Here's how Brazil beat Spain at their own game

If you had checked the odds on most betting sites before last night’s Brazil vs Spain FIFA Confederations Cup match began, you’d have found out that both teams had the same odds to win. That hasn’t happened in a long time with Spain — reigning world champions and back-to-back European Championship winners. And it signaled one fact — that experts put both teams at par and there was more reason to do so because Brazil were backed by a crowd who somehow found the voice to cheer, amid all the protests. People may treat Brazil’s win as a one-off, as lucky or as a slight blip in what has been a tremendous five years for the La Roja. But it’s gone down as a victory for the Samba Boys, and here’s breaking it down for you. AGGRESSIVE PRESSING: Pressing has been the backbone of Spain and Barcelona’s dominance of European football. Other teams have tried to emulate this method against the masters — and have failed. It’s because they try it once or twice a year. That’s not the secret — the secret is in doing it as often as possible, so that when the Spaniards buzz around you, you can buzz back. Brazil, under Luiz Felipe Scolari, have made it a point to play in a particular way all through the tournament. Be it in the group stages or the semis — Brazil’s style didn’t change. They were aggressive throughout, taking a high-energy approach and backed by home support. And when they met Spain, they executed these pressing tactics to perfection. Spain were beaten at their own game — broken by the same method that made them. [caption id=“attachment_919075” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A victorious Brazil celebrate with the trophy. Getty Images[/caption] POSITIONAL DISCIPLINE: Most teams lose their heads when they see Xavi pass the ball to Andres Iniesta and receive it back a thousand times in a match. Players lunge into them, break the shape of the team and leave gaps which these wily old midfielders exploit. But Brazil showed a type of discipline that hasn’t been associated with South American teams. Paulinho, Oscar, David Luiz, Marcelo and Dias never wavered from what they were asked to do. Spain had few gaps to exploit, and when they carved through these gaps, they failed to make it count. MOVEMENT AND COUNTER-ATTACKING: Neymar, Fred and Hulk — the three men who led the line for Brazil did everything right. When they broke, along with Oscar ghosting at the edge of the box, they looked so formidable it’s hard to believe there were just three goals in the match. When a midfield is pressing so hard, it’s vital for the attackers to break quickly and together. A cumulative effort is what undid Spain. If Neymar’s shot was blocked, Fred was there. If Neymar flicked, Hulk was waiting. If Hulk crossed, Fred was lurking and if Oscar was caught in the crowd, all three forwards created abundant space for the pass. Observe all three goals and you’ll find that creating space, moving right and attacking swiftly is what hurt Spain. It was ruthless, and at the same time, beautiful. CARRYING THE BALL WITH INTENT: The Brazilians are probably as good as Spain when it comes to carrying the ball. Oscar, Neymar and the full-backs Marcelo and Dani Alves are excellent dribblers — as good as Andres Iniesta, Jesus Navas, Juan Mata or Jordi Alba. They didn’t pass the ball around when it wasn’t needed. Most teams try that against Spain and lose possession. But Brazil carried it forward with an insane amount of confidence. They drew fouls, took shots and made their intent clear. Spain were taken aback by this bullying — and the pressure told. In the final stats, Brazil had 47 percent possession compared to Spain’s 53 and 14 shots to Spain’s 15 and 8 shots on goal to Spain’s 7.