For all the intricate passing, the tiki-taka, the 'merry-go round', Spain are a very dull team to watch. They are beloved of footballing 'purists', but the reality is that Spain are a negative team. They drain the life out of the opposition with endless intricate yet impotent passing; it looks good, but it is certainly intended to prevent the opposition from playing, rather than out-attacking them.
I do not deny that Spain are a good team. They beat a superb Germany team that despatched England and Argentina with ease, but perversely they are not what we have comee to expect from Spain. They have but once scored more than one goal in a match, against Chile, which speaks volumes about their reluctance to commit. Starved of possession, opponents are forced to counter-attack which are broken up easily by an efficent Spanish back line. They have the quality to score, and they know it, biding their time until David Villa takes advantage and scores; they then revert to possession football, draining the life out of viewers as adeptly as they do their adversaries.
Spain will win the final on Sunday, probably 1-0, and it will be boring. The Netherlands will pour forward when they can, but bar a replication on Van Bronckhorst's blockbuster of a strike against Uruguay, they won't find a way through. The best team will win it, but they will lose a lot of admires along the way.
EDIT: Barney Ronay from the Guardian basically wrote this article, but better, so you may as well read this instead.
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