Russia in quarterfinal, Spain is out of World Cup 2018
Yesterday, we saw one of the biggest upsets in World Cup knockout round history when Spain was eliminated in the Round of 16 by host Russia.
Spain came into the tournament undefeated since Euro 2016. Julen Lopetegui’s squad was clicking on all cylinders. La Roja’s declining reputation under Del Bosque was restored. They were back where they belonged, among the favorites to win the title. A squad mainly consisting of two of the best teams in the world could not fail.
Then, the unthinkable happened. Two days before the 2018 World Cup kicked off, Real Madrid announced the signing of Julen Lopetegui as their new coach. The world was astonished, not so much because of the choice of Zidane’s replacement, but more because of the timing of the announcement. The Spanish football federation was not happy and chose to head to the team’s base in Krasnodar to deal with the situation over casting a vote for the 2026 World Cup host. Even though the players were reportedly fine with Lopetegui leaving the national team following the conclusion of the tournament, Luis Rubiales, the president of the Spanish FA saw Lopetegui’s move as betrayal and sacked him.
His decision triggered a chain of events. Former Real Madrid great and current national team sporting director Fernando Hierro elected himself as the interim head coach, despite having no prior head coaching experience. There was simply no time for a different solution. The team seemed to handle the situation pretty well. If it weren’t for Cristiano Ronaldo, Spain would’ve beaten Portugal in the opening match. A 3-3 draw was still a positive sign. Iran and Morocco, however, gave us a glimpse of what the future might hold. A narrow (lucky) 1-0 win over Iran and a late escape in a 2-2 draw with Morocco were alarming.
Thinking back, the Iran game was a copy of the Russia game yesterday. Spain was flipping the ball from side to side with no clue how to break down the defensive wall. That’s where Lopetegui’s absence became noticeable. Hierro was unable to make in-game adjustments and instead let the players figure things out themselves. Yes, they are some of the best ones in the world, but this is the World Cup we’re talking about. A coach is there for a reason.
Memories of the 2014 Spain squad came to mind. Lopetegui knew what Spain’s weakness was – indirectness. Possession is good, but to win you need to score. He worked on erasing that weakness throughout his tenure and appeared to be successful. Unfortunately, we’ll never get to find out how good his team actually was.
What we did see was a passing display unlike any we’ve ever seen. Spain completed a total of 1114 passes in 120 minutes, setting a new World Cup record. Here’s one comparison just to demonstrate how many passes that is – Sweden advanced to the Round of 16 having completed 660 passes. Nearly all of those Spanish passes were in vain. Cherchesov’s five-man defence didn’t let up and fought until the end. Iran gave the recipe and Russia’s manager cooked the meal.
“I really had to persuade (my players) that this was the only way out,”
“We don’t like this kind of structure but this is what we had to do with three defenders. Thank God my footballers understood what I was telling them. They trusted me.”
Luis Rubiales might have been protecting the country’s values, but his decision to fire Julen Lopetegui will remain as one of the most controversial (and costly) ones in football history. Spain was given an ideal draw to reach the final. With Lopetegui, they would’ve probably been able to do it. Rubiales has no regrets, saying
“I don’t regret the decision taken with Lopetegui because it was done with conviction and values that aren’t influenced by subsequent results,”,
I bet many Spanish citizens disagree.
