HOW IS SPAIN BEATABLE?

The legendary German goalkeeper Olivar Kahn describes Spain's Unai Simon as calm and dependable. He confirms that  Argentina's Emiliano Martinez  has great presence of mind, enormous reflexes and has the conviction that he is one of the best goal keepers in the world.

Kahn continues,"If Martinez hadn't made that save in the 119th minute in the 2022 World Cup final, Messi would not have become a world champion."

According to Kahn, the final between Argentina and Spain was a clash of footballing philosophies.

"This game was a match between rational guys playing super smart football against fully emotional, aggressive guys playing a totally different style."

And despite watching an entire tournament looking for flaws, Kahn was left with the same question,"I've asked myself the whole tournament - how is Spain beatable?"

Argentina tried to answer it, but had failed miserably.

Oliver Kahn knows better than most how decisive a goalkeeper can be. His mistake in the 2002 World Cup final against Brazil still lingers.

"It took a long time to recover," he admits.

"I played six and a half games perfectly without any mistake. Then there was only one situation, one small mistake and it was over." .

TACTICS - INSTINCT - MENTALITY

 

We should never overrate tactics.

Tactics should not overshadow instict and mentality.

"You definitely need tactics where it matters. However you need  the right people  and the right mentality to achieve the aims of the organisation."

"Everybody knows their role, but at the end you need human beings with great mentality inside your tactical system.'

THE HYPE ON RIVALRY BETWEEN TWO GREATS

The media had been full of reports on the great rivalry 

between Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi.

But there was no such rivalry.

Finally it turned out Messi is the role model of Yamal

DEBATE OVER LIONEL MESSI BEFORE THE WORLD CUP FINAL

Messi remains football's ultimate problem.

Spain must have pondered a lot how to stop Messi before they went in for the clash against Argentina.

Robbie Fowler, former England and Liverpool striker analyses, " We'll all sit here and try to stop Messi. But the crux of it is you can't because he is Messi and he's probably the greatest player that has ever been."

When you drop deeper you allow Messi to influence  the game. "You stop Messi from getting into the pockets. But when you start dropping deep, that's when he comes into his own."

The debate assessed the best chance of stopping Lionel Messi. The finding was to stick on to the strength of Spain.

"They will try to control the ball. Control areas of the pitch. Stop its opponents from having possession. That's a great defensive attribute.'

"They are a possession based team. But it's not possession for the sake of it. It's possession with a purpose of playing forward."

And see the result.

Stop Messi, they did.

. 

WHY FRANCE FAILED TO REACH A THIRD CONSECUTIVE WORLD CUP FINAL

 

WHY FRANCE FAILED TO REACH A THIRD CONSECUTIVE WORLD CUP FINAL

France had seemed invincible in the tournament.It held an unblemished record and a combined 16-2 goal differential against their first six opponents.

Still  France lost to the Spaniards. 

The French defender Rayan Cherki puts it succinctly,"It's an immense disappointment. Today we lost against ourselves. We didn't lose against the referee. We didn't lose aginst Spain. We lost against ourselves. You all know that everyone was scared of us. The only team who were capable of eliminating us was ourselves. It is terrible.

We were beaten technically, we were beaten tactically, we were beaten in the duels. Today is a big disappointment."

Kylian Mbappe says France simply didn't play well to reach a third consecutive final. He criticised France's work with the ball saying poor first touches and missed opportunities prevented his team from testing Spain when opportunities appeared.

Mbappe was candid. His blunt assessment was his team was "sloppy technically."

"Spain is a team who loves to have control of the game, control of the ball.That's what we let them do. We let the midfield too much time to play and at the end of the day they had quality to play. It's difficult when you don't change the play of Spain. We weren't at the level to go to the final."

"We didn't play the game we wanted, tecnically, tactically. When you don't do what you have to do in a World Cup semi final, you don't win." 

The France captain pointed to breakdowns in both the game plan and its execution. "We were three aginst two in midfield and against Spain, that's hard. Fabian and Rodri had plenty of time to play. There was a lack of communication on the press. I think we should have done man to man press and forced them to run with us."

Mbappe said France's plan had been to apply pressure high up the field and prevent Spain from settling into its preferred possession game. Instead, Spain regularly played through the press and quickly recovered the ball whenever France briefly regained it.

He concluded,"At the end of the day, you take all the glory when you win. When you don't win... it's part of the game. As the captain, I have to take all the responsibility and I have no problem with that. We wanted to go to the final. We didin't go."

SPAIN CONVEYS TO REST OF THE WORLD - ALL OF THEM, NOT ONE OF THEM

 

SPAIN CONVEYS TO  REST OF THE WORLD - ALL OF THEM, NOT ONE OF THEM - 

Javier Dale, Spanish football writer in Times of India 21 July 2026

Yes, the final was dreary in parts, mostly thanks to Argentina. But,still, there was a wonderful message. The trophy ultimately belonged to a squad that didn't revolve around a star and played as a team. No surprise, squads hosting Messi or Ronaldo or Mbappe or Haaland didn't win the first prize.

Belgium, all guns blazing,  dispensed with US by simply playing  better. They made favourites France look pedestrian in the semi- final.                  (Marcela Mora y Araujo - Argentine football writer).

Cristiano Ronaldo was celebrated in his farewell. Lionel Messi inspired every conceivable superlative. Kylian Mbappe reminded everyone of the player he still is. Erling Haaland demonstrated that there are few greater assets in football than an unstoppable goalscorer.

Spain always trusted possession, quick combinations, movement and positional play. They behaved as though goals were simply the inevitable consequence of playing well. They never waited for an individual act of inspiration.

In fact they produced one of the finest World Cup campaigns ever seen. They conceded only one goal in the whole tournament. The final against Argentina elevated that performance to perfection. 20 shots at goal. 11 on target. 68% possession. 803 passes at over 90% accuracy.

Argentina  were reduced to almost nothing. Three attempts. None on target. They were left stranded as mere passengers on the pitch.

Football is a team sport. Passing is its fundamental act. As a team, Spain were solid, unbreakable and in control throughout. They were always in command of the match and the ball. 

The way they played, this team has every right to be remembered among the greatest World Cup champions

MUPPETIFICATION

 

Anil Abraham wrote in The Times of India editorial page  on 21 July 2026 on Muppetification. 

MUPPETIFICATION

Muppetification generally refers to the creative or cultural process of turning non-Muppet subjects, characters, or media into the style of Jim Henson’s Muppets.

A muppet is a type of puppet created by Jim Henson, a famous character from shows like The Muppet Show or Sesame Street, and informal British slang for a silly or foolish person.

Examples of Muppetification in the article

Senseless interventions are sadly unnecessary and potentially harmful

He (the President) stayed on when everyone wanted him.to leave

When Argentina lost the writer found himself surreptitiously sliding away from his sofa even as his wife tried to cheer him up

The prize distribution was akin to Photo bombing of Spain's victory

Each performer a star, but put together in a completely chaotic manner, resembling celebrities fighting for attention (The musical interlude at the half-time of the World Cup Final)

Perhaps Messi's loss had indicated that it was, 'Time to hand over reins to a new generation'