Spain, in spite of being the oddsmakers' favorites entering Euro 2012, didn't exactly enjoy the belief or support of the general public (i.e. not Spain fans) this summer. A series of methodical 1-0 wins led to epithets that accused Spain of playing boring, passionless soccer. It was somehow antithetical to the way Spanish soccer is supposed to be played, with fury, with grace and with a joy that looked absent from Spain's games during Euro 2012.
But ball don't lie, and a 4-0 victory over Italy in the final on July 1 allows the Spanish to call themselves the most accomplished national team in the history of the sport. No national team has won three straight major international tournaments (in Spain's case, Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012), and Spain have undeniably crushed the competition into a feeble, impotent pulp that can only hope to keep games close, not win.
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Even after witnessing four years of Spanish dominance, some continue arguing that the debate over which national team is the "greatest" in history remains unsettled. This sort of debate is impossible, considering the decades that separate this Spanish team from the legendary Brazil, West Germany and Hungary squads that won plenty of their own international tournaments. That's exactly why sports fans love the debate, because you can argue about it all day and night and never be right or wrong. It's perfect fodder for the absurdist conversations of the soccer nut.
But let's set aside these impossible comparisons for a moment and discuss how Spain have so thoroughly obliterated the context in which international soccer is viewed and played. Here are a few facts about La Furia Roja's unbeaten Euro 2012 run that should demonstrate how unconventional, yet thorough, their domination was.
1. Spain was missing two of their most important players, David Villa and Carles Puyol, for the duration of the tournament.
2. In part as a response to Villa's absence, manager Vicente del Bosque employed a 4-6-0 formation, with no true striker and midfielders drifting in and out of attacking roles.
3. Fernando Llorente, arguably Spain's best striker, never saw the field.
4. In spite of starting a striker only once (Alvaro Negredo), it was another Spanish striker, Fernando Torres, who won the tournament's Golden Boot award with three goals and one assist. All in garbage time.
5. Oh, and all that possession and attacking midfield prowess? It's nothing compared to the Spanish defense, which conceded a goal in their group stage opener against Italy before completing their Euro run without giving up another.
6. Spain's passing is, as everyone knows, unparalleled; per 90 minutes at Euro 2012, Spain passed the ball nearly 682 times, destroying the international tournament record of 588 passes per 90 set by -- wait for it! -- Spain in the 2010 World Cup.
And so on and so forth. Much of the analysis I've seen of Spain's performance comes in bulleted or numbered form, almost as though writers have conceded Spain's mechanical brilliance and reflect it in their writing. What more is there to say about a team that plays the sport on a metaphysical plane inaccesible to the rest of the national teams who feebly attempt to play what used to be known as soccer, only to be brushed aside like crumbs after dinner in the final of a European Championship?
Pundits have been quick to whitewash the "boring" tags they so happily heaped on La Furia Roja when the Spanish were tika taka-ing themselves, viewers and their opponents into a laconic state before waking up and putting on a show in the final. But Spain were boring for much of the tournament because they don't play the same game their opponents play. Sometimes -- like during the Ireland match -- watching Spain was as fun as watching a Nobel physicist operating a carnival ride. The task was simply below them.
Now every other national team must figure out a way to match Spain, or at least rethink the sport in a way that allows for better competition. The Italys, Germanys and Portugals of the world do not imagine those famed Brazil squads when they attempt to unlock Spain; they think of the task at hand, and that task -- toppling the Spanish giants, who, in spite of Xavi's age, show no sign of slowing down -- requires them to forget almost everything soccer meant before the Spanish mastered the combination of grace and relentlessness that has made them the most successfull, if not the greatest, national team in the history of the sport.
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Follow on Ology: Anthony Schneck | Soccer
Follow on Twitter: @AnthonyOlogy | @OlogySports
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