Spain once again rules world football as it ruled from 2008 to 2014, and now that rule is even more convincing as its national teams win titles in both the women's competition and in the younger categories. There is no end in sight to that dominance - the backbone of the team that won the "Golden Globe" on Sunday in New Jersey is made up of young men who still have many big competitions ahead of them, and the perfected system of organization and work, which has lasted for more than two decades, continuously turns out new football masters.
After the first game and a surprising goalless draw with Cape Verde, the Spanish national team won seven victories and fully deserved the second world championship title, and apart from the game, Spain also captivated with appropriate behavior, which also stems from the perfected system of player training, so that its players passed the tournament without a red card and with only six yellow cards in eight games.
OD "BUTCHER" TO THE MASTER
photo: ap photoWINNERS: National team of Spain
Until the mid-eighties, the Spanish national football team was perceived as defensive, rough and dirty. She was also in the shadow of her big clubs - "Real", "Barcelona", "Atletico". Of course, they also had good players, but the only major success Spain recorded was in 1964, when they were pushed to the European title on home soil, and after that, in major competitions, if they qualified, they mostly played a secondary role.
Your chronicler does not remember anyone sympathizing with the Spanish national team in the seventies and early eighties. On the contrary, the majority despised the "Spanish fury" - some because of the rough play and provocations they were used to, some because of the even uglier regime of Francisco Franco, and especially because of the qualification matches with Yugoslavia for the World Cup in Argentina, played in October 1976 and November 1977. Already the first game in Seville (1:0 for Spain) was marked by mutual rudeness and provocations, the same "style" continued in the second leg in Belgrade, and the result was the same, so Spain qualified for the World Cup. The older ones remember, and the younger ones were introduced to it via YouTube, how the ugly performance at the Belgrade "Maracana" ended with a glass bottle that flew from the west stand and smashed on the head of the Spanish national team member Juanito.
Before that, the Real forward, when leaving the field for substitution, showed the spectators the middle finger, so the attack from the stands, which luckily ended with a minor injury, was considered deserved. And in 1977, two years after Franco's death, Yugoslavia established diplomatic relations with Spain, but the hatred did not subside. On the contrary, it only flared up in the summer of 1982, after Spain, as the host of the World Cup, won 2:1 with the abundant help of referee Henning Lund-Sørensen.
And then in the mid-eighties, with the generation of Emilio Butragen, the Spanish national team began to play better and gain the sympathy of football fans, which continued in the nineties (we remember the true masters Martin Vasquez, Jose Baker, Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique...), mostly under the influence of the revolutionary changes that Johan Cruyff introduced to the game of Barcelona, and in the first decade of the new millennium, a great expansion begins, in every sense, as a result of a better organization of the Football Association and clubs, and new system of work with younger selections. Over time, the nickname of the Spanish selections was "tamed", so from the "Spanish fury", through the "red fury", it became simple - the "red team" (La Roja).
IMPROVEMENTS "TIKA TAKA"
For more than 20 years, the Spaniards have been working devotedly and systematically in football, but also in other sports, so that at the moment they are the leaders in terms of the results of representative selections and clubs, and in addition to footballers, their experts also dominate the world stage. At one time, Cruyff's ideas about positional play and possession of the ball were elaborated, the experiences of Barcelona's football academy "La Masia" were adopted, new academies were opened and a unique training system was introduced for all ages - from small football schools to the already mentioned academies.
The focus is on technical improvement, ball control, space recognition and tactical understanding of the game. Boys and girls develop football and social intelligence, and at the same time they are provided with psychological support and quality education. Also, the talent base is not limited to Spain because the network of scouts brings promising players from all over the world and provides them with training at one of the academies.
Even after years of systematic work, the generations that dominated European and world football came and became synonymous with technical superiority and tactical discipline. First, the younger selections started winning titles, so that the senior selection became the European champion in 2008 (second title, this time without a stain), and two years later in South Africa and the world. Two years after that, the European title was defended, with impressive dominance, and it seemed that hardly anyone in the near future would be able to match the already famous Spanish "tika-taka" game, based on perfect defensive discipline and high possession of the ball, with which the rival was "strangled" until the final execution.
However, others also progressed, and many adopted the Spanish practice and adapted it so that already at the World Cup in Brazil there was a steep decline - although it came as the first place in the FIFA ranking and the biggest favorite, the world champion was eliminated in the group stage. Bad results followed at the next two World and European Championships, but the Spanish footballers and coaches were still at the top and it was a question of the moment when the "A" national team would once again shine in the football sky. That's how it was - first, in 2023, it won the League of European Nations, and the next, the fourth European title. With coach Luis de la Fuente, the team still controls the game through great possession, high pressing and perfect defense, but "tika-taka" has been improved and today "la roha" attacks more often and faster. With their perfect technical skills and tactical discipline, the Spaniards still control the rhythm of the game, but they no longer deaden the game with endless passes, but through quick transition, vertical passes over the flanks and through the middle, they get scoring chances.
photo: apJAMAL AND MESSI: Consolation
ALL PRAISE TO THE SPAIN
The Spanish national team showed and proved its superiority throughout the entire tournament, especially in the most important games - the semi-final and final. They were completely outplayed by France (2:0) and Argentina (1:0), the finalists from the last championship, and there is not the slightest stain on their triumph, especially since they remained dignified in the final and to the greatest extent ousted the furious Argentine national team.
In addition to the "Golden Globe" passing from Argentine to Spanish hands, another "handover" took place on Sunday in New Jersey - the "king of football" Lionel Messi handed over the throne to Prince Lamin Jamal, a football prodigy who, at just 19 years old, already has world and European gold. Both of them, which is important for this story about the Spanish football miracle, originated in Barça's "La Masia".
The world's best player in the last two decades and, according to many, the best in history, missed out on a second world title, and a bad game in the final probably cost him the Golden Ball. Until the final, Messi carried the Argentina team, as if he had not entered the 40th year, and scored eight goals. And if his team had shown something other than complete defensiveness and brutality in the last and most important game, it would certainly have been declared the best in the world tournament for the third time with general agreement.
This recognition went to the Spanish captain Rodrigo Hernandez - Rodrigo, who is the engine of the team and embodies the most successful football team on the planet. The Spaniards took home awards for the best goalkeeper - Unaj Simon, and the best young player - nineteen-year-old Pau Kubarsi. The "Golden Boot" was won by the French footballer Kylian Mbappe with 10 goals scored, and on top of that he became the most efficient player in the history of the World Cup with 22 goals (four in Russia in 2014 and eight in Qatar in 2022), leaving behind Messi (21), who at one point during the championship took over the leading position from the German Miroslav Klose (16). As the French goalscorer is only 27 years old, it is likely that in the future, if his health and form serve him, he will improve his balance sheet.
All in all, football once again occupied the world, it seems like never before, and the main actors treated the spectators in crowded stadiums in the United States of America, Mexico and Canada, as well as billions in front of the screens, numerous good games and matches, a lot of goals (2,96 per game, which is the most since the World Cup in Mexico in 1970), a lot of excitement and uncertainty, joy, but also sadness for ardent fans. As before, the Fifa World Cup was followed by numerous scandals and controversies, but more on that next week.
And to end a few sentences about the "powderized" soccer Serbia: in the new Fifa ranking, we climbed three places, but not thanks to good results, but to the bad performance of certain national teams at the World Cup (Panama, Czech Republic and Scotland) and their drop in the table. And in order to get at least a little closer to Spain, it is not enough to hire a coach who grew up in the Spanish system (Veljko Paunović), because in our system without a system even Luis de la Fuente, even if he was assisted by Pep Guardiola - would fail. Which means that the Football Association of Serbia must, apart from the name, change everything in its organization and personnel and finally implement some of the good practices throughout Europe.
photo: ap photoJOY: Two million people on the streets of Madrid
Spanish numbers
0 - a Real Madrid player in the Spanish national team at the World Cup, for the first time in history.
1 - Spain conceded a goal in eight games at the World Cup and became the world champion with the fewest goals conceded in the tournament.
14 - goals were scored by Spain in eight games, and the best scorer is Mikel Ojarzabal with five goals.
16 - titles have been won by Spain's football teams in the last five years: men's senior three (League of Nations, EURO and WC), men's Olympic (players under 23) one, men's U19 one, women's senior three (WC and two League of Nations), women's U20 one (WC), women's U19 five European titles and women's U17 selection two (WC and EURO).
30 - Lamin Jamal had successful dribbling at the World Cup and left behind the French Mbappe, the Brazilian Vinicius and the Argentinian Messi.
38 - streak Spain are unbeaten in official matches (since losing to Colombia in a friendly match in March 2024) and thus broke the record of the Italian national team, which went 37 games without defeat between 2018 and 2021.
50 - Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Fabian Ruiz played for the Spanish national team, and with him in the team, Spain did not experience a single defeat - Ruiz's record is 35 wins and 15 draws.
65 Luis de la Fuente was 28 years and 28 days old on the day of the final and became the oldest coach of the winning team at the World Cup.
650 - minutes goalkeeper Unai Simon did not concede a goal in World Cup matches (2022 and 2026), which is a new record.
756 - Rodri had the most accurate passes, which broke his own and world record from Qatar, when he had 638 successful passes. Rodri holds the record for the number of touches with the ball in one World Cup (910), as well as for the number of correct passes in the opponent's half of the field (428) and correct passes in the final third of the field (205).
2.000.000 - people welcomed the new world champion on the streets of Madrid on Monday.
