Tag: Iniesta

Overdose of motivation

Preview of Spain vs Russia

“Cautious optimism” is probably the concept that best summarises the atmosphere in the Spanish camp hours before their match against Russia in Moscow. True to form, coach Fernando Hierro has decided to focus on the motivational aspect of the contest. One only needs to see the squad train for a short warm-up session and it’s evident that they can beat any team if they feel like playing hard, so it makes sense that Hierro touches the incentives rather than the tactics. Continue reading “Overdose of motivation”

Barcelona win La Liga… and lose Iniesta

Preview of La Liga’s 35th week

I know well I’m the Latin half of this blog, and therefore I should defend logic such as “The ref must adapt his decisions to the moment of match, the behavior of the teams and the specific players” or “That team deserved to get to extra time, so why blowing the whistle for that late, late penalty against them”, or even “How can you show two yellows to the same player in the first nine minutes of a match?”. Continue reading “Barcelona win La Liga… and lose Iniesta”

Isco or Iniesta?

The homework is done. After their 3-0 victory over Albania, Spain have qualified for their eleventh World Cup in a row. Their last group match, away against Israel on Monday, will allow Lopetegui to give quality minutes to representatives of his under-21 squad, some of whom have already shown that they can deliver in the top international level as well as they did when they played for the Basque coach in Spain’s youth teams. Continue reading “Isco or Iniesta?”