Gabriele Marcotti's daily diary: diamond Guiza - Aragones works the magic again

3. Luis Aragones does it again. With Spain leading by a single goal early in the second half, he took off Fernando Torres and Xavi and sent on Daniel Guiza and Xabi Alonso in their place.  A bold move? You bet. True, Russia did not look like scoring, but, in football, you never know when someone might nick a goal.  And then what? The prospect of playing until the 120th minute without both Torres and David Villa (who had gone off earlier) would have been terrifying.

Especially since Guiza is not the kind of player you write home about. But hey, it worked! Spain demolished Russia before and after the double substitution and deservedly reached the final for the third time in their history.

2. Speaking of Spain and finals, here's something you can use to impress your (anoraky) friends. Conventional wisdom is that those three finals (1964, 1984 and 2008) are the only three Spain has reached in a major tournament.

Conventional wisdom is wrong. Spain were also World Cup finalists in 1950. Forget what you've heard of the dramatic World Cup "final" between Brazil and Uruguay in front of 200,000 spectators at the Maracana, the one in which the Brazilians took the lead, ponced about and let Uruguay sneak a 2-1 win. In fact, that wasn't really a final. That year, there were four group winners in the 16-team World Cup. Fifa decreed that they would face off in a group, with each side playing each of the final three.

As it turned out, Uruguay and Brazil won their first two "final group" games and so Uruguay v Brazil became the de facto final.  But, in fact, all four teams in the finals group ought to be considered finalists because that's what they were.

1. A final point on what has become a very red and yellow blog entry. One of the not-so-nice things that Spanish supporters shout at the opposition is the rather unimaginative "Hijos de puta!" (which means sons of a word I'm probably not allowed to write but which rhymes with twitch).

As I walked to the Ernst Happel stadium in Vienna, I passed a group of very noisy Spain fans who were singing their own sanitized (and far more original version): "Hijos de Putin!"

Comments

[ma Gabriele...]

´´Uruguay and Brazil won their first two "final group" games´´
There´s a tiny mistake here, my friend.
Brazil won both (Spain & Sweden), but Uruguay won Sweden and tied with Spain (2-2), that´s why Brazil would be champion with a tie in the last match. And this made Brazil so favourite.

[Keith Roberts]

Classic Marcotti,...... Aragones decision to bring on Guiza and Alonso was the "bold move".
Versus the decision to replace the tournaments top scorer,(when injured), with not another striker, but a creative midfielder....who changed the course of the game....gets my vote for bold move of the game!

[Naelree]

Guiza is rather imaginative but not so strict than the rest. He was silver boot in European Leagues below Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008. He only need players like Cesc with his wonderfull goal passes.

[Ollie]

So, Aragones has usurped Hiddinck as the hacks flavour of the moment coach. How long before stories appear that Abramovich definitely got it wrong in appointing Scolari as Chelsea coach. He should have chosen the 70yr old Spaniard!!

[rubeniken]

"Hijo de puta" have many,many translations. It can be despective, for amaze, for admire, etc.
For example, last night Guiza made a great goal, with a great pass of Cesc. "que hijos de puta, que gran jugada" ... "what a son of *itch, what a great move".
"Hijos de Putin" is only a funny game of words.

[Felipe]

I suposse rioting but non swearing fans is better

[pipito]

So Spain reaches the final with a great football and all the supporters shout "hijos de puta"? Have you heard other supporters shouting "God, bless you"? Do you understand Dutch, Russian, Turkish, German, Portuguese,....? Congratulations if so.
Any problem with us in the street?
Please, a clean vision. Spain in the final, hijo de fruta (son of a fruit), haha.