Spain has been dreadfully boring for most of this World Cup.
At times, there was a lack of urgency. At others, a lack of creativity. However, at no point did the squad lack talent or skill and Luis de la Fuente knew exactly when he needed to let his boys loose.
Against France, Spain followed De La Fuente’s game plan and choked out France’s incredible attacking group. Dominant in the midfield, Spain strangled the imagination from France by not giving Michael Olise an inch to work with — so much so that the Bayern Munich star retreated to the wide areas.
Rodri and Fabián Ruiz were stellar in controlling the tempo of the match and seemingly being in every passing lane that France tried to use.
Aside of taking Olise out of the game, Pau Cubarsi (the best young player of this tournament bar none), Aymeric Laporte, Marc Cucurella, and Pedro Porro made life hell for Kylian Mbappé, who lost more of his swagger by the minute in the game. Mbappé seemed to get more befuddled by what was going on and seemed to not accept that his team was being beaten…soundly.
In drawing a penalty in the first half, Spain converted and was able to fully implement was De La Fuente wanted to do — make the French feel pressure, squeeze the game, and look for opportunities to take advantage of France’s desperation.
All of those things happened and France still might not know what hit it.
It was a coaching masterclass, but also excellence in execution from the Spanish players.
While France looked unbeatable just a few days ago, Spain showed that even modern day giants can slain with old school tactics and a team willing to wait to show just how good it can be.
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