Spain’s tiki-taka turns to death by passing
MOSCOW — Add this to your book of Russian proverbs: He who only passes is passed.
Mighty Spain dominated the field at Luzhniki Stadium on Sunday, dulling the senses with mind-numbing ball movement around the perimeter of the penalty area.
It was the classic “tiki-taka” style that led to a World Cup title in 2010, bookended by a pair of European Championships. The Spaniards would pass a team into confusion and then strike.
But this time, they just passed side-to-side, sometimes backward, almost never to attack. Possession soccer appears to be a relic, ready for a display case in soccer’s version of the Hermitage museum.
Russia won a World Cup knockout game for the first time since playing as the Soviet Union in 1966, defeating Spain 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 tie.
Russia goes to the quarterfinals against Croatia, while Spain goes home.
“Everything is changing,” Spain coach Fernando Hierro said through a translator. “Trends change.”
Spain made 1,137 passes and completed 1,031, according to FIFA. Stats service Opta said that was the most since it started keeping track in 1966.
In contrast, Russia has completed two fewer passes — 1,029 — in four matches at the World Cup. Russia earned victory on Sunday making 202 of 285 passes.
Russia’s coach Stanislav Cherchesov used a five-man defense for the first time at the tournament. Asked why, he thought back to the 2008 European Championship, where Russia lost 4-1 to Spain in its opener and 3-0 in the semifinals.
“Let us say this openly, they are better than us in many ways,” he said. “So I don’t believe that we should risk going forward.”
Russia is ranked 70th in the world, the lowest in the field, and Spain is 10th.
Home supporters with red-whiteand-blue wigs and painted faces seemed prepared for an unhappy ending out of Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky, especially after Marco Asensio’s freekick ricocheted off defender Sergei Ignashevich for a 12th-minute own goal.
The host has staged a fine tournament, full of smiles, solyanka and samovars — and a bit of vodka, too. Losing to a world power in the last 16 would have been no shame, but Gerard Pique’s penalty put the Russians back in the match.
Pique, one of three veterans in Spain’s starting XI who played in the 2010 final victory over the Netherlands, was called for a handball after Artyom Dzyuba’s header bounced off his left arm.
Pique wagged a finger at Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers, but the decision stood.
In pretty much his only action before the shootout, goalkeeper David De Gea dived right as Dzyuba’s third goal of the tournament went to his left.
Spanish King Felipe VI, on hand for the 2010 final in South Africa, was here for this one, too, cheering his countrymen. But while Spain finished with 75 percent possession, it scored no more goals.
As rain came down, each team netted its first two kicks in the shootout, but Akinfeev dived right and with a two-handed punch stopped Koke’s effort.
Alexander Golovin put Russia ahead, but Sergio Ramos tied it again before Denis Cheryshev gave Russia a 4-3 lead.
Akinfeev dived right on Iago Aspas’ kick and with his trailing left leg booted to safety. Spain has now gone three straight major tournaments without a title.
“In 2008, ’10, ’12, well, we had the players we had, and we played at a level, with a style that nobody had done before,” said caretaker coach Hierro, who took charge when Julen Lopetegui was fired two days before Spain’s opener.
“Now we’re in 2018, and many things have changed. Now we see teams playing with a line of five that we thought had been forgotten.”
Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez were the twin beating hearts of Spain’s rise, offensive metronomes who elevated tiki-taka to supremacy at Barcelona.
Xavi is 38 and retired from the international game after Spain’s first-round elimination in 2014. Iniesta, 34, began the match on the bench, provided a spark after he entered in the 67th minute and called this defeat his finale.
“What’s important is to find the route to success, which is not easy,” he said. “It is more complicated than what it seems. The national team will push ahead because it still has players of quality and that’s what they need to try.”
Pique is 31 and Ramos 32, the last mainstays of Spain’s era of greatness. To rise again, the Spanish will have to evolve.
“We have our identity. Spain’s identity is recognizable,” Hierro said. “We have our personality, and this is a good thing.”