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VIENNA — For all of the twists and turns, the underdog moments and new stars born, it comes down in the end to two of the great powers, though with soccer histories and approaches from opposite poles.
Germany just wins, as has been said so often before, and sometimes takes a critical hiding for it, as though that somehow shouldn't be all that matters. The Germans play the game in straight lines, with speed and endurance and precision, beautiful in its own way like a fine piece of modern design.
Spain almost never wins the big one, apparently too intent, like a matador, not just to go for the kill, but to make it look absolutely right. The difference is, in soccer, the other side has a fighting chance, and many a time in the past that quest for the perfect aesthetics crashed up against a team with more tenacity or smarts or fitness. Not pure talent – hard to remember a situation in which Spain wasn't the better 11 on paper – but that elusive something else is what the Germans have in spades.
You can now make the case that this might be a different Spain.
Following its absolutely convincing 3-0 win over Russia yesterday at the rainy Ernst Happel Stadium, Spain advances to the final of a major tournament for the first time since 1984, when it lost to the French hosts in the European championship. Twenty years before that, Spain won this tournament for the only time, beating the old Soviet Union in the final in Madrid.
The Spaniards have never played in the World Cup final, despite entering the tournament as somebody's favourite nearly every time they have competed.
It's hard to imagine two more different victories than the quarter-final shootout win over Italy after a goalless 120 minutes, and yesterday's second-half thumping of a young Russian team that seemed to completely run out of gas – but both suggest Spain is made of sterner stuff than usual.
The Italians, undermanned and desperate, really had only one strategic choice: to slow the game down to a crawl, defend at all costs and eventually rely on their great goalkeeper, Gigi Buffon, to win the shootout. They did all of that but the last part, effectively gumming up the works – but in that moment when you'd expect Italy to excel and Spain to crumble from the pressure, the opposite took place.
Yesterday, Spain was faced with a Russian side that ought to have been flying high coming off its thrilling demolition of the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. The Russians looked like this year's model, all flash and speed and cockiness. And with coach Guus Hiddink calling the shots, and emerging star Andrei Arshavin back from suspension, no one predicted a repeat of their meeting in the qualifying round, when Spain tore Russia to pieces 4-1.
Well guess what?
After a first half that was relatively even – Spain dominating possession but not creating many chances, Russia coming close but not looking like the explosive team that shocked the Netherlands – Spain settled in after the break and played its opponents off the pitch.
The patient, short, low-to-the-ground passing game finally created some openings, and every goal was a thing of beauty: Xavi Hernandez volleying a perfect pass from Andres Iniesta home; Daniel Guiza, finishing off a series that began with the Russians turning the ball over deep in Spain's end of the field, chipping the ball coolly over Russian 'keeper Igor Akinfeev; David Silva being left with little to do but admire Cesc Fabregas's textbook set-up after the Russians had all but surrendered.
Arshavin was rendered invisible. Striker Roman Pavlyuchenko was by and large a non-factor. Not for a moment after it took the lead did it seem possible Spain would surrender it. That's called rising to the occasion, and that's what it's not supposed to be able to do.
One game left to play on Sunday in a tournament that has created new storylines and new stars just about every day. It has produced mostly exciting, positive, entertaining games, and served as an antidote to the cynicism that so quickly creeps into this sport.
Now it will end with a great study in contrasts, like an impressionist sawing off with an abstract expressionist. Not sure what that's going to look like, whether it adds up to a barn burner or to a stalemate.
In boxing, they say, styles make fights.
It's just as true here, with a slugger taking on a fancy dan, who on recent evidence might be a fair bit tougher than he looks.
