EURO 2012 Blog

Coach Vicente del Bosque
Current European Champions
One to Watch David Silva

As we approach the summer of 2012 all of our minds, well most of them at least, will turn away from the domestic football competitions within our own countries, towards the International arena for the eagerly awaited European Championship Finals, to be held in Poland and the Ukraine. Within a fortnight from now, the world will know the names of the last four teams/countries, which will join the 12 nations already guaranteed a place at Euro 2012. Over the next three weeks, we shall be profiling each of the 16 finalists who will bid to become the champions of Europe until 2016.

We continue our team profiles by taking a look at current European and World Champions, Spain. Spain have a rich history in terms of appearing in major, international tournaments, appearing thirteen times in the World Cup and eight times in the European Championships-the latter of which they won back in 1964 when it was known as the European Nations Cup. However, over the years Spanish teams had found that success hard to emulate, making only one appearance in a tournament final over the next 43 years-namely the final of Euro 84, where they lost to France. This lack of success, in spite of the wealth of footballing talent that they always had at their disposal, led them to be thought of as “perennial underachievers” and many in football believed they may never again win a major tournament.

In 2006 however, something changed in Spanish football. Having been knocked out of the World Cup in Germany by a strong French team, coach Luis Aragones, decided that his team were not physical enough to be able to out muscle opponents, and so turned his attention to a style of play that focussed on controlling games by dominating possession, using short passes and movement to break through defences. This style of play is known as “TIKI TAKA”, it was first brought to Spain by Johann Cryuff in his spell as Barcelona boss (1988-96) and has been described by some as an upgrade to the “TOTAL FOOTBALL” made famous by the magnificent Dutch team of the 1970’s. The impact was almost immediate, and since the adoption of the “tiki taka” policy, Spain have not only won the 2008 European Championships under Aragones, but also the 2010 World Cup under current coach del Bosque.

This time around, for obvious reasons, Spain will travel to Poland and Ukraine as pre-tournament favourites. Vicente del Bosque has led them to 28 victories in 30 competitive matches since he took over before the qualifiers for World Cup 2010, including a 100% record in qualification for Euro 2012 – seeing them top group 1 on 24 points. Their style of football, ability on the ball, speed of thought, movement and the abundance of talent and quality throughout the squad, make them the team to beat. In Iker Cassillas they have a goalkeeper, though still young, who has a wealth of experience both with Real Madrid and with the national side, winning the Golden Glove in South Africa. In David Villa they have a clinical, skilful, striker who links up effortlessly with the midfield to create chances as well as being ruthless in front of goal himself. Villa was joint top scorer World Cup 2010, top scorer in Euro 2008 and has every chance of scooping that accolade again next summer. Spain have an embarrassment of footballing riches, especially in midfield, but if there’s one man in particular who could really make his mark on the tournament this time, it’s David Silva. Silva’s ability to drift between the opposition lines makes him incredibly dangerous, coupled with his vision and range of passing, he has the ability to split defences and create havoc as we have seen from his outstanding performances for Manchester City this season.

In conclusion, Spain are the favourites for a reason and it’s going to take a monumental effort to prevent them from retaining their title this time around. Germany and Holland will be the biggest threats in Poland/Ukraine, but they will have to be at their very best if they are to succeed where so many, including themselves, have failed before.

Neil Patterson

Tags: david silva, domestic football, eight times, euro 2012, euro 84, european champions, european nations cup, football competitions, french team, international arena, johann cryuff, luis aragones, spanish football, spanish teams, team coach, team profiles, underachievers, vicente del bosque, world champions, world cup in germany

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 at 19:10 and is filed under Group C, Team Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.