The 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa ended in Spain, the first time the Iberian king lifted the title! They lost 0-1 to Switzerland, Honduras 2-0, Chile 2-1, Portugal, Paraguay and Germany in three 1-0 draws in the knockout rounds, and defeated the Netherlands 1-0 in extra time in the final to win the championship.
There are many of the world's top stars in this Spanish squad, especially the historic luxury of the midfield: Iniesta, Xavi, Fabregas, Alonso, Busquets and others are at the peak of their careers, while Bayern star Martinez and Manchester City core Silva are also on their own! Villa and Torres in the front line are already the superstars of European football, coupled with Casillas, Puyol, Ramos, Pique and other good defenders, such a lineup can laugh to the end.
Except for the first game that was broken and then overturned, the rest of them only conceded one goal against Chile, and the 8 goals were arranged by: Villa 5, Iniesta 2, Puyol 1, especially the winning goal in the 116th minute of the small white final was worth thousands of gold, and pujol's knockout goal against Germany is also self-evident, but without David's 5 goals, all this may not be possible.
From the analysis of FIFA after the game, it can be seen that Spain has won 56 corners, with a total of 126 shots on goal, a personal breakthrough of 193 times, an average pass success rate of 87% per game, a possession rate of 67%, a total of 123 and 142 steals and clearances, and 82 fouls, except for the last three defensive values, the rest are the highest of the teams. And 7 of the top 10 in the pass success rankings are from Spain. They are skilled, reasonable running position, tacit understanding, good at using mid-range passes within 10-25m, followed by short passes. This invisibly increases the scheduling success rate of the midfield, as well as the pulling and utilization of the neutral when entering the opponent's forward position (this requires a short pass). At the same time, the average number of forward passes per game is 222, followed by diagonal pass transfers, which shows their strong penetration and timely use of space on the wing. In addition, the proportion of the front, middle and back of the matador distribution of the ball is 27.4%, 57.3% and 15.3 respectively, which shows that the midfield is the most important front they rely on.
However, it is worth mentioning that they have not won a penalty, which shows that the player's personal physical confrontation ability is not yet strong, and the good performance on the defensive end depends on the player's strong defensive ability and a little luck.
It is not difficult to see that this year's matadors have played the technical football to the extreme, and both the passing and control are outstanding. The Dutch pass success rate in the second place is 82%, but the possession rate is only 54%, and the shot is close to Germany's 106 times, but the Germans have only 52% of the ball, which shows that the West team has expanded the other teams by a notch, and there is a sense of "how lonely it is to be invincible".
Let's look at another world powerhouse, France! In the 2018 World Cup they beat Australia 2-1, Beat Peru 1-0, drew 0-0 with Denmark, and performed average in the group stage! After reaching the round of 16, the team began to find form: 4-3 elimination of Argentina, 2-0 clean victory over Uruguay, semi-final 1-0 victory over Belgium, 4-2 in the final to crush Croatia to win the championship.
Let's take a look at the regular main squad of the team in this tournament:
Loris (Captain)/2 Pavard, 4 Varane, 5 Umtiti, 21 Hernandez/13 Kante, 6 Pogba/10 Mbappe, 7 Griezmann, 14 Matuidi/9 Giroud
As can be seen in the above figure, in terms of possession rate, France's unique technical playing style clearly prevails when facing rough opponents, but when encountering Argentina and Croatia, it adopts a stable counterattack style of play, while passing the ball is more concise, and more is to use the player's flexible running position to create a gap.
Their control and shooting conversion rate is not high, 1/3 of the goals are obtained through set-pieces or penalties, it can be seen that it mainly relies on the personal ability of the forwards, and it is not its characteristic to score goals through continuous cooperation. Therefore, the tactic chosen is very clear: defensive counterattack!
At the same time, in the first 20 minutes of the second half, the Gallic Legion had the highest efficiency in scoring goals, reaching 8. Mbappe has the highest number of goals, is characterized by his extremely fast dribbling speed, is better at playing defensive counter-attack tactics in the French system, and is the most lethal weapon.
Pogba in midfield has excellent vision and long passing ability, while shadow striker Griezmann assists in pulling space, creating the right environment for Mbappe's starting goal. After halftime, it was clear that the returning players could not suddenly defend against the rapid onslaught of a very explosive and extremely fast player, so it can be asserted that Mbappe was the biggest contributor to France's victory in this World Cup, not Griezmann, who scored the most goals.
Speaking of defense, the team has steel backs like Varane and Kante, who fill the vacuum left by Pogba's forward movement, while Umtiti, Mendy, Pavard and Nzonzi are all masters of free-kick tactics and can play their respective roles in the defensive counterattack system. Griezmann is the biggest beneficiary of all, as a forward who is behind the defensive line, his love for the ball is self-evident. And the pivot role in this gives the team a lot of ball power, and most of the balls are basically pulled in the small penalty area.
France's experience of winning the championship is inseparable from the defensive counterattack tactics laid out by the coach, and even more inseparable from the above-mentioned several people: Varane, Kante, Pogba, Mbappe and Griezmann. 2 defenders, 1 organizer and 1 pulling a sprint give the team the endless inspiration and power to move forward at both ends of the attack and defense!
As far as I can see, the two teams in the West and France belong to the typical different styles: pass control and anti-reaction! If you compare head-to-face, France's midfield interception ability is extremely outstanding, which is bound to set up a "steel wall" for the "Spanish" card embroidery needle, if the operation of its front field is blocked and destroyed, it will immediately fall into endless passivity, and the technology and attack ability of the Gallic Legion are also second to none, so I am not optimistic about the West Team, France is the real king of kings.
In the next issue of Shi Hai Hook Sink, we will take a look at Newcastle in the age of Gurlitt, his imperfect master-apprentice relationship with Shearer, and later the ice release! I am sports observation perspective, thank you!