Under Luis de la Fuente, Spain are a different beast.
The nation that came to dominate international football 15 years ago with its commitment to slow, methodical possession football has not entirely changed its identity. This is, after all, a side that plays 4-3-3, uses a high defensive line, has good ball-playing centre-backs and a sturdy holding midfielder who is good at distributing the ball.
But they nevertheless possess a different mentality: a determination to get the ball forward quicker, to attack with genuine width, to use a proper centre-forward. The attackers received rave reviews in the group stage. The 2-1 extra-time victory in the quarter-final over Germany, a meeting between the tournament’s best two sides, was all about the central midfielders.
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GO FURTHER
How Spain’s direct central midfielders unlocked Germany – they are the team to beat
First appeared on www.nytimes.com