adminRIO DE JANEIRO. — Spain are not rigid “Talibans” and can vary their tiki-taka possession football if necessary, their coach Vicente del Bosque has said. The World Cup champions begin their bid to retain the trophy on Friday against Holland, their rivals in the final four years ago in South Africa when the Dutch used a physical approach to try to unsettle them.
“We are not Talibans with just one way of playing,” Del Bosque told Marca. “Possession without having depth doesn’t have any point. For that reason we are working so that the team can pressure to win back possession and then as a group attack.
“Football is played in many different ways and there isn’t just one. We don’t have a magic formula, we have a plan based on the players that we have available.
“That doesn’t mean that there aren’t others who are just as good and give results.”
Del Bosque was prepared in case Spain’s group rivals, who also include Chile and Australia, opt to sit back in their games.
“It’s fine if they do. It suits us best being patient and looking for the gaps against teams that are defensive rather than being in games that are end-to-end and out of control,” he said.
Winners of the past two European Championships, Spain return to Brazil where they lost the Confederations Cup final last year against the home nation in front of some hostile crowds. — The Guardian.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter