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Spain out to make history By Eddie Alinea PhilBoxing.com Sun, 11 Jul 2010  When Spain meets The Netherlands in the World Cup of Soccer Finals today, it will be eyeing to join the only two countries that have so far swept both the World Cup and the European Championship trophies at the same period of time. West Germany did the trick by stashing away with the Euro in 1972 before romping off too the World Cup two years later in 1974 as it lorded it over the two major tournaments in that era. France duplicated the feat by ruling the 1998 World Cup then completing a sweep by capturing the Euro in 2000. Should the Spaniards, the 2008 Euro champs, complete, they will have a chance to join the Germans and the French in the history books as one of the dominant national teams of any generation. This year?s World Cup though has been harder for Spain than the ?08 Euro conquest. The Spanish lost their first game, a 1-0 stunner to Switzerland. Their biggest star, Fernando Torres, has been ineffective all tournament long failing to contribute in the scoring department where he went zero and even watched the games on the bench in the semifinal round. No team, other than Spain scored fewer goals to reach the World Cup final yet it persevered, gotten better as the tournament has gone along and look favored to win on Sunday (Monday in Manila) and take its place in history. THE MANILA TIMES has been following the games since the Cup started almost a month ago when the 32-team field started their quest for honor and fame until only two of them remain. Spain and The Netherlands. La Roja vs. Oranje We take a look at positional strength of each team, ranking them against each other and it turned out that Spain leads in terms of defense starting with the first line manned by goalie Oker Casillas against Maarten Stekelenburg. Casillas was criticized for yeilding a goal to Switzerland in the opener,but, like his team, he recovered and performed on an impressively consistent basis since. The Spanish shot stopper saved a penalty from Paraguay with the score locked at 0-0 in the quarterfinal in what proved crucial on Spain?s march to the title playoff. THE TIMES gives Casillas the edge mainly on experience against the tall 6-foot-t Stekelenburg who has relatively little experience in final games magnitude. Besides his Euro ?08 gold medal, Casillas is quite the opposite. Iker started in Spain's triumphant Euro 2008 winning team, Casillas also has a UEFA Champions League winners medal. With his size, Stekelenburg can be an imposing presence at the post. Stekelenburg was at the 2006 World Cup, but did not play. Since the retirement of Edwin Van Der Sar, he has took over the Dutch No. 1 jersey and should hold on to it for a few years yet. Spain have a truly excellent back line. Their effectiveness is a double-edged sword; they have strong defensive players who are also capable of contributing when in possession. Spain have kept four clean sheets so far this tournament, and have shut down impressive attacks like Germany and Portugal. Pique assisted David Villa during the group stage with a 35 yard pass onto his shoe laces, Sergio Ramos has consistently threatened with impressive overlapping runs down the right wing and Carles Puyol sent the Spanish into the final with a thundering header that beat Germany 1-0. The Dutch look to have the advantage in the middlefields. Xavi and Iniesta are two of the best players on earth and citing Spain's ability to hold the ball. But they physical play, guile and defensive grit of this Dutch is unlike anything Spain have seen so far in the tournament. Mark Van Bommel seems to partake in the art of clever and deliberate fouling on a regular basis. While this draws the wrath of many fans, it will also frustrate Spain, interrupting their rhythm and allowing the Dutch to get number back to defend free kicks. Nigel De Jong should return after suspension and these two provide an excellent shield to the back four. Spain can also dominate the forward line what with the magnificent David Villa providing a razors edge to the Spanish team. With five goals in six games, Villa looks poised to win the World Cup golden boot. Fernando Torres has been a shadow of the player we all know, he looks to lack a yard of pace and be devoid of confidence. Many find it hard to believe he is not carrying an injury. Robin Van Persie leads the Dutch line. Van Persie is charged usually with holding up the ball for two or three seconds, allowing the runs of Robben, Sneijder and Kuyt to join him and form dangerous attacking options. Prediction: Spain This should be a classic game. Spain showed against Germany that their five-man midfield is difficult to catch on the break. They should hold possession and may put pressure on the referee to show early booking to persistent Dutch foulers, something that would work heavily in their favour. Expect a low scoring affair with the only goal, or maybe even a shootout deciding the winner. (Eddie Alinea writes for the Manila Times and sportsmanila.net) Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.  |
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