Germany and Spain in Role Reversal at the World Cup: It's the German Team That's Freewheeling, While Spain Is the Predictable, Powerful Side.

 

Germany's Miroslav Klose, left, vies for the ball with Argentina's Martin Demichelis during their World Cup quarterfinal match on Saturday.

Wednesday's World Cup semifinal between Germany and Spain showcases a team with dazzling creativity against a technically sound and largely predictable side that has been downright boring for much of the tournament.
Yet in a startling game of role reversal, the Germans, long considered the archenemies of dynamic soccer, are the dazzling ones, having scored four goals in three different games and with players attacking seemingly from every direction. The Spanish, meanwhile, have been squeaking by and putting everyone to sleep, scoring just six goals in five games.
"The way they play, they have surprised everyone, especially the 82 million people in their country," Franz Beckenbauer, the guru of German soccer who both captained and coached Die Mannschaft to world championships, said of his country's current side. "They never played like this before. They have ideas."
As for Spain, even coach Vicente Del Bosque has said his team has inspired few on its path to the semis. Spain has the top goal scorer of the tournament in David Villa, but that has made La Furia Roja appear even more one-dimensional, a team that moves and possesses the ball with efficiency but in rather predictable patterns. "We didn't play very well tonight," has been Mr. Del Boque's frequent lament after games.
Exactly how the Germans started acting like the Spanish and the Spanish started acting like the Germans has as much to do with the teams' behavior off the pitch as on it. German soccer had a serious identity crisis a decade ago, when its national team was a first-round flop in the 2000 European Championship and repeated that performance in 2004. Despite making the World Cup final in 2002, there was the sense that Germany's clinical, disciplined approach was no longer practical as the game became faster and the players more creative.

Paraguay's Nelson Valdez, left, fights for the ball with Spain's Sergio Busquets..

Meanwhile German society was becoming more multicultural, with the team now featuring players of Polish, Turkish, Slavic, Brazilian and African ancestry, as well as an unprecedented emphasis on youth. No one would have predicted Meisut Özil or Lukas Podolski would outshine Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi here, but that's exactly what has happened.
"You have to experiment," said German coach Joachim Löw, who looks like he spent the 1980s in an underground German punk band. "I fielded five or six young players in some matches, but this is a risk I am willing to take and how we've brought about this change."
No one complains about Germany winning ugly anymore. Rather, the team is spoken of with the kind of lofty tones usually reserved for, well, the Spanish
"We've seen them in other World Cups and they have enormous ability to overcome adversity and regroup when they have difficulties," said Óscar Tabárez, the coach of Uruguay. "But now they also have great footballing expression. They are playing the most beautiful football we've seen at this World Cup."
Former Dutch star Ruud Gullit, said simply, "Germany has been a revelation."
The Spanish are inspiring a different set of emotions. The reigning European champs step onto the field with the swagger of a team expected to plow deep into the tournament, even though this will be the country's first semifinal match.
A favorite coming into the tournament, Spain has long been known for the pinball-passing style that's an outgrowth of the 1970s Dutch "Total Football" approach, where every player can play every position and movement across the field is constant. Former Dutch star Johan Cruyff brought the style to FC Barcelona a generation ago. Executed perfectly, with a constant push toward the opponent's goal, it can be an electrifying display of teamwork.
"Barcelona and the football of the Spanish team is the most beautiful being played in the world now," said Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk.
But during the past few weeks, the Spanish attack has looked more like a sophisticated game of keep-away carried out by a roster that has changed little over the past few years and is dominated by players from two Spanish clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Diversity on the Spanish team means a mix of both Catalonians, Castillians, and a few players with Basque roots.
Knowing exactly what is coming at them, Spain's opponents have planned accordingly. They have clogged the middle of the field by stacking wide lines of defense, making the gaps that Spain often so effectively exploits as narrow as an apartment corridor.
In short, Spain isn't surprising anyone. A defensive Swiss team beat Spain in the opening match, and Paraguay nearly knocked Spain out of the tournament until it missed a penalty kick 72 minutes into the game. "The Spanish team has had to work so hard to win every game," Mr. Gullit said.
And yet the Spanish are trying not to get bent out of shape about how they're winning. Fernando Hierro, technical director of the Spanish football Association, said winning the 2008 European championship has given Spain maturity and confidence, no matter how it wins its matches. Then, speaking of the Red Fury with words usually used to describe Germany, he said, "This team has shown great power."