Луис де ла Фуэнтегийн шавь нар 609 минут гоол алдалгүй, тэмцээний шилдэг хамгаалалттай багаар нэрлэгдэн шөвгийн наймд шалгарлаа.
ФИФА-гийн 48 багийн бүрэлдэхүүнтэй Дэлхийн аварга шалгаруулах тэмцээнд Испани тун тогтвортой тоглолтыг үзүүлж байна. Тэд 2022 онд Катарын талбайд Японоос гоол алдсанаас хойш 609 минут хаалгаа хуурай манаж, тэмцээний хамгийн бага “хүлээгдэж буй гоол” (xG) алдсан үзүүлэлтээр тэргүүлж байна. Бельгитэй хийх шөвгийн наймын тоглолтын өмнө тэдний бөмбөг эзэмшилт болон сөрөг довтолгоог зогсоох чадвар шинжээчдийн анхаарлыг зүй ёсоор татаж байна.
ФИФА-гийн Техникийн судалгааны бүлгийн гишүүн Пабло Сабалетагийн онцолсноор, Испанийн тоглолтын философи нь бөмбөг алдсан даруйдаа богино зайд шахалт үзүүлж, бөмбөгөө эргүүлэн авах зарчимд суурилдаг. Родри төвийн бүсэд тоглолтыг маш сайн уншиж, хамгаалалтын бүтцийг бэхжүүлдэг бол төвийн хамгаалагч Кубарси болон Лапорт нар өндөр шугаман дээр тоглож, өрсөлдөгчдийн довтолгоог эрт таслан зогсоодог. Энэхүү эрсдэлтэй боловч үр дүнтэй тактик нь багийн хамтын ажиллагаа болон тоглогчдын байрлалаа зөв сонгох чадвараас шууд хамаардаг.
Испани нь бөмбөг эзэмшилтээрээ өрсөлдөгчөө талбайн аль ч хэсэгт шахаж, тоглолтын хэмнэлийг бүрэн хянаж байна. Тэдний “өндөр блок” бүхий хамгаалалт болон бөмбөг алдсан даруйх шуурхай хариу үйлдэл нь өрсөлдөгчдөө сөрөг довтолгоо хийх ямар ч боломж олгохгүй байгаа юм. Хэдийгээр хамгаалалтын шугамыг хэт өндөрт байрлуулах нь ард талд сул орон зай үүсгэх эрсдэлтэй ч, Испанийн тоглогчдын нягт хамгаалалт болон сэтгэл зүйн бэлтгэл нь тэднийг энэ тэмцээний гол фаворитуудын нэг болгож байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
One major byproduct of FIFA’s expansion to a 48-team World Cup is that even the best sides can slip a little under the radar.
Spain haven’t been spoken about too much since their shock goalless draw to Cape Verde in their opening game. But suddenly, they find themselves in the last eight and look to be in ominous form, the only nation yet to concede a single goal. In fact, Spain have got the record for the longest time without conceding a World Cup goal, with it being 609 minutes played since they conceded to Japan in Qatar in 2022.
Their route through to a quarter-final clash with Belgium hasn’t had the thrills and spills of some of the other contenders, but the clinical efficiency of Luis de la Fuente’s side has only become more evident as the competition has progressed.
Spain’s status as the best defensive team in the tournament has been no fluke. As we can see from the graphic below, no country who made it through to the last 16 have conceded fewer expected goals (xG) per game than Spain, while they have also allowed the fewest touches in their penalty area.
They keep the ball away from their goal more effectively than any of the tournament’s remaining sides.
With teams who dominate the ball, like Spain, it can be easy to gloss over the discipline and focus it takes to keep them so secure. Pablo Zabaleta knows what it is like to defend for a possession-heavy side, having spent nine years at Manchester City, and is in awe of Spain’s ability to ensure their structure is solid, even when they have the ball.
“Of course, dominating possession means that you can control the flow of the game and deny the opposition the chance to attack too often themselves,” says Zabaleta, now part of FIFA’s Technical Study Group for the summer. “Especially in the final stages where you have to manage the intensity of games, they are so good at controlling things with the ball; it is part of their DNA.”
“But it is also part of their principle that by having so many players with short distances between each other when they pass the ball, it allows them to counter-press very quickly when they lose it. That is something that they work on from an early age in Spain, to make sure that players are switched on and in the right place to win the ball back the second they lose it.”
Below against Saudi Arabia, we can see the benefits of having what is known as a secure “rest defence”, which outlines how a team structures their players during an attack.
They build down the left with a triangle of Pedri, Alex Baena and full-back Marc Cucurella, with the two midfielders looking to apply instant pressure once the pass is cut out.
That rushes Musab Al-Juwayr into a quick pass forward, but Spain are able to quickly congregate and pick up the loose ball in the central channel, with four team-mates surrounding Dani Olmo when he retrieves possession. It allows Spain to sustain their territorial dominance, working to exhaust their opponents who have to repel wave after wave of attacks.
Here is another example against Austria in the knockout stage. As Lamine Yamal is tackled inside the box, Ralf Rangnick’s team attempt to spring a quick counter-attack. But Rodri is quick to get touch-tight to Marcel Sabitzer and regains the ball within seconds, another instance of Spain reacting sharply to a turnover of possession.
Again, Rodri has four players congregated around him as he looks up. Counter-pressing as a collective, hunting in packs — the distances are always short, which allows Spain to both nick possession and attack again quickly, keeping the pressure on the opposition back line.
Zabaleta picks out Rodri for particular praise. “He can read the game really well; he always knows when to press. His positioning is always excellent to counter-press and win the ball back immediately.
“I’ve played in Spain and I’ve lived in Spain, and in every region of the country, they do exactly the same thing. They all know that those two or three seconds after losing the ball are crucial, how they need to react, whether you come from the north of the country, the south… it doesn’t matter.”
“That’s a huge advantage, because when they meet for the national team, everyone has grown up with those principles.”
Here is one last example of that awareness from Rodri. As a low cross is intercepted, Rodri appears from nowhere to shoulder Bruno Fernandes off the ball as Portugal look to break, surrounded by team-mates who effectively box the ball in.
Such commitment and organisation in their front-footed defending shows up in the numbers; no team have regained possession more often in the final third, while the average time of opposition possession sequences, at just 19.3 seconds, is by far the shortest.
They dominate the ball, work hard to restrict their opposition to transitions, and smother build-up play high up the pitch.
It is not only the forward players who need to be switched on for the counter-press. Centre-backs and full-backs need to be prepared to step up, pushing their team-mates on and helping to squeeze the space to give their opponents little time on the ball.
“They are ready for that,” says Zabaleta. “Cubarsi does it almost every game for Barcelona with that high line they play. It is a risk. As a coach, you need to convince the players to do this, but Cubarsi has the personality to accept it.
“Laporte has a little more experience, but they are always very tight on the strikers and want to win those duels.”
Per FIFA Football Performance Insights’ enhanced data set, Cubarsi and Laporte have won 24 of their 31 duels in the middle third (77.4 per cent), showcasing their ability to step in and nick the ball in crucial moments, with space in behind them to attack.
Anticipation plays a huge part, as we see the back four positioned dangerously high against Cape Verde. Initially, the two centre-backs are quick to drop to follow the run in behind, but Laporte quickly recovers and spots the forward pass into midfield, his interception keeping Spain on the front foot.
Though not as common with this Spain team, full-backs should also be prepared to drift inside and defend, something that Zabaleta experienced at City under Pep Guardiola.
“I had one season with Pep at City where I was drifting into the half-spaces to push one of the No 8s a little higher,” he said. “Obviously one reason was to create an extra body in midfield, but he would also say to me, ‘Pablo, I want the wingers to stay wide and the technical midfielders to play in those tight spaces. I need you in those central positions to avoid the counter-attacks, because you are a defender. I prefer full-backs to be inside there to counter-press quickly’”.
The dangers are clear: Guardiola and now De la Fuente are clearly conscious about quick attacks going the other way. But leaving so much space behind is a risk they are prepared to take given how much it compresses the space and helps the counter-press further on.
“As a defender, this can be really hard — one ball in behind, and you have to run 40 yards back,” says Zabaleta. “But that’s a risk that the coach wants to take, and sometimes you get there, but on other occasions the opposition forward is really quick and will win that race.”
On the rare occasions that Spain allow their opponents the ball, the out-of-possession shape is predictably strong.
They will often force the ball onto a specific side of the pitch before man-marking each player and restricting any passing options. Either they retrieve the ball high up the field to transition forward quickly, or force the opponent to play a riskier long pass — often hoovering up possession before beginning a new wave of attack.
An example of this is shown below against Austria (white), where all ball-side Spain players (red) are within two yards of their opposite number. Left-back Cucurella will often take a notably aggressive position, jumping forward to track his opposite number into advanced areas. Also note the zone covered by Rodri in the middle of the pitch, poised to jump in and support his team-mates or pick up any second balls himself.
The second example is a near-carbon copy of Spain’s (white) last-16 clash with Portugal (red).
Each ball-side player is closely marked, the opponent’s options are limited, and Rodri is patrolling the central space as extra cover to maximise Spain’s chances of regaining possession.
Per FIFA’s dataset, 10.4 per cent of Spain’s time out of possession has been spent in a “high block” — no nation has a larger share by that metric. Regaining the ball in advanced areas of the pitch is not down to luck; it is by design.
Of course, the risks are there, and somebody like Kylian Mbappe can take advantage of that space in behind more effectively than some of the forwards they have faced up to this point in the competition.
But Spain are a well-oiled machine, and while it is easy to focus on their patient passing patterns and technical ability with the ball, their intensity and coordination without it is unmatched.
