Spain ride on Andres Iniesta magic, but misfiring strikers may hurt team at Euro 2016

For 86 minutes, Spain passed and passed and passed, but to no avail. It was a familiar trope since Vicente del Bosque took charge of ‘La Roja’ in 2008 and an Arsenal fan would have empathised with the Spanish contingent’s frustration at Toulouse on Monday. Playing a compact Czech Republic side, they were right up there, keeping possession, scathing through the defence, surging forward, darting in cross after cross, but with nothing to show on the scoreboard. It felt predictable, frustrating. But then arrived a lovely looping ball from the left, a cross that had “world class” written all over it, from Andres Iniesta, the best player on the field. Gerard Pique headed it in, as if nodding in his approval that it indeed was world class. The deadlock was broken, Spain had finally taken the lead off their 18th shot of the match in the dying minutes of the game. [caption id=“attachment_2833498” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Spain’s players celebrate after defender Gerard Pique’s goal against Czech Republic. AFP[/caption] The little magician, Iniesta, had stepped up when Spain required him the most. If there was one player on the pitch who could have bailed Spain out on Monday, it was the 32-year-old. The Czechs had started on a positive note, but Iniesta soon got into the groove and controlled the tempo. He didn’t misplace a single pass in the the opening 20 minutes. And from then on, it was all Spain as Czech were left chasing shadows. Coming into the tournament, the weight of expectations on Iniesta’s shoulders was immense, especially with the retirements of Xavi Hernandez and Xabi Alonso and the rebuilding period following the 2014 World Cup exit. But, against the Czechs on Monday, the diminutive midfielder put on a masterclass, showing that he actually thrives under pressure. With central midfielders Vladimír Darida and Jaroslav Plašil closing down spaces in the midfield, Spain’s attack was routed through the left, via Iniesta. Little wonder that 41 per cent of their attacks came through the left. After a nervy first few minutes, Spain’s tiki-taka gained precedence and Czech went on the defensive despite an energetic start. This was a team that had the worst defensive record in the qualifying stage among all qualified teams, failing to keep a single clean sheet in their entire campaign. But Czech’s back-four put on a resolute performance. The spaces were hard to find, but it seemed as if Iniesta was playing a different game altogether as he created chance after chance. He threaded in defense splitting through balls, incisive crosses, delicate one-touch passes, only to be let down by poor finishing. Strikers Alvaro Morata and Nolito’s poor positional sense didn’t help and the full-backs — Juanfran and Alba — who made surging overlapping runs, either failed to latch on to his passes or control the ball inside the box. Morata, starting as lone striker, fell back too often to start off, but, trying to compensate, kept getting caught offside. He wasn’t clinical with his finishing either, hitting one straight to the Petr Cech from six yards out in the 15th minute and drilling a low shot across the goal off a through ball from Iniesta in the 28th. Nolito got dragged to left flank too often instead of cutting inside, with Alba already making overlapping runs. Aritz Adruiz, who was brought on as substitute to replace Morata on the hour-mark, also missed a couple of chances. In all, Spain were caught offside seven times, Morata and Nolito the worst offenders with three each. Despite being disappointed by constant poor finishing though, Iniesta kept pressing relentlessly. He was tireless. He made 107 touches on the ball, the most he has achieved in an international tournament for Spain. He completed 93 passes (second highest behind Ramos’ 100) with an accuracy of 91 per cent. He completed 100 per cent take-ons and created five chances. “He (Iniesta) makes the team work. The way he finds passes, his movement and ability to create space is incredible,” former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson once said of Iniesta. Here he was at the Stadium de Toulouse, making his team work with the calmness of a Buddhist monk who is well on the path to true enlightenment. Spain made a staggering 739 passes, but in the end, Iniesta provided the one that mattered the most, the cross which decided the match, which Pique described as “incredible”. “It’s not the first time we’ve had this kind of game, this kind of opponent,” said Iniesta, voted the best player of the match. “There’s not one single way to break down these teams; you have to be patient and calm, and keep going forward for as long as it takes,” he added. Against Czech Republic, Spain displayed shades of the “old” Spain: High tempo, quick short passing offering more penetration. David Silva played an able side-kick to Iniesta, making clever runs, getting into dangerous positions and whipping in delightful crosses, but rest of the forward line disappointed. Spain had 18 shots on goal compared to Czech’s six; five of them were on target, but they scrambled away with just one goal. They should have won this match comfortably, but lacked the cutting edge which could have proved costly on another day. Vicente del Bosque needs to rethink the forward line, and maybe start Pedro Rodriguez in place of Nolito. Morata and Adruiz also need to up the ante to justify their inclusion. The defense, however, was rock solid despite playing a very high line. They had a couple of heart-in-mouth moments, but dealt with it well to secure ninth clean sheet in 10 games at the European championships. However, this game was all about Andres Iniesta and the display of his masterclass. “He’s like Harry Potter. One, two, three and whoosh…he’s past the player. It’s like he has a magic wand," said Barcelona coach Luis Enrique of Iniesta. It was exactly on this day, two years ago, that the Netherlands thrashed Spain 5-1 on a sweltering evening in Salvador to mark the end of an era. This time, however, Spain had their Harry Potter wielding his magic wand on a wet evening in Toulouse to provide the nation some much needed relief.