Portugal and their superstar know that if Spain have the ball the opposition can't score. And Spain almost always have the ball
Late on Saturday night, in the basement of the Donbass Arena where Spain had just beaten France 2-0 to reach the semi-final against Portugal, a member of Vicente del Bosque's coaching staff puffed out his cheeks. "How," he said, "are we going to stop Cristiano Ronaldo? Pfff ... with a lasso?"
Spain could try that. Or they could try what they did last time. And the time before that. After all, it is working rather well. Italy, Russia, Germany, Portugal, Paraguay, Germany again, Holland, France: all of them tried and all of them failed. Spain have now gone eight consecutive knock-out games across three competitions without conceding a goal. How will Spain try to stop Ronaldo? The way they stopped him before; the way they stop everyone.
"Ronaldo is one of the world's best and has incredible qualities," said Gerard Piqué, who has faced the Portuguese 14 times, winning nine and losing just two. "But it's not an individual duel; it's collective. The key is to control the game. If we have the ball, he'll participate less and cause us fewer problems."
And there, in a nutshell, it is. Spain have kept more clean sheets and conceded fewer than anyone at Euro 2012. Just as they did in South Africa 2010 and at Euro 2008. "We have," said Del Bosque, "based our efficiency on good defensive order. We've been very solid." The thing is, it is defence but not as we know it. There are few heroic last-ditch tackles for one simple reason: there is rarely a need for heroic last-ditch tackles. There is no digging trenches and resisting the onslaught. There is no onslaught. Spain have challenged the cliches, the typical application of words like pragmatism, defensiveness and competiveness.
Their game can be summed up in a word: control. The difficulty resides in the technical ability to exercise that control. And that is what sets Spain apart. Tiki-taka always had a defensive facet. Now, conditioned by the prize and the opponents that stand before them, by their own evolution, that is more apparent than ever. Now it has emerged in another guise: the debate over Spain being "boring".
Spain have completed more passes than anyone else for the third consecutive tournament. Their tournament high, 654, is 163 more than Germany's best. In the first half against France, they made 316 passes – more than Portugal had achieved in two entire games. In total, the difference between the two teams is 3,211 against 1,754.
The argument is inevitable: sure, but how many of those passes were relevant? The answer is simple: all of them. Spain do everything through the ball, including rest and defend, including wearing down the opposition. It is not a coincidence they score so many late goals. Spain's football doesn't only have an aesthetic quality, it has an anaesthetic quality too. The old bullfighting parallel: Spain weaken the opposition, producing passes, ready for the kill, dulling their senses. "They had the ball, we just ran and ran," Karim Benzema said.
Put simply, if Spain have the ball the opposition can't score. And Spain almost always have the ball. That best explains why Spain have faced fewer shots than anyone, just 28. The same was true in 2010 and 2008. If they do lose the ball, opponents are less equipped to take advantage too. After the World Cup semi-final, Miroslav Klose said: "When we eventually did get it we were so exhausted from chasing that we couldn't do anything with it." That night, Spain produced 160 more passes; Germany ran 1.2 more miles.
Spain's defensive control has become more pronounced. Opta statistics reveal 68.2% of possession here, 65.2% in 2010 and 56.6% in 2008. The introduction of two deep midfielders, Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets, occupying the space once filled by Marcos Senna alone, is one reason. It is also a defensive midfielder more than Barcelona, underlining that Del Bosque's greatest concern is control. It's tempting to see a degree of fear too: the prize, a unique three-tournament run, is so close but also feels like an obligation. They have an awful lot to lose.
Against France, Spain dominated possession again. But their back four were impressive and they were more defensive in the traditional sense, revealed another shift. Xavi explains: "It was hot, we were tired and we played 10-15 metres deeper. If we didn't play extraordinarily well, we did compete and were serious." That Xavi, whose influence has been less at this tournament than the previous two, had not especially enjoyed the game was suggested by his next remark: "Needs must."
The other reason for the shift is the opponents – a key consideration in the Spain-are-boring debate. There may never have been a team whose superiority was so assimilated by everyone. Spain are invariably confronted by parked buses, teams scared of opening up and impotent to attempt anything other than survive, stay in the game, protect themselves, and hope. That's the true measure of how good they are. Yet if that tactic has blunted Spain's attacking, it has facilitated their defending.
Laurent Blanc criticised England's defensiveness but did the same against Spain, using two right-backs. It did not work. It never does. If the analysis is reduced to results, and it often is, there's only one conclusion. Spain have won 16 of 17 competitive games, drawing the other against Italy. They are World and European champions. Teams may succeed in reducing Spain's chances but they reduce their own; Spain's ability to protect through possession becomes greater. Opponents think that they are discomforting Spain but they are wrong. The only team not to lose to them, the only team to score, were the only team that pushed high, attacked them and competed for possession. Italy.
"I don't think France will just play deep," Del Bosque said before the quarter-final. There was a pause and he added: "But I hope so." Before the tournament he foresaw what lay ahead: "We play against very deep teams and we can't change that. What we have to do is find a way to attack them, hurt them. But that has its good side too: they attack us less."
"The team is focused on the importance of defending well," Piqué added. "We know that if we keep a clean sheet one goal is enough and with the control we have and the chances we create, that goal always arrives." Read More
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