After Spain manipulated, seduced and brilliantly carved out the Austrian press on Thursday night, it was hard to focus too much on the fact that Unai Simon set an all-time World Cup record on the same night. His 520 minutes without conceding a goal was the record for a goalkeeper in the competition over the past 96 years, surpassing Italy’s Walter Zenga by just two minutes, and was the headline statistic after Spain ended an incredible 16-year knockout victory wait at the World Cup since the 2010 final, joining Italy and Switzerland as the only teams to keep a clean sheet in five matches.
The reason it was so hard to pay attention to Simon’s record is because he basically did nothing to achieve it. La Roja has had six shots on target in their last four games, but none of them have been particularly taxing. One of the only teams yet to concede against Mexico, it was important when Sasa Kalajdzic’s flying header went over the bar in the opening minutes of the second half. It was the only chance Spain conceded from open play so far.
Unsurprisingly, much attention has been focused on Spain’s struggle to find the rhythm, tempo and ingenuity that have been the team’s hallmarks since Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal made the team their own at Euro 2024. Perhaps this is a result of them using the ball a little more conservatively, knowing that the game in open spaces is not as favorable for La Roja as before, but there is no getting away from the fact that this is the best defense Luis de la Fuente’s team has had since taking over.
For their opponents, the sense of vulnerability that it was more important to silence Spain disappeared, as the goal was so close at hand. According to Opta, the only area of the pitch where the opposing team gets more than 55% of their touches is inside their own box. Rodri ranks 9th despite averaging over 68% possession.th Aymeric Laporte is tied for fourth in tackles (13), interceptions (nine) and fifth in successful aerial duels (14). No team starts pressing as high on average as Spain, who lead the tournament with the highest turnovers (43). Only Germany (7.6) pass more passes per defensive action than Spain (8.1), but Germany conceded 3.25 expected goals in four games, while Simon had to walk around and pick up just 0.4 goals.
The harsh criticism of Rodri Hernández in the past has been justified in that his past usage of the ball has been heavy. Pedri Gonzalez also looked a bit monotonous rather than relentless, but if there’s one thing that’s working, it’s their pressing. The sight of Pau Kvarsi and Laporte running back to collect the ball in front of an angry and exhausted striker has become a classic. What was theoretically the weakest link in their chain has so far become the most reliable. In their first game against Austria, La Roja looked like they had regained possession of the ball, but the serious attitude and safety behind the attacking players gave them time to do so.
“It’s very difficult to play against Spain. They didn’t make a single mistake,” Austria coach Ralf Rangnick said after the match. “They are very good like clockwork. Tactically it is impossible to counter them.” All this is said without mentioning Marc Cucurella, who stood out more for his predatory forwards than for his defensive work. For context, Zenga finished behind the 1990 Italian defenders of Alessandro Costacurta, Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini, but they were not very attacking.
Unsurprisingly, the reader shouts back that Spain has yet to play a team that would strike fear into the final line of World Cup contenders. The next menu is Portuguese. Even if Kvarsi and the others tap the side of their mouths after suffering further attacks, few will deny that Spain’s technical players are protected by the best defenders in the competition.
