Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
“Boring” Spain set new standards
Chastised and lambasted in the early stages of Euro 2012 for passing the ball sideways and backwards too often for the liking of goal-hungry fans and journalists, who had thrived in the feast of a wildly entertaining tournament, Spain silenced all their critics with a ruthless of display of flamboyant flair and lethal finishing in a one-sided final which made Italy look like a bunch of schoolboys.
Vicente Del Bosque’s “boring” strategy, based on deploying a strikerless formation to draw out opponents who park the proverbial bus in their own half, in fact proved to be a masterstroke which none of Spain’s rivals could cope with.
Not only have the Spaniards set new standards by winning their third successive major trophy, but their plethora of ways to break down the opposition has also given the other title contenders at the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil a serious headache, with apparently no prescription available.
This Spanish outfit can seemingly knock the ball around with their eyes closed all night in any formation required.
