Spain's Football Delights Del Bosque

[Folami David]

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque evoked the spirit of Total Football by claiming that Jordi Alba's brace against Nigeria at the Confederations Cup demonstrated that his players are comfortable in any position.
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Needing a draw to book a semifinal date with Italy, Spain made an ideal start to Sunday's Group B fixture in Fortaleza when Alba slalomed through the Nigerian defence to give the world champions a third-minute lead.
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After substitute Fernando Torres scored with a diving header shortly beyond the hour, Alba sealed a 3-0 win with another impressive strike two minutes from time.
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With Nigeria caught up the pitch for a corner, the Barcelona left-back latched onto a clearance just inside the opposing half before calmly steering the ball around goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama and tapping home.
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Asked to explain why Alba had twice found himself in such an advanced area, Del Bosque gave an answer that brought to mind the positional fluidity of the great Netherlands team that thrilled neutral observers at the 1974 World Cup in Germany.
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"When a system is functioning well, whenever you have a favourable situation, Jordi Alba, for instance, can move up to an attacking position without losing the balance in the team," he said.
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"We're suddenly able to score. This is the football we like: we're all defenders, we're all midfielders, we're all attackers."
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Spain enjoyed 58 percent of the possession at Estadio Castelao, which is less than they are accustomed to, but in the second half their patient circulation of the ball helped keep Nigeria at bay.

[Shola Sholaz]

In as much as they won us 3 goals to nil, they didn't play well at all. I wasn't impressed in any way. They were terrible.