The difficult task of recovering prestige

There is no equivalent relationship between the health of a country in the soccer concert and its performance in the World Cup -England won it once, 56 years ago- but it does offer a very approximate idea of ​​its state, which in Spain is convulsive and suspicion, worrying news for a team that lived through an insurmountable era so recently that its subsequent failures produce vertigo.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
17 November 2022 Thursday 23:35
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The difficult task of recovering prestige

There is no equivalent relationship between the health of a country in the soccer concert and its performance in the World Cup -England won it once, 56 years ago- but it does offer a very approximate idea of ​​its state, which in Spain is convulsive and suspicion, worrying news for a team that lived through an insurmountable era so recently that its subsequent failures produce vertigo. He won the 2010 World Cup and plunged into disaster. Eliminated in the first round in 2014 and in the round of 16 in 2018, Spain has to recover its prestige at a time of fractures, divisions and a bad atmosphere in its football. The task seems Homeric.

Luis Enrique has lifted a team that played the 2018 World Cup in deplorable conditions from the canvas. The coach secretly signed his contract as coach of Real Madrid, the club announced the agreement two days before the start of the tournament and the Federation fired him hours later. He appointed Fernando Hierro as coach, a former tronío player who had never led a team. Spain played in shock, self-destructed.

This World Cup comes in autumn, which was and is made for the Leagues and international club competitions. Those were other times, destined to change. Those of now are subservient exclusively to the great economic and political interests. Spain goes to the Petrodollar World Cup with a changed foot and better forecasts than in the previous one, but with the health of its teams much worsened. Only Real Madrid continues this season in the Champions League, with hardly any Spanish players. The only headline is Carvajal, a significant fact that some Taliban will discard in their usual reproaches to Luis Enrique.

The team has reappeared where it belongs, in the highest positions on the European scale, supported by a higher positions on the European scale, supported by a handful of young people and the good news in the Eurocup (semifinalist) and in the League of Nations (finalist). It has finally stopped the bleeding that began after the victory at Euro 2012 and bled the team dry in the 2018 World Cup. Progress does not prevent, however, detecting drawbacks in a team that suffers against small and medium-sized rivals, as it happened in the qualifying phase, where dramatic moments abounded.

Author team, built on the leadership of Luis Enrique, Spain has distinguished itself by a bold proposal, followed later by several countries, many of which have fully incorporated the exhaustive pressure and patience to put together the game from their area small. It is true that the team has set a trend, prey to an imbalance that it does not finish fixing: the proposal surpasses some players who make an effort to comply with it, but they lack the range or experience to achieve it.

Generally speaking, it is a rare World Cup that is won without proven figures and effective centurions around them. Spain, which in 2010 had six or seven players who were among the top three in the world in their position, faces the challenge of Qatar with a collection of good but not exceptional footballers, in many cases substitutes in their teams, and a perceptible insecurity in the center of defense and wingers. Reminds another Spain in the process of maturing, the 2006 World Cup in Germany. No one imagined that that team, eliminated in the round of 16, kept dazzling treasures. We will now see what Spain is capable of.