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Well, there you have it. The perfect ending to an almost impossibly perfect tournament. How is it that a major tournament rewards open, attacking play and the cheats, whiners, and negative teams get early tickets home? That just doesn’t happen. Except it did.

Spain utterly deserved every one of their victories. They finished with a +9 goal difference and scored in every game but one—where they almost outshot their negative opponent 3-to-1. Unlike the counterattack teams that frustrate the opposition by bunkering in, Spain frustrated the opposition by passing the ball at will through the midfield. True, it often stalled at the penalty box, but there’s something demoralizing about a team that passes through you. If you won’t believe that, ask a German.

I held my breath for the last half-hour as it seemed like a German equalizer must be on the cards, not because they deserved it but because Spain had squandered chances to seal the game at 2, 3, or 4 to nil. The Germans looked most threatening when they abandoned their passing and just lumped high balls into the box; Spain looked most threatening whenever they had the ball. And how brilliant was El Niño’s goal? Torres had a bit of a stinker for a tournament but I think he’ll take his champion’s medal for scoring the winner in the final, thank you very much.

In truth, this was a very average German team, much like the one that willed its way into the final at the 2002 World Cup. Germans know how to win games but today the gap in class showed. And also a note to Michael Ballack: cheaters never prosper. Look, tons of folks love this guy but I think he’s a dirty player (note the half-dozen deliberately late challenges today and his shove-off on Ferrera in the Portugal game for the winner) who is not above taking a dive, play-acting, or trying to get another player sent off for an innocuous foul. I don’t like him and could give two turds that he’s never won any of the Big Trophies.

So hats off to Spain, a team that comes only second in my heart to the US. Spain has a cake World Cup qualifying schedule, so 2010 should be interesting considering most of these players will still be in good health. With Aragonés stepping down, the next big question is whether Vicente del Bosque can step up? Considering the fantastic job he did with Real Madrid not too long ago, I’ve got my fingers crossed.

Rant

Before I conclude, I need to take yet another swipe at one of America’s most ignorant pundits, @!#$ing idiot Jamie Trecker who explains why Spain has never really been any good and Germany’s long history of success makes this game a mismatch. Per usual, Trecker’s facile analysis (in which he takes a swipe at “lazy media” no less) does not take into account the historical fact that Spain, as a country, has had its share of inner turmoil. The Catalans and Galicians don’t like the Madrileños and the Basques don’t get on with anybody. It makes it hard to put a team together when half the squad is at each other’s throats for political reasons, and the fact that a dictator (who was partial to certain regions) ran the country until 1976 might explain while the populous hasn’t gotten behind the national team. See, but the Spaniards are absolutely wild about their club teams—teams who largely try to sign local players, hence that whole “provincial” thing that seems pretty important to Spaniards. Which would be an entirely logical explanation of why Spain’s club teams have mopped up the competition over the last forty years with outrageous talent while the national side, with those same players, has underachieved. But I would hate to point at any particular journalist and suggest that he was lazy. I’d rather call him a @!#$ing idiot.

Current Mood: ¡Viva España! |