Second star

Spain’s close-knit collective recovered from their slow start to deservedly lift the trophy

By SIMON HART

It was easy to find echoes of Spain’s first World Cup victory in the way they put a second star on their shirts in North America. As in the 2010 final against the Netherlands, they faced a bruising approach from their opponents – considerably more so from Argentina at the MetLife Stadium, it must be said. For Andrés Iniesta’s 116th-minute winner then, meanwhile, you had Ferran Torres scoring the only goal after 106 minutes. There was even a seeming false start in both campaigns – then, a 1-0 defeat against Switzerland; now, an opening stalemate with Cape Verde.

More broadly speaking, Spain once more had their rivals chasing shadows as, with Golden Ball winner Rodri pulling the strings, they posted a series of narrow wins. In South Africa, they produced four straight 1-0 s. Here they earned three 1-0 s over a campaign in which they set records for winning the trophy with just one goal conceded and for goalkeeper Unai Simon’s seven clean sheets.

A social media clip after their unexpectedly dominant semi-final victory over France showed Thierry Henry explaining their approach to Fox Sports viewers and his point captured something essential about their success: the collective effort behind it. “They know what they need to do since they’re nine years old so it doesn’t matter who comes in, who doesn’t come in,” Henry said.

Thus, a World Cup in which stars – on the pitch and in the stands – were hyped like never before ended with the ultimate team triumph. Spain’s own much-talked-about teenager, Lamine Yamal, was hindered by the fact he entered the tournament still recovering from a hamstring injury. He contributed plenty, driving his markers to distraction (and giving the World Cup one of its most popular faces in the crowd in his three-year-old brother Keyne), yet he scored just once. Instead, FIFA’s Young Player award went to his fellow 19-year-old from Barcelona, Pau Cubarsí, who excelled in the competition’s best centre-back pairing with Aymeric Laporte. Amid the parallels, there were notable contrasts with 2010 too. Under coach Luis de la Fuente, Spain’s football can be more vertical, to use the current jargon, than the original tiki-taka . Moreover, the make-up of this squad was different. De la Fuente did not select a single Real Madrid player (at least not until Marc Cucurella signed for them). He spoke about wanting “good people” and camp insiders noted the genuine warmth among the players. That was less so in 2010 when Spain’s squad contained some more hard-nosed individuals – some of whom are said to have agitated, briefly, for the removal of Xabi Alonso from the team and a change of tactics after that opening defeat by the Swiss.

De la Fuente spoke about wanting “good people” and camp insiders noted the genuine warmth

De la Fuente himself reflects the no-stars approach as a coach promoted from within the Spanish FA’s ranks. And the 65-year-old certainly excelled with his decision-making. For example, with Yamal and Nico Williams – the wingers so pivotal to Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph – less effervescent because of fitness problems, he looked instead to his full-backs, notably Cucurella but also semi-final scorer Pedro Porro, to deliver the necessary thrust.

Given the Donald Trump-sized shadow over this World Cup, it is impossible not to mention politics. Spain is a politically divided nation yet the homecoming celebrations on July 20 drew 1.8 million people on to the streets of Madrid. With El País pointing to the squad’s “diversity of origins”, many of the players appeared on the stage erected at the Plaza de Cibeles wrapped in the flags of their home regions. That mix was similarly highlighted by actor Javier Bardem when he praised “a group of players who represent the diversity of Spain and the support for the rights of groups and peoples who need a voice”.

On Bardem’s last point, it is worth adding that this was a victory celebrated in Gaza too. Spain’s left-wing government has not hesitated to highlight the ongoing suffering of the Palestinian people. Yamal was seen waving a Palestinian flag during Barcelona’s recent title celebrations. And in that context, it was no surprise to see one of the squad’s more outspoken players, striker Borja Iglesias, apparently avoid eye contact with Donald Trump amid a perfunctory handshake with the US president on the podium, nor Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino’s cheeky “Trump dance” before the trophy lift.

Trump, who had called the Spanish “bad people” at the NATO summit 11 days earlier, was seemingly cropped out of the image of Rodri raising the trophy that appeared on the Spanish FA’s social channels. If so, who could blame them?