In a city known for its cowboy spirit, Spain reined in France, the World Cup’s most attacking side, with a masterful display of tactical football to cruise to a 2-0 win in the first semi-final at Dallas.
So complete was the win that by the end one could see a certain acceptance of defeat on the faces of the French fans, their coach and the players. They were beaten; well beaten by a team that simply was at a different level.
It’s easy to say that France turned up flat but to be fair, they tried everything. France manager Didier Deschamps’ team just couldn’t figure out how to stop this Spanish Armada. Lamine Yamal earned his team a penalty after he was kicked by Lucas Digne and Mikel Oyarzabal comprehensively converted it in the 22nd minute and Pedro Porro sealed the deal with a wonderful goal in the 58th minute.
If you were watching the game, you might have thought that France were never in control but a look at the stats will tell you, perhaps wrongly, that it was closer.
Spain, for instance, had a possession percentage of 50.8 according to Opta. Just 50.8. On most days that would indicate a pretty close game and with a team like France as an opponent, that would usually lead to a few goals as well.
But in this case, the statistic is flawed. For even when Spain didn’t have the ball, they were chasing it with such ferocity that France were never at ease. Les Bleus virtually never had time on the ball, and it’s hard to recall any extended period of their dominance.
Creativity can be a double-edged sword against the discipline of a method and while France were trying to conjure up a dreamy goal, Spain would rush in and give them a crushing dose of reality. Michael Olise, who was France’s creative force in the lead-up to the semi-final, just couldn’t break through the Spanish defensive line and was substituted early. Ousmane Dembele deprived of any service on the flank was invisible while Kylian Mbappe was shackled and never given the freedom to run.
France, a team whose free-spirited play brought so much joy to this World Cup, looked short of ideas against Spain’s tactical genius, so much so that they attempted just 10 shots, their lowest total in a single match this tournament.
Passing lanes were cut off and the energy displayed by La Roja was simply incredible. The scariest part is that they don’t let you play your game. And if you play theirs, the game is lost. Perhaps the only option is to match the energy; to hound them as they hound you. Turn it into a battle and you might have a chance but France have shown in this tournament that they are artists. On Wednesday, though, they needed the butcher’s touch.
In modern football, they talk about size and physicality but this was footballing intelligence at its peak. Rodri was the rock but each and every Spanish player worked hard to give his teammate an extra option to pass to. The ball was moved around at pace and by the time France realised they had been drawn into a maze that Spain built, they could never find a way out of it.
The key to all of this, though, was discipline. There was certainly a sense of adventure at times but so controlled were the instincts that Spain rarely if ever made a mistake. It seemed like they were taking everything into account before making their move.
“We started almost four years ago with an idea and we’ve been faithful to that idea and it’s brought us here,” said Spain manager Luis de la Fuente after the win. “Today we faced one of the best national teams in the world, but in front of them they had the best team in the world…these players deserve everything – day after day they’ve showed their commitment, their solidarity, their generosity, their talent. They make the difficult look easy.”
Before the match, the French would have been hoping that their attacking verve would force Spain on the defensive. But how does one do that without the ball?
“The players are devastated because we had high ambitions, even though we have to admit that today we were a notch below our usual level technically, facing a team that really had a handle on the game,” said Deschamps after the game.
He added: “It’s primarily our own fault. We fell short and weren’t as dangerous in attack as we could have been, making a few technical errors on passes that might have led to scoring chances. That’s the reality of the elite level, even if it hurts.”
A team that others were wondering how to stop, somehow managed to grind to a halt in the face of a complete team performance by Spain. It was sad in a sense but given how Spain played, there was a feeling of inevitability to it.
France, with Deschamps having said that he will step down after the World Cup, will now have to go back to the drawing board. One can only hope the attacking verve survives the aftermath of this crushing defeat. Meanwhile, Spain, the European champions, will play the World Cup final and the last time they did that, they won.
