Finishing has let us down: Xavi Alonso

Spain landed in South Africa as overwhelming favourites to lift the trophy. They have been the favourites in the past as well. The difference this time is Vicente del Bosque’s side has lived up to the expectations.

Spain look stronger than ever. Throughout the competition Del Bosque’s side have had to battle demons of Spanish past, not helping their country’s traditional reputation of ‘bottling it’ on the big stage when they lost 1-0 to Switzerland in the opening match of the competition. “This Spanish team is the best football team we have seen in ages. All their players have exceptional qualities and I am sure they will win the title,” Germany coach Joachim Loew had said after his side’s loss to Spain in the semifinals.

La Roja have not been especially convincing though. They may enter the final with five consecutive wins, but only the first of these, against Honduras, was a commanding win.

Spain have commanded possession well in all of their fixtures and have found the decisive strike in the second half, though they have contrived to over-complicate matters on countless occasions.

“We’re not going to be obsessed about it,” midfielder Xavi Alonso declared. “We would be more worried if we weren’t creating chances or playing good football, but that’s not the case. We’ve not scored many goals, partly thanks to opposing keepers and partly because our finishing has let us down, but getting through each match is what matters.”

Strength
Spain have adopted the Barcelona style of play and having seven Barca players in the starting 11 helps their cause big time. Their midfield is filled to the brim with quality, and have seldom handed back the possession to the opposition cheaply

Weakness
For all their passing and movement in the midfield, Spain have struggled to score goals. They have only scored seven goals in their six games and only two of them were created by their illustrious midfield.