FIFA 2010 World Cup: Del Bosque and Villa looking for a straight win against the Netherlands
The under achievers are finally achieving, that is what the word has been around as Spain finally managed to enter into a final and this time it was in the FIFA 2010 World Cup taking place in South Africa. It has been a thriller for them, a campaign that has been blemished with drama as the Spanish Armada soars to the final match to make history and acquire their deserved glory.
They have never before captured the World Title and as a matter of fact they have never even won a quarter final match before. They did come in fourth though in the World Cup in 1950 but that was mainly due to the absence of quarter finals in the event back then.
The Spanish team had record straight wins in the qualifying stages of the tournament and while they earlier made the record for the largest winning streak they are now facing Netherlands that currently holds the record at 35 wins.
The Spanish team were also the winners of the Euro Cup in 2008 and have arrived in the tournament in South Africa with more or less the same squad. They have been defeated only by the impregnable Switzerland who had not conceded a goal in the last tournament and have a record of just above 555 minutes which was eventually put to a halt by Chile when they defeated them 1-0.
Though critics have lambasted upon the Spanish play in this World Cup saying that in comparison to the offence power they have the team should have crushed each and every opponent they have with a towering mound of goals. However, Spain instead has played a bit lack lustrous games scoring only a few goals while concentrating and developing a much more technical approach.
Nevertheless so far it seems to be working for them bringing up the million dollars question that if the strategy will work against the adaptable Dutch side in the final. The Spanish coach Vicente Del Bosque reckons that he is not going to change their style of play now that they have adopted it and are progressing well with it after they defeated the yet undefeated big guns of Germany. He also praised his players admiringly stating that they all had extraordinary qualities.
After Del Bosque and his men defeated the German side they are now set up against Netherlands in the finals; a team that should not be taken lightly. They have a star studded line up and players that have impeccable form. They knocked out the hot favourites Brazil with a 2-1 victory coming in from behind so they cannot be underestimated.
Del Bosque has firm belief in his players and confidently stated, “All of our players were extraordinary, but we still have a match to play. We know Dutch football and it will be very tough in the final”. He further added, “From defence through to attack I think we played a great game”.
Del Bosque did not reveal his strategy for the final saying that he will be going ahead with what was working for them, “We've got another game in front of us, let's see if we are able to control the ball. We're in good shape physically, so let's see if we can win”.
There was a time when the strong Spanish team was considered to be the under dogs but the emergence of the “fantastic generation” has changed that all. Their striker David Villa has been quite a difference maker in the team. He has scored 5 goals in 6 matches and is a strong nominee for the Golden Boot along with Miroslav Klose of Germany and Wesley Sneijder of Netherlands.
On the outcome of the final Villa stated optimistically, “The group deserves this but we want more. We are happy to be in the final, that was our objective, but now we want to be champions”.
The star has just been signed in by Barcelona for 45 million pounds from Valencia, he emphatically commented on Spain’s performance as, “We've shown that in the big moments we can grow even more. We should have scored more goals, but one from Puyol has put us in the final”.
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