SPAIN ARE known as the perennial bottlers of international football but there has been little sign of that so far in these championships.
The flair of the group stages didn't dispel the old fears completely; that was left to the sophisticated performance against Italy in the quarter final. They controlled that game and crucially didn't panic when the deserved goals didn't arrive. In ye
ars gone by Italy would have picked them off on the counter and left yet another sob story. This time, however,however, they kept their combined nerve and kept a clean sheet for 120
minutes.
Another quiet 90 minutes for goalkeeper Iker Casillas followed against a Russian side they psychologically destroyed. The belief is undoubtedly there and having an extremely settled side, especially at the back, has helped that. This rock solid defence still allowed full-back Sergio Ramos to run amok down the right hand side, negating the dangerous Yuri Zhirkov, because Marcos Senna played the holding role made famous by Claude Makelele to perfection. The Villarreal player snuffed out Andrei Arshavin completely, covered every other player in his team and was big enough to control the tempo of the entire game when he needed to.
The wily old Luis Aragones had to change the shape of the side when top scorer David Villa went off injured and this only served to make them look even better. Cesc Fabregas came on, as he has throughout the tournament, and gave a whole new level of creativity from the midfield.
This is another strength of the Spanish; they have far more depth of quality than any other team in the competition. When Fernando Torres came off to have a well-earned rest, Daniel Guiza once more breezed on to score his customary goal. There is little doubt that as games progress they have far more options than the Germans if they feel the need to change something.
Their comparatively tougher route to the Vienna final, as well as the competition for places, also appears to have kept the Iberian side sharper than their opposing finalists.
From a German fan's point of view there will be huge concerns over how their shaky defence is going to stop Torres and co. They may well just hope that the old insecurities come back to halt the tournament's most engaging and attacking side. It seems unlikely that Aragones will let them freeze and anyway none of the old guard who suffered from those problems is left in his squad since the departure of Raul.
It is, however, a possibility. Who could have suspected Guus Hiddink's super-charged, super-confident Russians would have suffered from such extreme stage fright in the semi-final after looking such a class act against the Dutch? It was almost certainly the weight of expectation that got to them.
The level of expectation ahead of the final will certainly be more difficult to cope with for the Spaniards. Most neutrals not only want them to win because of their pleasing style but will also be disappointed and not a little surprised if they don't. With the ability they have, failure even at this late stage will be confirmation that it is not just this group of players, but an entire national psyche that is the problem.
The full article contains 558 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
