Spain national team wins the Nations League

The winner of the next draw of the League of Nations was the Spanish national team, which defeated the Croatians in the decisive match of the Final Four held in the Netherlands in a penalty shoot-out after a 0-0 draw in regular and extra time. The title won by the Spaniards for the first time in more than ten years is important, apparently, first of all for their new coach Luis de la Fuente – at least as a guarantee that he can continue to reform his team relatively calmly.

The League of Nations, launched by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) at the end of the previous decade, is, of course, a competition that is not comparable in value to the World and European Championships. And practical, or something, the meaning in it, at least for the giants, is minimal. For example, through the current selection is carried out in the final stage of the qualification of the continental championship next year. In it, 12 teams that failed in the main part of it will compete for the last three tickets to the tournament in Germany. And this dozen will be formed just on the basis of the rating in the League of Nations. But for many football giants, an additional chance is so relevant, if in the group at the main stage, in order to directly, without too much hassle, get into the championship, it is enough to take second place?

At the same time, in Spain, the success of her team still caused a serious resonance. And everything is clear. At the turn of the year before last and the last decade, the Spanish national team dominated world football, taking three titles in a row: two, in 2008 And 2012 years, – at the European Championships, one, in 2010 year at the World Championships. But after this take-off, she did not have any titles, and then the series finally broke off. It is clear and for whom in the first place the title was of the greatest importance.

During those ten-odd years that the Spanish national team could not get to any trophy, a stable idea had developed about it as a team stuck in its own “golden” era.

He plays – well, maybe with slight variations – all in the same legendary tiki-taka, based on eternal possession of the ball and eternal passing. Only great opponents managed to adapt to it, and a completely different football turned out to be in the trend – faster, more decisive, more aggressive. And the constant breakdowns of the Spaniards on the outskirts, either close or distant, to the finals only confirmed that they should correct the course.

The last disruption happened towards the end of 2022 during the World Cup in Qatar, when the Spanish team lost to the Moroccans in the starting round of the play-offs. And after him, there was a change of mentor in her with a clear hint of more radical reforms than usual. A change that caused a lot of questions and doubts in Spain. The successor to Luis Enrique was a specialist without a bright background, who was already in his seventies and who did not look like the bearer of a stack of bold and grandiose ideas for rebuilding the national team. And the first matches of the Spaniards under the leadership of Luis de la Fuente only increased doubts. In March, they opened the European Championship qualification with two meetings. The Spanish national team defeated the Norwegians formally convincingly – 3:0. But her opponent played without his superstar Erling Haaland, and the hosts scored two goals in the end. And then the Spaniards managed to be defeated – 0:2 – from the middle peasants of the Scots on the road. It is unlikely that in these games one could see at least some progress compared to the times of Luis Enrique and a sign that the functionaries in search of a national team coach made the right choice.

The Dutch “Final Four” made me look at the work of Luis de la Fuente differently, with much more sympathy. He forced to evaluate, for example, how well new faces fit into his system – those who were not involved in the national team at all under Luis Enrique or were involved, but most often sat on the bench. We are talking about the attack with the next young Spanish talent, Jeremi Pino and Joselu, who refreshed her, suddenly at the age of 33 deserved the transition from Espanyol to Real Madrid (in the semi-finals, both goals against the Italians were in their assets), and about midfield with the wide functionality by Fabian Ruiz, and about defense with Robin Le Norman integrated into the center, now playing side by side with another former Frenchman – Aymeric Laporte, who was not useful to his homeland. And he also made me appreciate how effective, at least in segments, the scheme that de la Fuente adheres to is not the usual 4-2-3-1, but quite traditional for any grandee 4-3-3. The pivotal role in the middle of the field in this format belongs to Rodri, who played a fantastic season for Manchester City, whose best qualities Enrique actually sacrificed by transferring to cement the rear, so that veteran Sergio Busquets, who said goodbye to the team, reigned in the support zone.

And it seems that the Spaniards really accelerated after the adjustments and finally threw the old principles into the dustbin, although there are still enough of those to whom they are dear.

Luis de la Fuente, reforming the Spaniards, for example, managed to leave the 2012 European champion Jordi Alba at the base, and even the 37-year-old 2010 world champion Jesus Navas.

However, to enthusiasm about the results of his activities is still, of course, far away. And you can’t get away from stating the obvious fact. With all the sweetness for Spain of the title won in the Netherlands, its team got to it with a creak: they coped with the Italians with great difficulty, with the Croats – thanks, whatever one may say, not so much to the reformatted style, but to the exploits of the goalkeeper Unai Simon, who reflected two Croatian players in the penalty shootout hit.

Alexey Dospekhov