Back to normal for Spain
“Football is a simple game complicated by idiots” Bill Shankly
So holders Italy rather fortuitously drew with Paraguay. Brazil who are, well, Brazil, only beat North Korea 2-1 with the late consolation being one of the more surprising World Cup moments with European Champions and highly fancied Spain beaten by Switzerland.
Bearing these results in mind, can we please put England’s draw with the USA in perspective?? Of course we’d have liked to start with a win, (who wouldn’t?) but the level of criticism it’s provoked is beyond reason. The fact is that in a competition like this every side you face will present problems, even North Korea!! Looking back plenty of teams have made slow starts and gone on to have a fantastic tournament, not least England in 1990. In 1982 Italy were dire in the group stage then came through the pack and proved themselves to be the best side there. It doesn’t mean everything is all right or that FabCap hasn’t made mistakes or have questions to answer. It does show that it’s more important to respond to a situation than to react to it. There’s still plenty of time to do just that. A defeat to Algeria would be the time for soul searching and navel contemplation. And if it isn’t a swashbuckling 8-0 victory so be it. It’s a marathon not a snickers. Just ask Spain….
Spain’s defeat wasn’t really the colossal shock it’s being made out to be. Until 2008 they were known for bottling at crucial times. Winning the Euro might have settled them down but could also have increased unwanted pressure. Whether they are strong enough to handle that pressure we’ll find out in the coming weeks. If the game against Switzerland is a pointer the answer would have to be that they aren’t. Hitzveld and his team did a remarkable job on their more illustrious opponents. For much of the first half they had to allow Spain to have the ball BUT only in areas they knew they couldn’t get hurt. They went back to the simple principle that they couldn’t out play them so they had to outnumber them. And in the centre of the park Spain rarely got the chance to flow. Great work by the Swiss. Discipline and strategy upsetting the flarier team isn’t always the popular outcome but alternatively Switzerland could have let them play with fluidity and got beaten 6-0. If you were Swiss what would you prefer?? And when someone claims to be a football purist it just tells me they don’t or haven’t experienced the game to the same emotional depth that I do. And YES I am arrogant enough to say that!!
Seventeen games gone and this World Cup is starting to ignite. Let’s hope the momentum continues.