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Thursday, June 25, 2009

Postgame: what the Spanish press are saying

What did the Spanish press have to say about the loss? They wrote that Spain had a bad game, while the US worked hard and defended well. AS pointed out that Spain should have played one less striker and added a man in midfield, to play the possession game that worked so well after Villa got injured in the Euros-- however, I fear this might have further clogged an already-congested midfield. There was praise for the US, especially Onyewu, DeMerit, Donovan, and Altidore. Here are the some articles:

Spain lost their style
  • "The star- Onyewu: was a collossus in defense and dealt with high balls well
  • What a (terrible) day! S. Ramos: huge error on the second goal: didn't clear immediately and was robbed. Overconfident. [N.B. this is tough criticism, coming as it does from a Madrid-based publication]
  • The dandy- Donovan: had class, talent, and functioned like the brain of the US team. Did everything well.
  • The hard man- Bradley: was expelled at the end for a tackle that could have been a yellow card instead."
The seven sins of Spain
  1. "Nerves
  2. Slack defending
  3. Individual errors
  4. No width
  5. No spark
  6. No back-up plan
  7. No rebounds (aka Tim Howard)"
The threat of Altidore

Hierro: we had to lose eventually

Spanish coach Vicente del Bosque and the Spanish players were graceful in defeat. "We created a lot of chances, but the Americans played with tremendous heart," Del Bosque said. Xabi Alonso and Juan Mata also tipped their hats towards the US. Though Puyol was clearly frustrated with the result, leaving the field immediately after the final wistle, both he and Iker Casillas believe that the hardship will ultimately make Spain stronger.

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The NYTimes blog has a similar piece.

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