Why can’t Spain win the World Cup? A brief explanation of disappointment

Will we ever see Luis Enrique on Twitch again?

Written by Ruairidh Barlow

If there was doubt and apprehension at the way Spain were playing shortly before their penalty shootout against Morocco, then gravity took Spanish diaphragms to new depths when Pablo Sarabia grazed the post in the final minute. From that moment, it felt as if La Roja knew that their World Cup was over; Sarabia’s second close encounter with the post was merely the confirmation.

After another match across the 1,000-pass mark, Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets would play two more – once again lacking the zip to cause Morocco problems – straight into the arms of Yassine Bounou. Spain hit the target the same amount of times in the shootout as they did in the previous 120 minutes.

There was a sort of inevitability about it. Spain had struggled against Japan in previous game and here was a side that might not have the same speed of attack, but had a far more intimidating block defence. Morocco remain the only side to score against Morocco this tournament – an own goal against the already eliminated Canada.

Playing almost the entire game in the Moroccan half, Rodri and Aymeric Laporte defended well. Unai Simón was asked to make one save, which on the face of it is a fact to be pleased about.

Far away from Simón, Morocco brought the Atlas Lions back from extinction for a night in the desert. Tearing after their prey, they ripped into every challenge and overpowered their lightweight opposition. Slight artistic licence, but that was the way it felt. The baying crowd around them, loud and frenzied, turned Spain into gladiators – the ones who had received the thumbs down from upon high.

Even though La Roja did pretty much everything right until the final third, there was a powerlessness when they did come into to direct contest with their opponents. The feeling that Spain are much better against ‘better’ sides was proven the case again. Those willing to relinquish the ball, Morocco, Switzerland, and Japan have all given Spain issues of late. Portugal, Italy and Germany have all suffered without it.

Coming away from the match, the overarching feeling was one of melancholy. The inevitable pattern of this match, Spain’s inability to work their way out of their fate, seems obvious with hindsight. Much of the prior analysis focused on a particular paradoxical statement – they can beat anyone but they can lose to anyone too. Where the spirit was crushed, was that most did not expect it to actually play out quite so soon, at least not like that.

Young, a little rough around the edges, there were always gaps in this Spain side. It was a group bursting with potential. Like they did in the Euros, there was a sense that they could deliver on that potential ahead of schedule. Journalists and fans exercised caution based on the evidence, coraling their own belief. Perhaps the players avoided verbalising it themselves, Aymeric Laporte coming closest to doing so when with glinting eyes he answered a question with another question – ‘why can’t Spain win the World Cup?’ The feeling they conveyed was that internally, manager and players, believed they could make it to the final four at a minimum.

Under Luis Enrique, like him or not, this Spain felt if anything, different. It had zest, creativity and ambition. Above all, what the Asturian gave Spain for perhaps the first time since Euro 2012 was a strong character. The precise trait they lacked against Morocco. Even if they were to lose to any team, it would be on their terms, playing their way. Seeing Spain exit in more or less the exact fashion they did in 2018, devoid of personality, the one thing they were supposed to guarantee, explains why this defeat pulverised Spanish morale.