Tiki Taka, the impetuous Spanish football philosophy built on peerless technical ability, relentless ball retention and treating the opposition like they’re witches hats/The Washington Generals, has prevailed yet again to coronate the current Spanish national side as one of the greatest in footballing history. Despite a shaky 2012 campaign marred by the loss of injured key forward David Villa and senior defender Carlos Puyol, rumours of infighting between players from bitter club rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid, and an apparent softening in their attacking mentality which Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger dubbed “conservative”, “negative” and a betrayal of their philosophy, Spain demolished the Italians 4-0 in Sunday’s 2012 Euro finals in Kiev in the Ukraine. The same team which had held Spain 1-1 in the competition’s group stages offered little resistance in their second meeting, suffering the largest finals defeat in the history of the competition thanks to a Spain starting XI fielding no recognised forwards.
But that wasn’t the only history made in Kiev last night. Spain cemented themselves among the greatest national sides of all time, winning back-to-back European Championships, and, with the small matter of their World Cup victory in Africa, three major tournaments in a row, the first time either feat had been completed.
Scorers included David Silva, Jordi Alba, Fernando Torres and Juan Mata but it was Barcelona midfield duo Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernández who dominated the game throughout. The duo now bump their club and country tallies to a trio of Champions League titles, a handful of Spanish League titles, one World Cup and a brace of European Championships, becoming two of the winningest players in football history and arguably the greatest midfield combination of all time. If they retain their World Cup in Brazil we can officially take out that “arguably” part.
Grab a bib and watch the highlights below.
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