Spain ecstatic at Euro 2008 win

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

The most gifted and complete team won Euro 2008 - and for that I am truly thankful. I thought at one stage it might be the Dutch before I briefly flirted with the idea that Russia may well exceed expectations. But ultimately there can be no arguing with Spain's status as worthy champions.

It could have been so different had Miroslav Klose capitalised on Sergio Ramos's awful pass to Carles Puyol after just three minutes but destiny ensured victory was with the deserved.

In defeating Germany here at the Ernst Happel Stadium on this balmy June evening, Spain not only ended 44 years of international failure and frustration but delivered a gift rich in significance to those who subscribe to a brand of football that truly is the beautiful game.

Spain may have encountered physically superior opponents in Germany but their ability to retain possession, utilise space and undermine their opponents with a defence-splitting pass was evident for all to see.

Many had questioned whether the Spanish would suffer a serious bout of stage fright. Speaking to journalists from across Europe during the day, the majority of them predicted a Germany win despite accepting that Spain were the more talented team.

For the opening 10 minutes of the final, it looked as though those fears might prove true as Joachim Loew's team started impressively while Spain, coached by the wily Luis Aragones, played too many uncharacterised long and errant passes.

Once the latter found their rhythm, though, it was clear they were the superior team. Had they scored more goals, it would not have been an unfair reflection on the game.

Xavi Hernandez was superb, playing a number of piercing passes that exposed the frailties of the German central defensive pairing of Per Mertesacker and Christoph Metzelder.

Germany rattled Spain at times - witness David Silva's idiotic and unpunished headbutt on Lukas Podolski - but Loew's side lacked the fluency and guile of their opponents. That German striker Kevin Kuranyi was making tackles yards from his own goalline with seconds remaining underlined the ease with which Spain closed out the final.

Marcos Senna, the Brazilian-born defensive shield, has been superb for Spain throughout Euro 2008, allowing those in front of him to express themselves while protecting the defence behind him. It would be no huge surprise if he was named as the player of the tournament.

Spain scored 12 goals and conceded just three to claim the Henry Delaunay Trophy, making a mockery of the press that so hounded Aragones after he omitted Raul from his squad.

The final was Aragones's last match in charge of Spain, and the victory is vindication of his single-minded approach, his stubborn insistence on doing things his way.

The 69-year-old's relationship with his domestic media has often been testy, and he could have been excused a wry smile as he faced the Spanish press after the final to the sight of many of them wearing his team's colours. Furthermore, he has made it clear he feels the Spanish Football Federation did not do enough to persuade him to stay in the months preceding the tournament, a decision that now looks short-sighted.

Yet, most importantly, his players respected him and had a firm belief in his methods, many revealing he was a different person away from the glare of the media, happy to joke and make everyone feel at ease. Match-winner Torres declared after the final that Aragones was a "12th man" for the team and an inspirational force.

Aragones warned his team on the eve of the game that nobody would remember the losers. They obviously listened.

The watershed match for many was Spain's quarter-final victory over Italy on penalties, a win that led to an upsurge in self-belief among their supporters both here and back home.

Spain have often been regarded as a team that lacked unity, with strong regional differences undermining their cause. In this regard, Euro 2008 could prove to be a symbolic as well a purely footballing victory. The idea that it is OK to be Spanish as well as, say, Catalan.

Time will tell if that feeling lasts, but there is no doubt Spain are worthy winners of Euro 2008.

[Rasputin]

For the last three or so days, Spain have been celebrating as if they had been reborn. There have been fireworks all around, the Spanish flag has been flying everywhere, the car honks have only become worse, the Plaza de Colon in Madrid must now surely now be dried of water, King Juan Carlos is now optimistic of gaining more respect and even the Queen is smiling again.

And this ethereally crazy celebrations would last this week, this month, the next few months and virtually for two years until the 2010 World Cup knocks on the doors. And the Spanish press, who suffers from bipolar disorder and sinks into deep depression at one moment and then escalates into an orgasmic elation the very next, would continue bragging that Spain have indeed eventually banished Don Quixote to Never Come Back Again Land, that they have demonstrated the right way to win a football competition, that they are the best in Europe for sure and arguably the best in the world.

Which isn’t at all improper to drumbeat but all this ought to be taken with a doze of pragmatism. While the Spanish are basking in hope and optimism and a wave of real belief is floating everywhere (even in Catalunya and the Basque country), the after Euro 2008 era would be more prosaic. And a lot tougher.

Post Euro 2008

Because if winning is one thing, then maintaining that mentality is quite another. Because if success is one thing, then sustaining that success is quite another. Because if Spain think that they have turned a new corner with the desperately long awaited triumph of their national football team, a conquest that most if not all in the Iberian nation thought would never arrive, then they could themselves a hell lot of good by realizing that it’s going to be as much difficult as optimistic. Just ask the new Spanish national team coach Vicente del Bosque who now confronts the stiff challenge of living up to the expectations of stretching the Spanish success. Earlier coaches taking over the national team would have had to first drag the side from a pit of depression and then drive it to the peak of success but now the Salamanca born coach would have to pick up the thread where his predecessor left it.

The New Coach

Not that Del Bosque is not up to the mark. Far from it. The 57-year one is one of the most respected veterans in a nation where respect for the elderly is very much an integral part of the culture. He is the also most successful coach of Real Madrid in recent history. This is the man who coached the most famous and successful club in European football from 1999 to 2003, guiding them to two Spanish first division titles(2001,2003), two UEFA Champions League conquests(2000,2002), a UEFA Supercup(2002), the Intercontinental Cup(2002) and the Spanish Supercup(2001).

In each of the four seasons that he was at the helm at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, he led the Merengues to the semi-finals or beyond of the Champions League. And not for a single moment did he ever crave for personal glory. At the time Real Madrid were in the thick of the Galaticos era, where the likes of Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo(the Brazilian one) were being imported without a second thought, when the dressing room was inundated with stellar ego, when club president Florentino Perez was busy checking the club’s bank account rather than the price the club was paying for a rather dodgy management.

Del Bosque’s Style

Yet even amidst the ego-filled atmosphere at the Bernabeu during the now apparently disbanded Galacticos era, Vicente del Bosque held his own. His players, so severely divided among themselves, universally respected him. His coaching and management style was pretty much that of an ageing father towards his talented but at times egocentric son and that is precisely why he was so successful at a club that has of recent times been enshrouded in bad management and weird transfers.

Vicente Del Bosque has been a successful defender in his playing days, making a total of 441 La Liga appearances, most of them for Real Madrid. He is a coach who likes to get on with players and not force his ideas upon them, which is why he was so successful at Real Madrid(and not half as much at Turkish giants Besiktas where he went at the start of the 2004-2005 season and returned before it had curtained down).

The Inherited Spain Side

At the national level of course, he is untried but he must be thanking Luis Aragones in his heart of hearts. Not only because Spain are now brimming with optimism but also for the fact that he now inherits a side that is as much talented as young, that is as much respected as pays respect, that is as much united as unites. Because this Spanish side was the second youngest at Euro 2008 and shall hold onto all of its 23 men by the time 2010 World Cup barges into the picture.

This bunch of Spanish nationals are collectively the best Spain have had in years. True, the Iberian nation is never quite devoid of aesthetic players committed to the cause of playing romantic football but at Euro 2008 Spain exhibited an amazing sense of unity and an equally remarkable lack of controversy (except for the nonsensical hot air between Aragones and Fernando Torres and between the former and Sergio Ramos).

And the most terrifying prospect for the rest of Europe(and the world) is that most of the Spanish players are several years from their individual peaks. The striking duo of Fernando Torres and David Villa would only get better in the subsequent years; Xavi, Andrea Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas and David Silva have still a lot to offer; Marcos Senna can still stick his boot in and if he can’t then Del Bosque can recall David Albelda or Xabi Alonso; Carles Puyol and Carlos Marchena can still carry on until the focus is shifted to South Africa in two years’ time; Sergio Ramos is only 22 years (and arguably the best right back in the world, yes even better than Daniel Alves) while Iker Casillas is of course the best in the world.

Towards The Future

And then when you observe that Spain left behind Raul, Mikel Arteta, Guti, Diego Lopez and Joaquin at home for Euro 2008, you do get a terribly fascinating idea just how much depth and strength this Spanish side has. Add to that likes of Bojan Krkic and David Moreno and you do fell that talent-wise Spain are at par to Argentina.

The future then for Spain is rosy and there is every reason in the world to foster optimism and faith. But then again as common sense would tell, it is always better to take your success with a pinch of cynicism. Success begets success only if you do not let that get into your head.