FIFA World Cup 2010: Tactical Analysis - Germany vs. Spain
A game which was characterized by continuous battles between both of the midfields, Spain came out on top eventually by a goal to nil and in doing so, secured their first ever appearance in a FIFA World Cup final match.
Spain lined up with David Villa upfront as the sole striker and Pedro in a surprising supporting striker role. His movement throughout the match was a cause of concern for the Germans. Germany replaced their suspended young star Mueller with Trochowski and retained the rest of the lineup which was featured against Argentina in their quarter final tie.
Spain had progressed to the semi-finals after beating Paraguay 1-0 whereas Germany had defeated Argentina by 4 goals to nil to reach the last four. Pedro, who was outstanding with his off-the-ball movement throughout the match, drifted frequently out towards the wings to give Spain width. He also made some darting runs inside the box which gave the Spanish full backs space on the wings, to move into.
Another player who had an excellent game for Spain was Sergio Busquets. Busquets, who was given the responsibility to man-mark Ozil, chased the German playmaker everywhere on the field. This resulted in a lack of time and space on the ball for the German midfielder, thus his influence on the ball was limited.
There were moments in the match when Ozil tried to drop deep to increase his involvement in the game but Busquets improvised and followed him. However this opened up space in behind the Spanish midfielder, this space was there to be exploited by Sami Khedira but he failed to make use of this opportunity.
Spain’s engine room in the midfield was Xavi. The Barcelona midfielder showed the world once again that he is one of the best midfielders around. He completed more passes than any other player in the game and also covered more distance than any other player. He also got himself an assist because of his corner kick which led towards Puyol’s header in the second half.
Two factors which influenced the course of the match were, firstly Spain’s ability to press their opponents in a coordinated manner, and secondly their possession retaining capabilities. German midfielders, Schweinsteiger and Khedira produced remarkable performances against Argentina and England but in this match were up against a midfield which consisted of Iniesta, Xavi and Alonso. Three of these players seldom lose the ball due to careless passes, they also excel for Spain in pressing their opponents. The Spain midfield trio pressed Khedira and Schweinsteiger when the Germans had possession and forced them into mistakes and ambitious early balls towards the attackers.
This resulted in the German relinquishment of the ball, and when Spain had possession of the ball they hardly ever lost it. Germany looked remarkably happy to give Spain long periods of possession but their counter attacks weren’t as forthcoming as expected. Most of their buildup play was destroyed higher up the pitch by either Busquets or Xabi Alonso.
Iniesta who started on the left wing for Spain frequently drifted into central midfield to create a four versus three situation in the middle of the park. This meant that Schweinsteiger, Khedira and Ozil were against Alonso, Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta in central midfield, this numerical advantage benefitted the Spaniards in their efforts to control the tempo of the game and create more chances.
The first and the only goal of the match came for Spain from a corner kick. Puyol made a late run into the box to connect superbly with the ball with his head; the ball rocketed past Neuer and Spain took the lead. Puyol’s late run was a clever piece of play by the central defender as the Germans were using zonal marking on their set pieces. This meant that the late run by Puyol caught German defenders off guard.
Overall the semi-final was a brilliant tactical spectacle, with the first half being much more tense and cagey while the second one was quite open as both the teams went for the win. The most important thing with regard to this match was that German midfielders Ozil, Khedira and Schweinsteiger are still young players who are still learning their trade while the players that they were up against in shape of Alonso, Xavi and Iniesta are European cup winners who were better not only on the ball but off it as well.
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