethora of talented midfielders also helped the cause. Of course they rode their luck too on occasions but mostly by keeping it tight at the back and holding onto the ball, they just passed the opposition out of the game.
But like all good things, Spain's dominance of world football also had to come to an end. Teams gradually learned how to play against Spain and adapted accordingly. Holland came close in the last world cup final and had it not been for Robben's missed chances, history may well have been written differently. Croatia and Portugal were also successful in stifling Spain at Euro 2012 but were denied harshly towards the end. But one could always feel Spain's luck were bound to run out at some point or the other.
Yesterday was the day it finally happened. Robben more than made up for his misses last time around and his goals coupled with Persie's well taken efforts were enough to embarrass the World champions. Spain could have gone 2-0 up when Silva missed a one on one with the Holland keeper and moments later the Dutch had equalized. Holland kept it tight between the lines, played a high defensive line and pressed Spanish midfielders denying them time on the ball to play the attackers in. Although the plan nearly backfired when Diego Costa got through on couple on occasions (involving the penalty incident) and also when Silva got his chance, but Holland nevertheless kept enough pressure on the ball to choke out such chances.
The Spanish too were playing a high defensive line and didn't press as much as their opponents which eventually led to their downfall. Three of Holland's five goals including the first two came from ball being played behind the defence. Van Persie and Robben took their chances well and finished the game with two goals each. Spain's response though to going behind was baffling. Substituting Diego Costa for Fernando Torres was something which only Del Bosque can explain. Torres however did not disappoint by deciding to dribble instead of shooting the ball in an empty net, thus living upto the high standards he had previously set. Towards the end Holland could have added more to the scoreline but the match eventually ended at 5-1.
The Spanish are unaccustomed to losing let alone a thrashing like this but have to snap out of it and focus on the next game if they hope to progress out of the group. They probably will have to face Brazil in the round of 16 now as they will most certainly finish the group in the second place. All is not lost though but they should contemplate on the way ahead and put this result behind them as quickly as possible. Afterall, evolution is the key to survival.
But like all good things, Spain's dominance of world football also had to come to an end. Teams gradually learned how to play against Spain and adapted accordingly. Holland came close in the last world cup final and had it not been for Robben's missed chances, history may well have been written differently. Croatia and Portugal were also successful in stifling Spain at Euro 2012 but were denied harshly towards the end. But one could always feel Spain's luck were bound to run out at some point or the other.
Yesterday was the day it finally happened. Robben more than made up for his misses last time around and his goals coupled with Persie's well taken efforts were enough to embarrass the World champions. Spain could have gone 2-0 up when Silva missed a one on one with the Holland keeper and moments later the Dutch had equalized. Holland kept it tight between the lines, played a high defensive line and pressed Spanish midfielders denying them time on the ball to play the attackers in. Although the plan nearly backfired when Diego Costa got through on couple on occasions (involving the penalty incident) and also when Silva got his chance, but Holland nevertheless kept enough pressure on the ball to choke out such chances.
The Spanish too were playing a high defensive line and didn't press as much as their opponents which eventually led to their downfall. Three of Holland's five goals including the first two came from ball being played behind the defence. Van Persie and Robben took their chances well and finished the game with two goals each. Spain's response though to going behind was baffling. Substituting Diego Costa for Fernando Torres was something which only Del Bosque can explain. Torres however did not disappoint by deciding to dribble instead of shooting the ball in an empty net, thus living upto the high standards he had previously set. Towards the end Holland could have added more to the scoreline but the match eventually ended at 5-1.
The Spanish are unaccustomed to losing let alone a thrashing like this but have to snap out of it and focus on the next game if they hope to progress out of the group. They probably will have to face Brazil in the round of 16 now as they will most certainly finish the group in the second place. All is not lost though but they should contemplate on the way ahead and put this result behind them as quickly as possible. Afterall, evolution is the key to survival.
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