Marvellous memories
It’s July 2010 and there is tension in the air in Durban. It’s the World Cup semi-final and for the 60,000 in attendance, the atmosphere is palpable. After 72 minutes the score remained deadlocked at 0-0 between an exuberant young Germany and the metronomic Spain.
Vicente del Bosque’s side had the lion’s share of the ball, as was now customary for the European champions, but Germany were incisive in transition and had chances on the break. Now Spain had a corner. Xavi placed the ball in the quadrant. Gerard Piqué was up, marked closely by Arne Friedrich. Joan Capdevilla was up there, along with David Villa. Sergio Ramos was lurking too.
The delivery was perfect, presented like an invitation to the biggest party, and there appeared Carles Puyol from seemingly nowhere to power the ball into the net. Time stopped as he leapt in the air, his long hair flying in the South African night. The connection was textbook, piercing the gap between Manuel Neuer and Lukas Podolski on the post. Spain held on and reached the World Cup final and the rest is history of the most beautiful kind.
To put the significance of that goal into context, Spain had never been in a World Cup semi-final before, and they were taking on the might of Germany. They were playing against the weight of history as much as anything. In three previous meetings on the biggest stage, Spain had failed to beat them. Defeat in 1966 in the Group Stage, before they suffered the same fate in their own World Cup in 1982 – losing 2-1 at Santiago Bernabéu. They managed a draw in the US in 1994, but had never tasted victory against Die Mannschaft. It was ironic too, that it was Carles Puyol who came up with the winning goal from a set piece. A rugged centre-back in the traditional sense, playing for the diminutive exponents of tiki-taka.
It was one of the most defining moments of their campaign, probably second only to Andrés Iniesta’s winning goal, the goal of his life and nearly 50 million other Spaniards. Puyol later revealed to Diario AS that it was a rehearsed set piece, with Piqué performing the role of a shield, allowing the Catalan to arrive with momentum unchallenged. Puyol also clarified that it was actually Ramos who should have been the finisher in that particular move.
In recent years, Spain have enjoyed more memorable nights against the Germans. José Gayà’s last-gasp equaliser in Stuttgart marked Luis Enrique’s first game back in charge following his leave of absence on compassionate grounds. Then there was the 6-0 crushing at La Cartuja, featuring a Ferran Torres hat-trick, free of any risky celebrations. It was Spain’s biggest win under Lucho. Until last Wednesday against Costa Rica.
On Sunday Spain will have the opportunity to win back-to-back games at the World Cup for the first time since their South African triumph, and eliminate Germany in the process (if Japan take anything from their game against Costa Rica earlier in the day).
Dani Olmo will have plenty of insight, plying his trade at RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga. The scorer of Spain’s first against Los Ticos, also their 100th in World Cups, Olmo has a knack of scoring important goals. Another on Sunday would be welcome, albeit not quite as significant as Puyol’s 12 years ago.