End of Euro 2012: a work for eternity

The Organization itself, UEFA, like all participating teams, yielded to the evidence. Never in the history of a World Championship or Eurocup final has the champion won with so much credit and for such a difference in goals. “La Roja was elevated to football royalty: the first team to retain the Euro Cup, the first team to win three consecutive international titles, and Vicente del Bosque, the first coach to win the Champions League, the World Cup and the Euro Cup.”

The Kiev final was the perfect play. A party for eternity. The culmination of a generation of footballers and the definitive proclamation of a style of play. If the entire Championship had been good, the last game, the final was an exhibition in the broadest sense of the word.

Spain had never won a match against Italy in a World Cup or in a Euro Cup. He had only managed to claim victory in the penalty shootout in 2008. In fact, in this same tournament, in the first match, Del Bosque's team suffered to tie after the Azzurri took the lead. Precisely that was the only goal received in the entire competition.

There is nothing better than analyzing, gutting, that final with the coach, the man who was able to sign the trilogy that Luis Aragonés started four years earlier. Now the works were complete.

“That final was the best game of all my time because of what it meant, because we played well and because at all times we did what we wanted to do. I don't forget a game against Belgium in La Coruña (5-0) and another one in Bosnia (2-5) in 2009… But of course that was a final and it had much more echo ”.

The coach decided that 'on the day of truth' they would play the same as in the first match of the Championship, also against Italy. The rival, however, did make changes and even changed systems. In the premiere he had played with three centrals, with De Rossi between Bonucci and Chiellini. Now Prandelli was betting on 1-4-4-2.

“Repeating eleven had an explanation. He wanted Cesc to keep an eye on Pirlo. They always went out there. Short or long, but by that player. I am sure that if I had taken Torres, I would have covered him just as or more intensely, but I liked the team with that configuration because it dominated and controlled the game more ”.

Vicente reveals that this eleven really played in such a way that it seemed that he had ten midfielders. “We didn't want to have people ahead of the ball. We handled it and looked for the final pass, the final pass. The wingers, Arbeloa and Jordi Alba, with the ball, were open midfielders. The two centrals, who were the two pure defenders, also wanted to leave with the ball played until midfield and played as midfielders. And then there were all the others. In the end they were all medium. I have always argued that the best team would be that made up entirely of midfielders. It would be ideal for the game and for football. ”

That Italy was brave. Prandelli, with the debut game in the lead, advanced the defense 20 meters outside the area and went to press up to disrupt the rival's game. La Roja did not flinch. He did not renounce his style and with the ball he gained ground until he found the first goal. A little 'made in Spain'. Xavi already controls in the rival field, plays for Iniesta, minimal driving and a deep pass to Cesc that emerges from his right. Hurry the false ‘9’ to the bottom line… and his back pass is finished off by Silva with a header in the position of ‘9’ really.

The Azzurian reaction gives even more value to the temperance of the Spanish team. For fifteen minutes the ball was from Italy and it is known that without its preferred element, the National Team suffers. High pressure paid off and balls were lost in unusual areas. When he was painting the worst, Xavi appeared. The ‘8’ had confessed on the eve that he “would have liked to have been more transcendental in the previous meetings”. It appeared when it had to appear.

The action of the second goal was born from his feet and his privileged head. The right pause to retain the ball and await the arrival of Jordi Alba from behind in depth. Just when he saw his partner and at the height of the last Italian he gave him the pass. An invitation to the auction. Take it. And Jordi defined as if he were a striker. With the 2-0 at half-time, the final was more than on track for a team already adept at handling situations.

Del Bosque recalls that in the preparation phase in Switzerland, one day, seeing the shape of the Barcelona winger, he approached him and a situation ventured. “I'm not much of that stuff. But I saw him so well. He understood our game of waiting and coming from behind so well that I told him it was going to be the revelation of the tournament. I really thought so. He looked at me a bit weird as if he was saying this to me, but the reality is that he gave us many solutions ”.

The second part was an eternal rondo. With the ball, moving it with sense and without losses, the National Team ended up exhausting his rival and at the right moment, Casillas made a stop of his own. Right after the referee didn't want to whistle a hand from Bonucci that cut off a Ramos header.

“Before the game – Del Bosque insists – I commented that we were at the physical limit. I saw it. But of course it turned out that they were worse. We made them run a lot. With our mobility they did not reach the pressure. They had one less day of rest. Two players were injured and we are always comfortable with the ball and if these players are comfortable the opponent has nothing to do. We had everything in our favor from the first goal ”.

The coach moved the bench and it was perfect. As usual. The last two goals were scored by the last two players to jump onto the field. First it was Pedro. After Torres and finally Mata. Pedro looked for him. It came out electric. Fernando found it. It was a robbery by Xavi with the rival coming out, and his pass into the gap was as perfect as the one he had given to Alba in the first half. Fernando finished with the tranquility of those who know the trade. His third goal of the Championship. The one that allowed him to be top scorer tied with a handful of men.

The Mata thing was even more romantic. He dialed as soon as he entered. It was given to him by a supportive Torres after a monumental pass by Busquets. The party was reaching its climax. The feat was done. Spain was champion. With ‘9’ false and with ‘9’ true. Riding between 1-4-2-3-1 and 1-4-3-3.

“Everyone recognized our superiority throughout the Championship. We had a lot of security with the ball. More than at the World Cup. I like to say that we played with three forwards because Iniesta, Silva and Cesc or Torres, of course, they were. That they come, they come, they move does not mean that they are not forwards. Playing with a real striker gives you more depth, but we wanted to have continuity, dominate and have possession of the ball to create opportunities. ”

On the debate whether Xabi and Busquets were two classic midfielders or Xabi was more interior, Del Bosque has his theory. “The most important thing is that the two were always at the service of the team and that for a midfielder is very important. In the defensive phase there were two midfielders, but one of the two jumped to press up. They alternated in creation, organization, and completion. They are both very smart. They also knew that they did not have to build the game, they had other teammates to build. Xavi appeared to us more in the final. It was magnificent ”.

In these modern times, both FIFA and UEFA have a good habit of editing a technical report of the World Championships and Euro Cups in which their experts analyze in detail all the teams, with special emphasis, naturally, on the champion.

The praise for La Roja powerfully attracts attention. “Spain, once again, gave a clear example of the value of individual technique, the ability to move the game, lengthen the pressure and a great ability to make rapid changes in speed in tight spaces. His possession game was exceptional. Mesmerizing his forward midfield mobility and intense pressure to get the ball back quickly. ”

It also details in some players. “Casillas was the best goalkeeper, 15 stops and only one goal received. Xavi, its organizer. Iniesta, the ‘infiltrator’. Creators of excellent time control and the transition game. Spain was faithful to its philosophy of play in all situations of matches ”.

Andrés Iniesta especially amazed the UEFA coaches who chose the best player in every game. In addition to naming him the best soccer player in the Championship, he was chosen the best player of the match three times. Against Italy (1-1) in debut; against Croatia (1-0), third match in the group stage and in the final. For the UEFA experts, “it symbolized the team's game with its incisive and creative football with and without the ball.”

In the other commitments in Spain, a player from La Roja always received the VIP award for the match. Torres against the Republic of Eire (4-0), scored two goals. Xabi Alonso against France in the quarterfinals (2-0), signed both goals and Sergio Ramos in the semifinals against Portugal. He shot the penultimate penalty a la Panenka.