Chile 1 - Spain 2

Spain is very confused. The players receive confusing signals from the coaching bench, and do not really know how to decode them. After all, Logic tells that from a contradiction anything is possible, because nothing follows.

The Spanish coach, Vicente del Bosque, pledges public loyalty again and again to his predecessor's passing game, the playing strategy and style that made Spain the current European Champion. And yet, Del Bosque designs a completely different strategy for every game and every opponent. This double message creates false expectations not only among the fans, but also among the players themselves.

Against Chile, the players were expected to overcome the aggressive Chilean pressing with skilfull and quick passing, and yet the coach did not provide the team with enough midfielders to do so; they were supposed to be on the offensive, and yet the coach played a defensive midfield; they were expected to have overwhelming ball posession, and yet the team was designed for direct football, for long vertical passing skipping the midfielders. The consequence of all this was severe underperformance.

Indeed, against Chile, Spain was designed to play direct football, once again. The Chilean press really hard all over the field. Chile moves forward in formation attempting to steal the ball. The Chilean pressing goes all the way up to their opponent's defensive line. This forces the Chilean defenders to move forward as well, in order for the team to be really compact and for the pressing to be effective. One way to play against this strategy is to send long passes over everyone's heads to the empty space left between the Chilean defenders and the Chilean goalie. This empty space amounts usually to somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of the entire field. The Chilean goalie is in charge of sweeping those passes by anticipation using his feet.

Spain gave up ball possession and attempted these long passes looking for Torres and Villa. This is how the first goal came about. It was the result of a somewhat fortunate play for the Spaniards, based however in pocking Chile's weakest point. Until Spain scored, Chile had given an excellent impression. It had prevented Spain from attacking, it had created one very clear scoring chance, and it was making the Spaniards feel really unconfortable on the field. However, the second Spanish shot meant a second goal, and that was it for Chile.

The two Spanish goals eased the Spanish anxiety significantly. The Spanish team, however, did not have a brilliant performance overall. Only when Torres was replaced by Fábregas in the second half, Spain had some minutes of exquisite football. They lasted as long everyone realized that if no one would score any more goals, both teams would most likely qualify for the next round. That was the end of it.

The Spanish underperformance may have had an additional origin. At this point into the competition, the early negative result and the load of criticism coming from the previous coach, Luis Aragonés, and also from the Spanish press may be paying a toll as well. Great boxing champions who get knocked-out for the first time are said not to be the same ever again. When a punch sends them to the ground, they stand up awaken from their invincibility fantasy. For the first time in their lives, they start wondering. They wonder whether or not they are as good as they thought they were. The wonder whether or not their best times are history now.

This seems to be Spain's state of mind these days. Knocked out by a less-talented team-the United States-in Spain's last participation in a play-off-format competition, it was beat again by a less-talented team-Switzerland-in the next play-off-format competition. In both defeats, Spain's opponent used exactly the same strategy. Both came after two long years of staying unbeat.

The American and Swiss punches made Spain wonder so much that against Honduras chaged its strategy completey, as it was changed again against Chile. Spain kept wondering so much that when Chile lost a player Spain decided not to attack anymore. It rather risked an accident that would send it to the ground for good than dare to be true to itself and play attacking football... lacking self-confidence.

Spain just earned much more than a qualification for the next round. It just earned some extra time. Spain has up till Tuesday to look inside, find itself and stop wondering. Today it found out that it still has its good old punch intact. If the coach could only make up his mind about which playing style fits the team best! If it could finally put all his bets on the passing game!