Football lesson in Dallas. Unexpected because it was given by Spain over France and not the other way around, when the team that had been suffering the matches was the red one and the one that was getting through them without barely a fuss, the blue one. The monumental display (we are not exaggerating, the importance of the event, a World Cup semifinal, determines its magnitude) is good for football lovers beyond nationalities, as it rewards a model of collective and compact play that revolves around the ball, caressing it until it reaches areas of harsh treatment near the goal. If we were facing a confrontation between the best midfield against the best forward line, it was proven which of the two parts is more crucial to control a match and dominate the opponent. Spain enjoyed itself, clearly the heir of the 2010 star-winning team, and achieved a success that rises even above the solidity of the score (0-2): there were long stretches in which they enjoyed the ball. In a whole World Cup semifinal.
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Perhaps we underestimated an intangible beforehand. The Spanish national team, current European champion, intimidates more than we think. The France that knew it was superior to most rivals until finishing them off mechanically as if set by an alarm clock, feared Spain more than we suspected. Mbappé, Olise, Dembélé and company are extraordinary footballers, but they were swallowed up because of la roja through a group defensive exercise that would move any coach. Spain has played seven matches in this World Cup and has only conceded one goal. These are figures that deactivate the theses about the model represented by De la Fuente’s team, because defending also consists of hiding the ball when you have it and sharing the efforts when you don’t. France had the ball stolen and, with an inferior midfield (there is no comparison there; when substitute Pedri entered the field, the end should have been called), their forwards, magnificent, floundered spectacularly. Rarely has so much talent together been so restrained. No dribbling, no combination, no shot. Spain dominated great France, diminishing it.
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The fascination with foreign stars, a very typical defect of homo hispanicus, combined with the distraction with which la roja started (draw against Cape Verde), made us forget the level of several local footballers who, beyond the charismatic and brilliant Lamine Yamal, have talent that overflows their underrated fame. Let us remember that Rodri, representative of a lineage of legendary midfielders (Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta…), was Ballon d’Or two years ago; that Dani Olmo sits at the same table; that Oyarzabal contradicts his modesty with a sack of goals, and that Porro is an outstanding fullback even if we don’t see him much in Premier League highlights due to his position.
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When the upper and middle classes blur in a team, the sense of community grows. For Spain, spectacular in its positioning on the field (it is no coincidence that they always took the rebounds and divided balls against a physically superior opponent), France was not enough. They shrank it.
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