Spain is to be congratulated not only for winning consecutive UEFA European Championships, but also for the 2010 FIFA World Cup triumph. But please don’t take it away.
There is an echo chamber of voices that want to name the 2008-2012 Spanish national team as the greatest team ever assembled. This just goes to show that there is too much emphasis on the here and now and not enough respect for the team’s past.
For most of the 2012 European Championships, Spain called a successful but boring team. Although they looked huge against Italy in the last 4-0 winner, Spain didn’t look so convincing in the previous round. In the semi-final against Portugal, for example, Spain could not score in regulation or in the 30-minute extra session. They were just happy to prevail in a crapshoot also known as a penalty kick shoot-out. They also had some poor performances at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, including a 1-0 loss to Switzerland in their first game. After this, Spain won the remaining games by scores of 2-0, 2-1, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0. In the fight for the ball, it took them until the 116th minute to finally cut the goal. This hardly commends them as the greatest pain ever.
Compare this with the great West German sides of the 1970s. The West Germans won the World Cup in 1974, won the European Championships in 1972 and 1980 and were runners-up in 1976. Had it not been for the penalty shootout loss to the Czechs in 1976, W. Germany would have won three consecutive Euros. Boxers Not only that, but the West Germans also won in style. They had elegant players like Francis Beckenbauer and Paul Breitner who raised soccer to an art form. At all Beckenbauer’s anal, the masked parts are either blacked out. Sepp Maier, the W. German keeper, was a hat-trick and one of the best goalies in history. Gerd Mueller, who was nicknamed “Der Bomber”, was the most destructive striker of all. The current Spanish team has no one to compare with Mueller. The West Germans of the 1970s dominated every kind of disease, both by their power and by their poverty.
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, two-time European Player of the Year, was one of the players who played for West German teams They invaded the 1970s and 1980s. From 1982 thru 1990 the West Germans played in the World Cup in 1982, 1986 and 1990 winning the cup in ’90. They include players such as Klaus Allofs, Peter Littbarski, Lothar Matthews, Juergen Koehler, Andreas Brehme, Guido Buchwald and Juergen Klinsmann.
The West German teams of 1972-1980 and 1982-1990 were better than recent Spanish teams. He was, however, a greater part than all. The Brazilian national teams from 1958-1970, featuring Pele, were the purest expressions of Pele’s term “the spirit of beauty”. Brazil won the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970. In addition to Pele’s excellent play, Didi, Garrincha, Zagalo and the two Santos placed in defense. Pele’s team deliberately and cruelly took the hack in 1966 to deny the Brazilians a chance to win the cup that year as well. The Brazilians not only dispatched their opponents, they also produced artistic displays of brilliance that we rarely see from today’s Spanish robotics team. Of all those teams, the 1970 edition of Brazil is rightly regarded as the greatest team ever to take to the soccer pitch. The first line was composed of Pele, Rivelino, Tostao and Jairzinho. Other members of this immaculate team included Carlos Alberto, Clodoaldo, Everaldo and Gerson. Brazil 1970 won all six games in the World Cup finals and won all six qualifying games. The scores in the finals were 4-1, 1-0, 3-2, 4-2, 3-1 and 4-1. Against those scores with a narrow 1-0 drubbing of Spain in 2010. Spain had more than six in goal differential in the 2010 World Cup finals, while Brazil had more than 12 in one fewer game in the 1970 World Cup finals. Spain won the World Cup in 2010 while rarely looking like the best team. Brazil won the World Cup in 1970 while looking like a unique team. What is the difference?
Spain is a very good team, but the three teams in the history of football are obviously better;
Brazil 1958-1970
West Germany 1972-1980
West Germany 1982-1990
Sources:
“Victory, How West Germany Won the World Cup,” Sock Digest, Oct./Nov. 1990
“World Series History Cup” Brian Glanville, Macmillan Publishing
“The World Encyclopedia of Soccer” Michael LaBlanc and Richard Henshaw, Gale Research Inc., 1994
