World Cup - Day 11

6/19/2006: Spain 3 - Tunisia 1 (Group H)

I learned the game of football when I lived in Spain
when I was twelve years old.  I lived in an apartment
house from where I could see the Vicente Calderon
stadium, where Atletico Madrid plays.  I also watched
Real Madrid a lot.  But I really became a Barcelona
fan because back then they had the best player in the
world Johann Cruyff working his magic.  After I left
Spain I also became a huge fan of their national team
and always root for them.

As any fan of Spain knows, this can be a painful
endeavor. Spain is probably most famous for being the
biggest underachiever in footballing history. They’ve
only one European Cup of all the tournaments they’ve
participated in despite consistently having one of the
best domestic leagues and an abundant supply of skilled
players.

This year’s placement in what seemed on paper at least
as the weakest group and their initial thrashing of
that group’s second best team, Ukraine, by a 4-0
scoreline gave their aficionados a lot to be hopeful
for.  Could this be Spain’s year ?  Could they finally
win it all ?

For 70 minutes against Tunisia, it didn’t seem this
newfound expectations would bear fruit.  Spain trailed
after Tunisia scored a very early goal.  The Spanish
keeper, Iker Casillas, who plays for Real Madrid, did
well to save the original shot from Tunisia's Mnari,
but the rebound came right back to the Tunisian player,
who very coolly hit the ball off the ground for it to
bounce high enough to barely elude Casillas left-hand.

The next 64 minutes belonged entirely to the Spanish
side, La Furia as they are commonly known by their
fans.   They completely controlled the midfield and
executed a dizzying array of shots against the
Tunisian goal.  There were corner kicks, free kicks,
through balls to players running into space for them
to shoot at, and players shooting from short to long
range.  But as is characteristic of soccer --  perhaps
the most frustrating sport because territorial
supremacy doesn’t necessarily translate into a
tangible advantage in the scoreboard --  Spain trailed
1-0 until the 72nd minute.  It was heavy-duty
suffrage, not only for me, but for all fans of Spain
worldwide.

It all changed in the 72nd minute when Raul, the old
veteran all of 28 years old (he has been playing
professionally for what many Madrileno fans of Real
Madrid dubbed Raul Madrid since he was 16 and is now
playing his 3rd World Cup), outfought the better
positioned Tunisian defender to yet another ball saved
by the Tunisian keeper and toe-poked it into the upper
right hand corner.  It was a classic Raul goal, who
before his injury was one of the world’s greatest
predatory strikers, so named because of his innate
ability to hang around the goal, to be in the right
place at the right time, and to score when presented
with the slimmest of advantages.

The goal was a huge sight of relief for an entire
nation.  It also opened the floodgates for the further
Spanish scores.  In soccer it is either famine or
feast, but once the first goal arrived, many other
followed, as they inevitably do.  Tunisia had played
admirably and their goalkeeper had made numerous
terrific saves to keep Spain at bay.  But in the 76th
minute, a through ball found a diagonally streaking
Fernando Torres.  Torres, known as “El Nino” (The
Boy), raced to his left to reach the ball, pushed it
further down the field and forced the keeper to come
off his line.  Sensing the Tunisian keeper coming, he
then kicked the ball with the outside of this foot to
make it go to his right, where it simply bounced into
the goal, the out of position keeper badly beaten.
Torres would add a third off a penalty kick.  He
didn’t kick it well, but hit it hard enough that it
went under the keeper’s arms.

Spain have now assured their passage onto the knockout
round and all that is left is resting their key
players in the last game to avoid injury.  They likely
will face either either Switzerland, South Korea, or
possibly France if that country even makes it out of
group play.  Whoever they face, their fans can rest
assured that this year’s Spanish team is the real
deal, a true contender for the title.  As a lifelong
fan, I couldn't be happier.