Spain posted a 1-0 win over France on Tuesday in a marquee World Cup qualifier at Paris’ Stade de France.
FC Barcelona star Pedro netted the game’s only goal in the 58th minute to propel the Spaniards over the French for first place in Group I.
Here are three thoughts on the game and Spain’s performance:
1) Scrappy Spaniards
The word crisis wasn’t used in the build-up, but Spain entered this contest with a point to prove after drawing their last two qualifying matches.
A 1-1 stalemate with Finland in Gijon last week allowed the French to leapfrog La Roja for the lead in Group I. Spain was viewed as vulnerable and, perish the thought, some even began to wonder if Spain would have to go through the playoffs in order to qualify for Brazil.
But such thinking didn’t take into account the Spaniards’ amazing will to win. You don’t win three major tournaments in a row and go unbeaten in 50 qualifying games by sheer talent alone – you need to be mentally strong, too.
And that’s what we saw from Spain in Paris: their amazing will to win and ability to find a way to grind out a victory. A loss or draw would have gave France and huge advantage going forward in group stage, as Spain wouldn’t have controlled its fate. Spain would have none of it, though, beating the French in a hostile stadium.
It wasn’t particularly pretty from the Spaniards against the French, even though they did dominate possession and attacked with panache at times. But it’s fitting that Pedro’s goal was scrappy (he bundled it home during a goalmouth scramble) because it was a scrappy win from Spain, and proved that aside from pouring on the style, they can also get their hands dirty and grind it out when the occasion calls for it.
2) Xavi the Magnificent
Xavi Hernandez has come in for a bit of criticism in recent months.
The suggestion has been made, more than once, that his age (he’s 33) and all the games he plays for Barcelona in La Liga have finally caught up to him and have slowed him down. Maybe that’s true, but we saw no evidence of it against the French, as the mercurial Xavi put in a wonderful performance.
Xavi was at the heart of a dangerous Spanish attack, masterfully pulling the creating strings, and giving France’s central midfield trio (Paul Pogba, Yohan Cabaye and Blaise Matuidi) a footballing lesson.
He also should have opened the scoring in the fifth minute, only to blaze his shot from in close over an open net. Still, Spain dictated the pace of the game, enjoying 67 per cent of the possession and forcing France to feed off scraps on the counter attack – and a lot of that had to do with Xavi’s wonderful touch, distribution and control.
3) Monreal fills in to great effect
With Barcelona’s Jordi Alba out with a hamstring injury, Arsenal’s Nacho Monreal deputized at left back and hardly looked out of place in the Spanish starting line-up.
Monreal was solid in the defensive end and was dangerous when bombing forward, adding great speed and width to the Spanish attack. And it was his ball into the box, after he skinned a French player while making a sublime run down the left, that led to Pedro’s winning goal.
Alba is clearly first choice for Spain at left back, a spot he cemented at Euro 2012. But it’s nice for manager Vicente del Bosque to know that he has options.