Spain advances to World Cup final with 1-0 win over Germany
Joachim Loew could have said what everyone expected.
Germany’s boyish coach could have made excuses, blamed his players or his own ill-conceived game plan for his team’s loss.
Instead, he simply said what everyone already knew.
“Spain was just better than us tonight,” Loew confessed. “Over the past two or three years Spain has been the most skilled team of all.
“They are masters of the game.”
After Spain’s 1-0 win over Germany in Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal, they are masters of their own destiny as well. Because with the victory Spain made history, moving on to Sunday’s World Cup final for the first time.
“We want to make more history in the final,” defender Sergio Busquets said. “For sure it’s going to be really difficult. But that’s what we intend to do.”
Waiting for the Spanish team is the Netherlands, another country with a checkered World Cup past that includes just about everything but a title. Which means the first World Cup in Africa will include a first-time winner.
And Loew, departing from expectations again, made no secret of how he thinks that match will go. “I am fairly confident,” he said, “that Spain is going to win the title.”
Before Wednesday many people were saying that about Germany. But with Spain playing keep-away all night long, the Germans’ potent attack never got on track.
“We can say Germany wasn’t as good as we thought they’d be today,” Spain Coach Vicente del Bosque said. “But that is due to the excellent performance of our team. Bottom line is we played better than expected.”
And Spain is, after all, the European champion, a team that was ranked No. 1 in the world as recently as March and one that had a 35-match unbeaten streak as recently as last year, a streak ended by the United States in the Confederations Cup.
Much of that streak was accomplished the same way Wednesday’s win was -- by controlling the midfield, applying relentless pressure and getting off nearly three times as many shots as their opponent.
In the end, though, only one shot really mattered, and it came from an unexpected source in the 73rd minute. Although Spain’s striker David Villa leads the tournament with five goals, the goal that will be among the best-remembered in Spanish history came off the head of defender Carles Puyol, who entered the night with two goals in 88 games with the national team.
His latest came on a magnificently designed play, one that started with a Xavi corner kick. Puyol began the play at the edge of the penalty area and came charging in to meet the ball with a well-timed leap. The momentum he gained helped drive the ball past German keeper Manuel Neuer and into the upper-right corner of the net.
But if scoring goals is a rare treat for Puyol, winning titles is not. Last year he helped his club team, Barcelona, become the first Spanish team to win La Liga, la Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League in the same season, part of an unprecedented six titles Barcelona won in 2009.
Now, with the 32-year-old reportedly mulling retirement from international play, he has a chance to add the biggest prize -- a World Cup -- to this trophy case.
And though the Germans tried to rally after Puyols’ score, their newfound urgency was too little and too late.
“We had the ball virtually all the time,” said Xavi, who, noting the history behind Wednesday’s win, dedicated it to “all the people of Spain.”
Del Bosque did the same.
“We cannot forget the people who played on the team before and allowed us to get to this point,” he said. “It is a victory for the family of Spanish soccer. A lot of anonymous people have worked to get us here.”
But they’re not done yet. After climbing this high, now is no time to become afraid of heights.
“Scared? No,” Busquets said about facing Holland in the final. “We’re not scared of anybody. Respect, yes. That’s normal. We’re young. We have respect for everybody.
“But we’re expecting a victory.”
