2334 Beiträge -
Forengott
|
|
|
It is January 27, 2006 and UEFAs members are all gathered together in Switzerland for the draw of the 2008 European Championships. James White Jersey . For the draw that day Spain are placed in pot two and ranked by the co-efficients as the thirteenth best side in Europe. They are given a group led by Sweden. It is now the summer and the Spanish are in Germany for the World Cup. They never look like a power and are thrashed by France in the last 16. Three months later a team featuring Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Carles Puyol, Xavi, Xabi Alonso, David Villa and Fernando Torres lose 3-2 to Northern Ireland. A month later they are beaten 2-0 by Sweden, trailing for 80 minutes of the match. Spain are nobodies on a track to a major tournament in third gear, preparing to fail once again at a major tournament. Coach Luis Aragones thought differently. He saw the special players he had and demanded they change their style. It was the first seed that was planted that led to the losers becoming winners. "Aragones changed our style, no longer regularly crossing from those wide areas. It was then when he decided to put his faith in the smaller players, said midfielder Marcos Senna. Spain made it to Euro 2008 and when David Villa scored a 92nd minute winner against the aforementioned Sweden in the group stages, people still didnt believe in their credentials. They always fail and will again was the public sentiment. It is June 22, 2008 and Spains quarterfinal game against Italy has ended 0-0. Time for penalties. Their record from the spot in such scenarios was 2-4 in major tournaments. Losers again. Cesc Fabregas, only 21, changed everything when he slotted home the winner that night in Vienna. Sure, Spain were delighted to win but the overriding emotion was relief. Relief that led to belief. Russia, beaten already in the group stages, were easy opponents in the semifinal and then Germany were defeated 1-0 on a sublime pass from Xavi and a clinical finish from Torres. From losers to winners inside two years. Vicente Del Bosque took over from Aragones after Euro 2008. "Some said it was the worst time to inherit the squad, it was the best," he would later say. Now they were winners, under the guidance of the brilliant Del Bosque, Spains integral players took over and their outstanding football brains became the difference. At the 2010 World Cup they lost to Switzerland in the first game but as European champions they didnt think of themselves as flops. David Villa and Andres Iniesta got them into the knock-out stages and against Portugal in the last 16, another tight game, one moment of brilliance was the difference. Iniesta danced outside the box, saw a gap between the channels for Villa to run on to but it was a tad too slow. "I had seen the pass by Andres, meant for Villa, so I just backheeled it," Xavi would say. Villa did the rest. 1-0 Spain. Helped by the brain of the master. It would be 1-0 Spain again defeating Paraguay in the quarterfinals, a game that was far from easy and again won on the field and in the mind. Iker Casillas saved a penalty from Oscar Cardozo but it was not on instinct. Spains intelligence rose again. Casillas recapping the game said; "Pepe (Reina, backup goalie) is obsessed with how the opposition takes penalties, with his help I knew he would go that way." Reina added: Cardozo, in tight matches, always went to his safe side." Spain would win 1-0, again led by Iniesta and finished by Villa, to finally get beyond the quarterfinals. Through their brilliance on the field and their preparation off it they were knocking down barriers past Spanish teams fell over. "We broke old ways of thinking (that day), that we were inferior to others," said Del Bosque. The semifinal against Germany was equally as tight. Spain controlled the game, showed Germany what they needed to do to improve, but they still couldnt score. Xavi recalled: "At half-time Puyol said we had taken three or four corners already and said if you put it near the penalty spot, then we could cause problems." In the 73rd minute at Durban that day, Xavi produced another stunning assist in a major game, and Puyol did exactly what he said. 1-0 Spain. Another victory won by their brilliance on and off the pitch. By now Spain were easily the best team in the world. They just needed a game to prove it. And 116 minutes. Iniesta, fittingly, delivered the knock out punch and Spain were champions of the world. They had conceded fewer goals than any previous winner. They had changed the game and set the standard. Since losing to Sweden almost four years earlier they had trailed just five times, none more than 46 minutes, losing just once to Switzerland. Qualifying for Euro 2012 was much the same. They went down a goal to the Czechs but came from behind to win, as they always did. They were huge favourites for Euro 2012 despite star striker Villa being ruled out injured. Del Bosque used it as an opportunity to try something new. The great innovators, who were being copied by everyone - after all, winners are always imitated - were changing their identity again. Fabregas, as a false nine, scored three minutes after Italy opened the scoring in the first game and Spain would never trail again. The false nine gave them great mobility, dropped deep, controlled the space, and stopped the opposition starting transitions. France were destroyed in the quarters, and then came another tight game with Portugal. 0-0, time for penalties. Del Bosque recalls the moment as easy as many of his players wanted to take one. "We made one late switch, replacing Iniestas order with Fabregas, because he wanted to take the last one, remembering four years earlier." Intelligence once again coming to the fore. Fabregas scored the final penalty and Spain went on to crush Italy in the final, again with Xavi starring with two more brilliant assists in a monumental match. Spain were accused of being boring throughout that tournament but this team was a team to watch with a smile on your face; not with frustration. They had made something very difficult look easy, had produced ball treasurers and space invaders that forced their opponents to re-think their own styles. Major tournaments like the World Cup care little for reputations; they create them. And in a knock-out tournament, where one game, one mistake, one decision can change a game it was Spain that dominated three of them in a row. During that, they not only changed their own reputations but they changed how the game was played. A decade before their success it was thought that players below six feet tall were not strong enough to deal with physical demands of the direct play that was so evident in the modern game. Then came the little masters from Spain. Their place in football history is secure. Yes, they were successful but they were also pioneers led by true footballing greats. Greats like Iker Casillas, a magnificent goalkeeper and captain who united a team divided by Barcelona and Real Madrid and no longer tolerated the antics that held the team back. Greats like Carles Puyol, a man who was never physically gifted to play at the highest level of his profession but who was a winner and who read the game brilliantly. Greats like Xavi Hernandez, simply one of the best players to play the game, and arguably the best player Spain has ever produced. The true conductor of the orchestra, the cleverest of all of midfielders, whose tactical awareness and vision we should talk about for the rest of our lives. Indeed, it isnt just Xavi that we should recount stories about. We are key witnesses; the guardians of history and in years to come will often be able to tell generations to follow just how this Spain team were. That book closed on a raucous night at the Maracana on Tuesday. It was not the death of tika-taka, far from it, instead it was simply the end of a team thats core players struggled to still play together. Many of their core players were off form and they were not a team built to play from behind against talented teams. From that loss in Sweden in 2006 to the start of this World Cup, the World and European champions had trailed in just seven of 54 competitive matches, winning 47 of them and losing just once. Chasing a game against a top side, their pivot of Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso struggled for the second straight game. Casillas, past his prime and not sharp could do nothing. Xavi, dropped, watching on the bench was powerless. It was a sad ending to a wonderful chapter in the sport. Sure, Spain will come again. At 30, Iniesta must surely delight many a neutral who desires to see him play in another World Cup, and legitimate world class players like Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Sergio Busquets and David Silva will not be going anywhere. They will be joined by many young stars that they have coming and it will not surprise anyone to see this team win another major tournament in the next decade. However, theyll never be like they were. Our parents had Brazil 1958-1970 and we had Spain 2008-14. We should never forget them. Jordan Richards Jersey . Now he has a complete game. Scherzer tossed a three-hitter in his 179th career start for his first complete game and Victor Martinez hit his 16th homer to lead the Detroit Tigers a 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox. Chris Hogan Jersey . TSNs Farhan Lalji reports the Edmonton Eskimos non-import DT has a workout scheduled with an NFL team next week and isnt expected to sign a deal with any team until then. http://www.patriotsjerseysauthentic.com/Cameron-Fl...wl-Jers ey/ . The Flames announced Monday that Treliving, a former assistant general manager with the Coyotes, will take over the vacant GM spot in Calgary. "Im ready for this,"Treliving said.NEW YORK -- The hang time is over for Ray Guy. The longtime punter for the Oakland Raiders is all by himself once again. After waiting 23 years, Guy is the first punter elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "Good things are worth waiting for," Guy said Saturday night after being elected along with six other players. "Its just a matter of time when it will show up. And I knew it would, sooner or later. It had to, whether it was me or somebody down the road. But sooner or later, it had to show up, because that is a part of a football game." Defensive end Michael Strahan, receiver Andre Reed, defensive back Aeneas Williams and defensive end Claude Humphrey also were part of the class of 2014. Two first-time eligible players, linebacker Derrick Brooks and offensive tackle Walter Jones, were selected. The announcement was made at the NFL Honors award show, less than 24 hours before the Denver Broncos take on the Seattle Seahawks in the first Super Bowl. Among the finalists who didnt get in were two with ties to the Indianapolis Colts and current Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning -- coach Tony Dungy and receiver Marvin Harrison. Each incoming Hall of Famer walked to the stage and was announced individually. Strahan, who helped the Giants make two Super Bowls, got a huge cheer from the home crowd. Induction will be on Aug. 1 in Canton, Ohio. Guy turned the punting job into a defensive weapon after he became the first player at his position to be selected in the first round of the draft in 1973. He made "hang time" part of the football vernacular while playing all of his 207 games in 14 seasons with the Raiders. The Southern Mississippi product averaged 42.4 yards for his career. Only three of his 1,049 punts were blocked, and he had 209 punts downed inside the 20-yard line. "Its gratifying to now see a punter go into the Hall of Fame," Guy said, who joins Jan Stenerud as the only kickers enshrined . "Whether it was me or somebody else, they needed representation in that position." Brooks was the cornerstone of a Bucs defence that led the league in 2002 and 05, and the NFC five times. He was The Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year when Tampa Bay won its only Super Bowl after the 2002 season. The linebacker never missed a game in his 14 seasons and averaged a remarkable 146 tackles. Six of his 25 interceptions were returned for touchdowns, including a league-record three in 02. Seattle certainly got a winner when it moved up to the No. 6 spot in the 1997 draft to take Jones. He immediately provided blindside protection for Warren Moon and quickly became the first Seahawks lineman to earn a Pro Bowl spot. He was one of the chief road graders who helped Shaun Alexander rush for 266 yards in a 2001 game -- the fourth-highest total in NFL history -- and then rush for a team-record 1,880 yards and 28 TDs in his MVP season in 2005. Tedy Bruschi Jersey . "Coming into the league all I wanted to do was get here, and ... say I could play this game," Jones said. "For me to be here now, and for my team that I started with and finished with, to be here in the Super Bowl is just like the icing on the cake." Strahan set the NFL record for sacks in a single season, getting 22 1/2 in 2001. The one most people remember is the record-setter in the final game of the regular season, when Green Bays Brett Favre seemed to lay down on a play late in the game. While there is controversy about that play, the gap-toothed Strahan was one of the top two-way defensive ends. Younger teammates said he taught them how to work to become NFL players, and he walked away from the NFL after winning the Super Bowl in February 2008. "Its hard to find guys with everything, but this guy had everything . size, speed, power, toughness, endurance, motor, smarts, leadership, heart, love for the game, but what I admired most about Michael was his pride," Giants general Jerry Reese said. "No matter what the circumstances were, when he walked out on that field on Sunday, he was going to give it ALL to you. There arent many guys who can say that." Reed came out of little Kutztown (Pa.) University and played his first 15 seasons with Buffalo, getting to four Super Bowls, but never winning one. His final season was with Washington. His 951 career receptions are third in league history, highlighted by nine consecutive seasons of 50-plus catches. Long before people spoke about yards after the catch, Reed was doing it. He finished with 13,198 yards and 87 touchdowns. "Having to wait this long for him is a sin, but the bottom line is hes in and thats what counts," former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly said of Reeds nine-year wait to get into the Hall. A walk-on at Southern University, Williams was a shutdown cornerback in his 14 NFL seasons, the first 10 with the Cardinals and the last four with the Rams. He had 55 career interceptions, getting at least one in every season except his last. He had five or more in picks in six seasons, with nine being his best in 1994. Williams spent his last four seasons with St. Louis. He started at cornerback for the Rams in the 2001 Super Bowl and played safety in his final two seasons. The Hall of Fame doors finally opened for Humphrey on his 28th year of eligibility and his fifth as a finalist. The durable six-time Pro Bowl pick had 122 career sacks in 14 seasons with the Falcons and Eagles, who acquired him after a brief retirement in the 1978 season. "I never really gave up hope," said Humphrey, whose only regret was his wife died in July and didnt get to see his election. "I always figured there was a place for me here." Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
|
4556 Beiträge & 4314 Themen in 4 Foren
