AFTER SPAIN WERE beaten 6-1 by Brazil at the Maracana in the 1950 World Cup coach Guillermo Eizaguirre made five changes ahead of the final match with Sweden, which amounted to a third-fourth play-off after his side’s thrashing by the hosts.
That loss remains Spain’s record World Cup defeat, but Friday’s 5-1 hammering from the Netherlands could force Eizaguirre’s successor Vicente Del Bosque into an overhaul of his epoch-defining team.
Having been handed his debut at the start of the tournament goalkeeper Antonio Ramallets conceded five goals in three games before Rio but was dropped in favour of Real Sociedad’s Ignacio Eizaguirre (no relation to the coach) after Brazil, as was captain Gainza and Barcelona midfielder brothers Josep and Marian Gonzalvo, otherwise known as Gonzalvo II and III respectively.
Del Bosque’s captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas, arguably at fault for three of the Dutch goals, could be most at risk ahead of Wednesday’s meeting with Chile at the Maracana.
Playing at the top level for more than a decade and a half since making his debut in the Champions League as a 17 year old, the most capped player at the tournament was happy in the aftermath to call a spade a spade.
The first thing I have to do is offer a mea culpa. This is the worst performance of my career. We have to say sorry. Holland were very good: we were the complete opposite,” said the goalkeeper. “Sometimes it’s good for things like this to happen so that you can react but we have to react now.”
How Del Bosque reacts ahead of an encounter with a Chile side built to attack will be interesting. Does he prepare for the future and hand a first start to Manchester United’s David De Gea, who got his first taste of international football with a seven-minute cameo against Costa Rica last week?
The World Cup winning coach’s other alternative is Casillas’ long-time back-up Pepe Reina, but the younger De Gea is seen as the long-term keeper of Spain’s goal and Casillas himself once remarked that the 23 year old, who kept 12 cleans sheets in 37 games during a difficult Premier League campaign at Old Trafford, would ‘retire us all’. Spanish newspaoer Marc, however, has reported that De Gea picked up a training ground injury and may be out for 10 days.
Having already lost his place as Real Madrid’s La Liga keeper to Diego Lopez, Casillas may be facing up to the prospect of surrendering his spot in the national team too. The evidence from the Arena Fonte Nova is damning. He was caught off his line for Robin Van Persie’s first and while you can make the argument the Manchester United man may have impeded him for Stefan De Vrij’s goal, if he had been more aggressive coming off his line he could have beaten the striker to the ball.
His poor control of Jordi Alba’s backpass that led to Van Persie’s third summed up a terrible evening for Casillas, who would have taken no consolation from a super double-save that denied the Dutch a sixth goal.
“For me things didn’t work out as I’d thought, we’ve started badly but I am not going to think about this game any longer, but the next one against Chile and we have to win,’ said Casillas.
“I have to face the criticism and work to do things better,” he added, refusing to seek an excuse in Van Persie’s leading arm in the build-up to De Vrigs goal. “I don’t want to talk about the referee but just improve on my mistakes.”
Whether he is given an opportunity by Del Bosque remains to be seen, and the Spain coach also has decisions to make in midfield. Xavi Hernandez has long been the heartbeat of the team but after a mediocre season at club level by his almost untouchable standards, the game on Friday passed him by to a great extent.
Will the Barcelona man suffer the same fate as the Gonzalvo brothers 64 years ago? Del Bosque has options in the shape of Chelsea new boy Cesc Fabregas and Koke, the Atletico playmaker coming off the back of a super season with La Liga champions Atletico Madrid.
At the back Javi Martinez could inject a little pace while Diego Costa’s performance on Friday could open the door for David Villa or the man who replaced him in the second half, Fernando Torres. The Chelsea striker, 30, is around long enough to know Chile will have the scent of blood in their nostrils in Rio.
“I’ve seen Chile a few times in last few years, I am sure they’re not the best team to face in a situation like ours. Chile know we will be coming out to win, their coaches, players will want to play on our anxieties,” said Torres, describing their opening round defeat to the team they beat to win the final four years ago as a “complete disaster”.
“The result was a fair reflection of the whole game, there is not much to say we have to keep our heads up and have the humility to say we were outplayed in almost every area but nothing is lost. In football you often have a second chance.”
Del Bosque has a chance to make changes but there are no guarantees. Eizaguirre ripped up the plan and started over 64 years ago but Spain still lost 3-1 to Sweden in São Paulo. A repeat of that result on Wednesday would put the decisively end the reign of Spain, so Del Bosque must decide whether to stick or twist.
To follow more of Mikey Staffor’s Brazilian adventures, follow @me_stafford
