He finished not only another favorite of the World Cup but maybe even one big era of football. With crying Spaniards and lusting Andres Iniestas, the world scene forgot to leave their well-known tiki-taka gaming style, which has been horrifying for opponents for years, but in the eighth round of the World Championship against Russia, it seemed somewhat tedious and ineffective.
"We had high expectations and dreams, just like everyone else in Spain. We are sad that we have not met millions of people in our country. But I can say with certainty that we can look into each other. The players were great with their liveliness and professionalism. I can not complain to anyone, "said coach Fernando Hierro.
The Spaniers did not remember a perfectly functioning machine during the entire championship, which won two European and one world titles between 2008 and 2012. Looking at the stats of the eight-pin duel, maybe everything looks like old.
Record passes
Hierr's team, first in the history of the World Championship, even reduced the limit of 1,000 entries in one match, with 120 minutes in the league, 1114, during the basic 90 minutes the Spaniards lost 770 times. The ball held their favor with an overwhelming difference of 69 to 31 percent.
But what about the fact that the World Champions of 2010 almost did not lend the Russians the ball and half played them, basically as long as they wanted. For the vast majority of time, the vast territorial dominance did not in fact make anything dangerous. The Russians did with a primitive tactic - in ten players behind the ball, and sometimes try a break.
Tiki-taka, that is, a fast sequence of short bouts, this time in La Roja's operation was rash and cramped. Even the Russians seemed to feel convinced that they would defend themselves with the siege of a previously unstoppable one. And the underestimated selection of Stanislav Cerčesov ended up with only 191 passes in 120 minutes.
It is no wonder sports media and experts around the world report that tiki-taka is definitely dead, which Hiero himself suggested as he did not place the main prominent of this style by Andres Iniesto in the basic eleven.
"We've come up with a game style that has never worked before. But now it is 2018, and many things have changed. Teams also play with five defenders in a row, I thought it was long forgotten, "commented Tiki-tak Hierro.
"Things are changing. But we have our identity that results from how we train our players. We need our individuality ... Before we started winning the titles, people just told us that we lack the identity, "he added.