Spain leading the winds of change in the world of football Premium

Spain's triumph in the European championship under new coach Luis de la Fuente marks a new era in football.

Europe rests under its new champion. And as the sun rose over the German grounds which witnessed the month-long conquest for European supremacy that drew blood, sweat, and tears, the air still reverberated with the vamos and viva chants. The dramatic German summer fairytale came to its worthy nail-biting end with the winds of change, the winds of a Spanish second coming.

Football could not make it home neither could any dark horse reign as the Spanish Armada bore the winds of chings behind its sails to recapture part of its empire that it ruled over till a decade ago. And it made sure no question arose over its authority.

Spain, under Luis de la Fuente, dominated the tournament in every sense of the word.

From finishing first in the group of death — which had holder Italy and World Cup semifinalists Croatia — with all wins and no goals conceded, through the difficult path to the final facing world-class opponents in host Germany and former world champion France to the final against the talent-filled golden generation of England, Spain left no stones unturned.

While disappointments for Spain in the last decade was a lesson on how tactics become outdated, Spanish success in Germany is a lesson on how to take what is outdated and transform it to the requirements of time.

It did the same to set off the first era of Spanish dominance which began with a Euro Cup victory in 2008. Reeling from failures at big stages, then-Spanish coach Luis Aragones realised that his players were not physical enough for the style of play most teams adopted then and decided to bring in short passes to the game, something a certain Pep Guardiola was trying out with Barcelona club then.

The first era of Spanish supremacy could also be called the era of Tiki Taka as its midfield bamboozled opposition players with quick short passes, controlling possession, and moving the ball around with ease. The short passes brought Spain its second national title and first since the 1964 Euro Cup in the form of the 2008 Euro championship. The team followed it up with the World Cup two years later and went on to successfully defend its continental title two years later.