There is something that they are cooking in Spain. Once it is ready for serving, a lot of “pundits” will be left eating humble pie. There were glimpses of the same as they marched to lift the World Cup in South Africa, in 2010, where they became the first team to lose their opening game, and later became champions. It would seem that this time around, it has more and fresher ingredients and need a little more time, to cook perfectly. But surely, it is cooking.
Their developmental approach to the game, surpasses by far many in the FIFA family.
“The first thing they should teach in a coaching course is that this is all a show. A spectacle. There are 50 000 or 100 000 people watching you in the stadium and several millions at home. If you went to see a play and it was boring, the theatre would end up empty,” Luis Enrique, former Spain national team coach, was quoted as saying.
South Africans need no reminder about empty “theatres”
It would have been better and wiser for us in South Africa to learn and take notes rather than criticise and think we have something better.
Spain has reached a level where they can take a young team to the World Cup and test it there, at the highest level. For many a nation, it is a dream to get there, yet they use it as a preparation stage!
The decibel levels of the chorus about Spain’s “useless possession” which does not have goals, is deafening. Of course, there are many teams who play and fail to score, in a game. For some reason, the noise is not as much.
However, when they score seven without a response, at the World Cup, starting a match with two teenagers (Gavi-18 and Pedri-19) in the midfield of their line-up, against Costa Rica who would later beat Japan, it is dead silent. Equally, when they finish the game (regulation and start extra-time), in the last 16 of the same competition, with three teenagers (Balde-19, Fati-19, Pedri-19) and a 20-year-old, Williams, it goes unnoticed. This could be the silent assassin.
“The World Cup is unique. It’s the biggest sporting event and sometimes the nerves get the better of you when you are young and you don’t have much experience. I tell them we have to be faithful to our style of play and everything that we’ve been working on with the coach,” Sergio Busquets, Spain national team captain, was quoted as saying.
This Spanish project will surprise many who think it is a waste. It appears that as is the case with their trusted national team feeder club Barcelona, which is undergoing reconstruction, so is the case with their national team. Real Madrid is the most successful club in Spain, and even recently. However, it has few local players hence its undisputed success, does not have a direct impact in their national team. The same is the case in many other countries. Therefore, Barcelona is very important for Spain. Just as was the case in 2010, this time too, this became clear. In some games they had up to five players from Barcelona, in the line-up.
This was the composition of their team, IN TEMRS OF AGE:
| AGE | 30/OVER | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25/UNDER | U23 | U20 |
| NUMBER | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 6 |
They have 14 players (including two GKs) who are 25 years and younger who have played together at the World Cup, and were eliminated in the last 16 (second round).
Below are their numbers in the four games they played. It already looks impressive, yet far from the finished product. If your focus is only on the score, this may not make sense. If you want to see more, there is a lot more to see here.
It looks very much like GOING BACK TO THE FUTURE”
| OPPONENT | BALL POSSESSION | NO. OF PASSES | PASS ACCURAY | SCORE |
| Costa Rica | 82% | 1045 | 93% | Won 7-0 |
| Germany | 65% | 634 | 85% | Drew 1-1 |
| Japan | 83% | 1058 | 91% | Lost 0-1 |
| Morocco
(Last 16) |
77% | 1019 | 90% | Drew 0-0
Lost 0-3 KPM |
If this is what Spain can achieve with such an inexperienced team at that level, alarm bells should be ringing around the whole world.
Spain won the tournament in 2010 and bombed out in the first round in 2014.
Before that, Italy had bombed out of in the first round in 2010, having won it 2006.
Italy did not qualify for the 2018 and 2022 editions of the tournament.
Netherlands finished as runners-up in 2010, and finished 3rd in 2014, but did not qualify for 2018.
Germany won the World Cup in 2014. They bombed out in the first round in 2018 and 2022.
Belgium finished 3rd in 2018 and bombed out in the first round in 2022.
Japan and South Korea have made huge progress since hosting the World Cup 20 years ago. They both made it past the first round, in Qatar, but their limitations were exposed in the round of 16. They are going to continue improving though.
In Europe, if not the whole world, Spain stands out as the country that is charting new ground. They are on a mission.
All this may not mean anything to you if, to you, football is all about the results at the end of the game.
Don’t say you were not warned.
While Africa is still in slumberland, and besides the traditional home of football, Brazil and to a less extent Argentina, Spain is going to define the game of football.
Like all pioneers, they will fall but get up and still lead.
By Ziphozonke Dlangalala
