FIFA World Cup 2010 Final Report: Spain vs. Netherlands - A Brief Tactical Analysis
The World Cup final will take place on Sunday, between Spain and the Netherlands. Neither one of these teams, has lifted the trophy before and it would be a first for both these sides. Both these teams have a similar style of play so it would be interesting to see what happens. Both the teams play with two wing backs who like attacking and both teams play without an all out striker up front.
In the Spanish defense, the pairing of Puyol and Pique is one of the strongest that has been seen at the World Cup has seen. They have only conceded two goals in the six games that they have played so far. They are also pretty strong when going forward and occasionally knocking in a goal or two. On the sides Ramos and Capdevila are both very attack minded side backs, who like going forward often. On the Dutch side, Heitinga and Mathijesen from the center of defence with Van der Wiel and van Bronkhorst playing on the sides.
The Spanish midfield posses two of the best attacking midfielders in the world, in the form of, Xavi and Iniesta. The two of them can be the key to slicing open any defense that the World Cup has to offer.
The Dutch midfield has Mark Van Bommel, who likes putting in tackles and is like a hound at the midfield constantly prowling around and looking to win the ball, he is partnered with Nigel de Jong in the holding midfield position and this will be vital to preventing any Spanish attacks.
The Dutch have Robben, Kuyt and Sneijder in the attacking midfield position. Sneijder plays in the middle whereas Robben and Kuyt play on the wings, and cut inside to unleash some shots of their own occasionally.
Robin van Persie is the only Dutch player who plays as striker. He is not naturally suited for the role of playing up front alone, which is why he tends to fall back more often than most strikers do. He plays the role of distracter by luring a defender or two, towards him which creates gap and hence opportunities for the rest of the team.
Spain played their last match against Germany with lone, in form striker, David Villa up front. Villa who is quite simply one of the best players in the world still prefers to play on the left rather than playing alone upfront. Even though he posses the talent to score from almost anywhere, if a player isn’t comfortable playing in a certain position it is useless to play him there.
Spain have an all out striker in the form of Fernando Torres just waiting on the bench. Torres has been misfiring throughout the tournament and hasn’t played to the standards that everyone has come to expect off him. But if he plays up front he will still be able to hold up the ball and lay it off to his on rushing team mates.
What happens or what formation is used can’t be confirmed until the game kicks off, so everyone will just have to wait and see what happens on Sunday.
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