Word: iniesta
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Dates: during 2008-2008
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...That was a message to Germany: Be prepared to play our game. Be prepared to chase the ball all over the pitch while the spectacular Spanish midfield led by Xavi and Andrés Iniesta played one-touch, or took a rest while the fullbacks Sergio Ramos and Joan Capdevila pressed the attack. The Germans were very well prepared - when aren't they? - but the men in the white shirts were not up to the task of stopping Torres, who torched Philipp Lahm for the Spanish goal, and had Germany's back four dreading the thought of defending...
...happened to that Russian team? Instead, the semifinal was a cat and mouse game, at least for the first half, with neither team holding much of an advantage or showing much initiative in going forward. Then, five minutes into the second half, Xavi speared a goal for Spain, redirecting Iniesta's cross/shot past Igor Akinfeev. You could sense the panic on the Russian side. The roles were now very clear: Russia was the mouse and Spain was toying with it. Russian coach Guus Hiddink knew that his team's lack of depth and a big-game resume was a vulnerability...
...Spanish football that had destroyed Russia, undid Sweden and overcame Greece with its second team was the last thing Italy needed to see. So the Italians shunted the Spanish to the outside and shut down anything coming up the middle. They so frustrated the normally dynamic Andrés Iniesta that he was pulled in the 59th minute along with his running mate Xavi Hernández. Yet it was Italy who got closest on the hour, when Spain keeper Iker Casillas made a left footed save on substitute Mauro Camoranesi after a goal mouth scramble...
...Kolodin and serving Villa with a gilt-edged pass to make it 1-0 at 20 minutes. It would be the beginning of a long night for the Russian back four as Spain's midfield had a truckload of keys to unlock their defensive scheme. In the 44th minute Iniesta skipped through three Russians and let go a perfectly timed pass that Villa pushed through goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev's legs. Villa did it all himself for the third, and Cesc Fàbregas got the fourth as Spain, like the rain in Innsbruck, poured down on the Russians...
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