In the concentration of Spain in South Africa there are obvious symptoms that the game is approaching Switzerland. The Federation has heard that the German Ottmar Hitzfeld, coach of the Swiss team, has sent spies to training sessions in Spain. AND Forest take drastic measures. In a very unusual decision on him, the man from Salamanca orders the training behind closed doors. Toni Grande, assistant coach, prepares a series of rehearsed plays, corner kicks and lateral fouls, with the aim of opening the Swiss can, which reached the World Cup 2010 with the record of 360 minutes without receiving goals in his goal and that confirmed this trend in South Africa, beating Italy's record for the most minutes in the world Cup without receiving a goal against.
While Spain was struggling to see how to open up to Switzerland, which was not easy, players with physical problems were improving. AS's special envoy reported that both Iniesta and Torres were going to play against Switzerland. This was confirmed later. Iniesta was a starter, although he had to be relieved by Pedro, while Torres entered from the bench in the 62nd minute. They were also able to play Xabi Alonso and Busquets, which in the previous days were dosed.
The hours before the debut match were tense in the concentration of Spain, not only because of the Swiss spy, but also because of the level of other rivals. Argentina had debuted against Nigeria (1-0, goal by Heinze) with a dazzling Messi. Del Bosque assured that “with Leo at that level, they are the favorites.” Then, it is known, the Argentina of Maradona It was less and the Spain of Del Bosque, much more.
Meanwhile, everything that surrounded Spain was going well. The players were happy with the place chosen for the rally, where spaces were shared without problems with the Press (yes, Spain was champion of Europe and the World, sharing both the coach and the soccer players with living space, life and miracles with the special envoys) , travel agencies reported that there were not enough planes to meet the demand of followers willing to fly ten hours to see the Selection and Manolo The Bombo He had already arrived in South Africa, a country that he ended up loving despite the fact that an illness would force him to return to Spain earlier than planned, although he would later draw strength to be in the final of the Soccer City. In one of those planes that were landing in Johannesburg from Madrid, of Barcelona…, it arrived too Luis Aragones, the coach who had led Spain to win the Eurocup 2008. Luis attended the World Cup as a commentator on the Arab channel Al Jazeera, and after the stumbling block of Spain before Switzerland he made some declarations that did not go down very well. That touches another day …