Spain stake their claim to be the best

Xavi Hernández, Daniel Güiza and David Silva will be on the lips of every Spanish supporter for years to come. Spain’s 3-0 victory against Russia last night emphasised that this squad had come of age and have no doubt that they can lift Europe’s biggest prize come Sunday.

Russia had been tipped in some quarters to emerge victorious in this encounter. Of course, much of their success would depend on their playmaker extraordinaire, Andrei Arshavin. He didn’t deliver, thus Russia didn’t deliver and they lost to Spain by a three goal margin yet again. David Villa’s injury was a pivotal moment in the match. Luis Aragonés opted to switch to a five man midfield, bringing on Cesc Fàbregas. The match was rather even until the first goal, scored by Xavi early in the second half. Spain completely dominated after that, with Fàbregas and Andrés Iniesta dominating the midfield. Russia had already struggled to wrest the ball away from Spain with four men in midfield. Now with five, they played some delightful one-touch football, frustrating the Russians and moving the ball around the pitch effortlessly. A fine clipped pass by Fàbregas over the Russian defence led to an opening for Güiza and the striker took his chance well, lobbing the ball past a helpless Igor Akinfeev. Another fine defence splitting pass from Fàbregas set up Silva to cap a fine performance by Spain and send them to their first final in 24 years.

Fàbregas’ superb performance was not good enough to get a Man of the Match accolade but he has almost surely sealed a starting spot for himself in Sunday’s final. Aragonés will be sorely tempted to start with five in midfield again after witnessing Spain dominating proceedings against the Russians. Such possession is only a distant dream for many coaches, yet Aragonés has an extremely talented midfield that can dominate against the best the world has to offer. He acknowledged that Spain played better football with five in midfield and most of that credit must go to Fàbregas. His vision and creativity was a welcome addition in the middle of the park and as a result, the Russians were never really in the game after Xavi’s opener.

Arshavin was anonymous the entire night, watched closely by Marcos Senna. He never really got going and as a result, Russia’s source of creativity had to be found in other areas. Unfortunately for them, there wasn’t enough elsewhere. Roman Pavlyuchenko was another anonymous figure although it can be argued that his supply was cut off last night by Spain’s superbly marshalled defence. They were completely outclassed, no two ways about it. There wasn’t an element of bad luck about the result, nor did the referee have an unwanted influence on the game. Spain won because they deserved to. Russia captain Sergei Semak said, “We could have done better, but this is how the match went. The Spanish won absolutely on merit.” No one who watched the game will disagree with his evaluation. Spain have been the tournament’s best team by far and if they win on Sunday, the tournament will have a worthy winner. Nothing against the Germans but there isn’t a clear underdog for the final and I’d like to see the best team win the trophy.

Xavi Hernández, Daniel Güiza and David Silva will be on the lips of every Spanish supporter for years to come. Spain’s 3-0 victory against Russia last night emphasised that this squad had come of age and have no doubt that they can lift Europe’s biggest prize come Sunday.

In other news, Emmanuel Adebayor has announced that he will be staying at Arsenal for next season, killing off speculation that he could be heading to AC Milan or Barcelona. At least he’s had the decency to announce his decision nice and early. Unlike some Portuguese wingers who play for Man Utd. Cristiano Ronaldo has said he will be back for pre-season training with Man Utd but has not formally announced where he would like to play next season. Unethical and inconsiderate are two words that immediately spring to mind. It’s hard to see past money as a motivating factor, as Man Utd are clearly a better team than Real Madrid, so it’s not a case of wanting to improve his game. He could do much worse than take a page out of Adebayor’s book of ethics and motivation. I stumbled across this interesting article, shedding some light into Adebayor’s difficult past. Whilst it’s not a deep biography, it does show us what kind of person he is and how he was brought up. He has kept his feet firmly on the ground and it is refreshing to see such a player in today’s world, where many succumb to the lure of riches. Adebayor insists, “I was born in Togo so I never cared about playing for money, my happiness was to play to enjoy myself.” Many others should be looking to emulate this man for what he is on and off the pitch.

And as I write this, a news story has surfaced in which Adebayor makes a complete U-turn on his stance. He says, “I am footballer, I have a three-year contract at Arsenal but as you know, a lot of clubs are interested in me.” So much for all that loyalty talk I was writing about. Football never ceases to amaze me.