This Spanish side was just out of this world when in full swing. Loved making this one! Also, If you want to support the channel, go ahead and try out Opera browser for free using this link - footballiconic.com/the-spanish-dynasty-when-spain-ruled-the-world/
Great video. Just one thing, there is a mistake in the Spanish coat of arms, the Borbón shield in the center is the french one, Spains is an oval. I'm not blaming you. It was a mistake our own football federation made just after winning the WC. Many of us have that shirt. They corrected shortly after.
I agree. I‘m still interested in football and I always will be but I just can’t seem to find the same excitement that I used to have 5-6 years ago when watching football. This current generation doesn’t have the same amount of world class players that the 1980s generation used to have. (By 1980s I mean born in the 1980s)
@@wanyamatimothy5346 when someone talk about "top strikers" people usually forget about David Villa except for spanish people. If he had more marketing or was a Barcelona-Madrid player since young, it would another story. Or even if he wasnt spanish but brasilean or argentinian
That was a Dynasty. The way they dismantled Italy in the 2012 final was they're absolute Zenith ....Brazil.82 my favourite team but this lot a close second .
Prime Spain was like The Beatles. A perfect storm that caught everyone off-guard for a brief period and went on creating history after history almost as if it was a daily routine. Eventually they ran their course ending up in flames. But they have cemented themselves in the pages of history books. Changing the world forever.
Great comparison... like The Beatles!!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ But, anyway... The Beatles are soooo unique and fantastic... Again, thank you very much, Sir. Greetings from Spain!!!
I think apart of Spain`s issue is that everyone had their prime at the same time. Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Xabi Alonso, David Silva, Cesc, David Villa and Pedro. it was just already proven world class players.
@@Josep_Hernandez_Lujan I'm an england fan and I've been really impressed by spain. The fact that your B team can still play like your first team to the same effect is scary.
I loved that Spain team. Especially when they played without a recognized striker. It was like something you only can do on video games. And the media had a frenzy when they did that. Xaxi, Iniesta, Silva, Fabregas, Mata, Busquests & Alonso. What a bunch of players
I’m from Spain and I remember when we won the World Cup. While the final was going on it was non-stop noise. Horns sounding everywhere, and as soon as we won all of the apartments erupted with noise. This is no exaggeration everyone partied for DAYS. Normal everyday men would sleep in bars, wake up and keep partying. People were sleeping in the streets, and the festivities never seemed like they were going to end. I just wish that I was older during that time so I could have appreciated it more. I don’t remember the 2008 euro, but I sure remember living it up for the 2012 edition.
Yeah football is like a religion here and it was our first world cup. I remember I was living in madrid those years while in college, and it was absolutely bat crazy, I have never seen such celebrations in this country as such
@@aldozilli1293 True, but it used to much more than now. It was worse in the past. Even on the pitch. I remember matches were Barca & Real players refused to pass each to eachother while on the same side.
This golden age of Spain will never be topped ever again, truly generational talents from Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol to unsung heroes in David Villa, Silva and Fabregas. What an era it was
well spains future looks better now than ever... a team full of young players won the euro in the second best way... only second to spain themselves lol... not even that early 2004 and 2006 spanish sqaud could win it when they were young... spain is truly unfair lol
Tiki-Taka is such a hard thing to replicate as well. I've coached youth soccer for at least 15 years, and I try to implement (and imitate) various techniques used by professional teams. Trying to teach impatient kids to be patient is one of the most difficult things for players, and their parents to understand. This is how I find team captains... the first ones to understand why we're doing it are the strongest players overall.
It not good, it destroys players flair You need very special talent to master it, no normal individual can master it Even now very few spanish players can do it, btw pep doesn't play tiki taka now
I think that Tiki-Taka will no been even replicated, but in 😊Spain we are still producing players with an smooth control of the ball because its something that we teach to kids since the begining, whereas other countries focus just on the physic we give the ball to the kids and say to them, football is abaut to move the ball if you control the ball you control the game.
futbol sala, esa es la clave, todos los españoles lo jugamos de crios, es lo mas parecido a jugar en las calles como se hacia antiguamente, los brasileños ademas juegan futbol playa, lo que les hace tener un control de la pelota excepcional
When i was a kid i thought a team beating another team 4 - 0 in a final was normal. Looking back now i see Spain simply had no competition during that time
Re: no Ballon D'Or winner -Maybe part of Spain's strength was not having a single superstar. An equivalent I can think of off the top of my head would be Germany 2014. The players were committed to the team, and nobody was out for individual glory. Working together, they secured glory for their country. The names of these Spaniards will never be forgotten. They will be remembered together, as they should be, as the most successful team of all time. Imho as players of a team sport, there can be no higher honour than achieving victory as a team. Thank you very much for this amazing documentary! 🙏♥️💛
Lmao It has nothing to do with not having a superstar. The problem was that a literal genius existed too. But If even Messi never played, you have another one, a human-machine called CR7. There was simply no way one of our players could have won it. I have seen It with my own eyes every weekend and I have no shame saying this, Messi and CR7 were SEVERAL levels above every other Spanish player in the league.
@@evilsohel1434 Te olvidas que tanto Messi como Ronaldo tenian equipos montados a su alrededor: Ya has visto como han acabado cuando han abandonado el Barcelona y el Real Madrid. ¿Qué ha ganado Messi o CR7?. Poco o nada, La selección Argentina tuvo que adaptarse a MEssi porque cuando no lo estaba no se comía un rosco. De todas formas ¿cuantos mundiales de selecciones tiene CR7 y cuantos eurocopas de naciones? ninguna, es un individualista y si su selección no se adapta a el, no funciona.
Certainly a young one compared to other fellow spaniards, but. I've lived enough to watch and remember the soul crushing match against Korea and saw Villa playing for a short spell in my hometown team (Real Sporting de Gijón) while I was still a kid. Can't express with words what it meant to go from Aragonés to Iniesta scoring in that final. Thanks for another wonderfull note about this honestly incredible team.
People always remember Del Bosque as the man behind this success, but I will always remember Aragones as the best coach Spain has ever had. He took a failure of a team and broke the curse of the quarterfinals. Every Spaniard remembers where they were when we passed that quarterfinal against Italy, and of course, the final. The WC was amazing, but for me the first Eurocup was an all time high, unbeatable. The energy on the streets was something I had never seen before. And again, the WC win was also great and there was also a lot of energy, but in my opinion, nothing like the 2008 Eurocup.
I am not even a big football fan, and I was yelling at the top of my lungs in the streets full of people, to the brim. It was a moment to live. Subsequent victories were great, but the first one is always the sweetest.
@@marcushamsun83 But the Euro victory is more important because without it we wouldn't have the believe in winning the WC. Maybe you aren't as old as I am, but we used to think we couldn't pass 1/4, and that wasn't just us, the fans. It was difficult for the players to believe too. It had been many, many years of getting excited in the groups phase just to be sent home in one way or another in 1/4
Weird fact about that Northern Ireland match, but I was one of those kids who walked with the Spanish national team, and wow, it was incredible. It's a moment in my life I'll never forget. Still have the mascot shirt in my mums house somewhere
22:36 This fact needs some context: Villa, while technically a Barça player at the 2010 World Cup, hadn't played a single match for Barça yet. He had just been signed from Valencia CF, so by all intents and purposes he should be considered a Valencia player at the tournament, with no experience with Barça's "tiki-taka" tactics.
Great video, prolly got recommended due to Spain winning this Eurocup! Glad that it reached me. Just wanted to point out that the fact that Messi being awarded the Gold ball in 2010 was an absolute steal from Xavi or Iniesta. In my opinion, it stinks of celebritism. Given that in 2010 Barcelona had it's best year with Iniesta and Xavi being the ones abilitating Messi to shyne to his full potential. Also Messi scored 0 goals with Argentina during the World cup while Iniesta was key to Spain's victory, scoring the decisive goal in the finals and Xavi being insanely important for the team as he also performed at top tier for both Barcelona and Spain. In addition, both Xavi and Iniesta were at the end of their futballistic peak or career. Keep up the great work. P.D.: I'm not hating on Messi ofc, he's a legend himself.
In 2010 Villa signed for Barcelona before the World Cup but had not played for them so I wouldn’t put him in there as a Barca player he was a Valencia player who had just completed a transfer
We gotta thank Spanish dynasty and Pep's dynasty with Barca for the football that is played today because when you see every great team today or in the last 5-10 years they all played similarly to those teams when attacking
Well not really, it's more about physicality & gegenpressing these days. Tiki-Taka would only work in lower tier leagues, everyone had done their homework on that particular play style.
No lmao, real madrid never played with that, and have won most champions league in last decade Tiki taka is thing of past, with good pressing techniques you can easily counter it
I’ve been watching your videos for a few years now and I have to say, unmatched quality and spirit! Love it, thanks for all the effort you put into this. Keep it up!
@@FootballIconic Hey bro, question so how do you get that is the rise and fall of Spanish football? Like Madrid won the CL this year, Barcelona women's won CL also and well this year Spain wins the 2024 euro ? Plus how many finals have Spanish teams won in the last year's ? Do you know ?
Euro 2012 was just embarrassing for Europe and just showed how dominate Spain were. They played with Arbeloa the entire tournament, essentially playing with only 10 men, and still won the tournament 😂
Tinashe i hope you see this ever since i found this channel a few years ago THIS IS EASILY THE BEST FOOTBALL CHANNEL ON TH-cam everyday that Football Iconic Drops is a great day 🔥🔥🔥
I can't understand why people call the present day a 'fall'. Semifinals in the last Euros, Nations league Champions, knocked out of last WC QF on penalties.. I think Spain have always been competitive.. they havent had a fall from grace like that of Germany for eg. or even France who got knocked out in the early stages of the last Euro despite being favorites
It's normal. Generations get old and transitioning to the next one is hard. It happens to every country. Even Brazil went through dry periods after each or their many magical generations.
2014 was a massive drop. The punishment from the Netherlands for a rubbish penalty faked by Costa was a reality check. And while the last tournament wasn't bad, and we won this year, there was a hard stop that shook us. That being said, winning EC and WC for me was already a dream and if we wouldn't win again, I was sorted. But there might be more :)
It has been proven that the ecuatorian referee at the Korean World Cup had been 'bought'. The scandal isn't only about Spain's match. It also happened to Italy. What hurts the most as a Spaniard is that our team in that WC was really good, much better than anything we've had before. Valerón was a genius midfielder at the level of Xavi and Iniesta, and we had good players in all positions. We probably weren't the best team in the tournament, but we stood a solid chance at reaching the final. In 2010 David Villa was still a Valencia FC player. He had signed for FC Barcelona a few days earlier, but he hadn't incorporated yet. BTW, Luis Suárez is the only spanish player who has won a Ballon d'or.
22:37 David Villa didn't play for Barça at the time. He was going to play for Barça at the 2010-11 season, but at the 2009-10 season he played for Valencia
@@robertoperez4118 What? Rijkaard won the ECL with the difficulty of having a young Messi. All that Pep is belong to Messi, all of it, even the opportunity he was given at Bayern and City. All belong to Messi and clearly.
@@robertoperez4118 What? Rijkaard won the ECL with the difficulty of having a young Messi. All that Pep is belong to Messi, all of it, even the opportunity he was given at Bayern and City. All belong to Messi and clearly.
What a BANGER of a video. All you say is so precise and correct it boggles my mind. A lot of people dont get it and let fanatism get on the way of logic.
Infinite thanks to Luis Aragonés who knew how to exploit the strengths of the players he had and endured the tremendous and shameful pressure that the Spanish media exerted on him for leaving Raul out.
What an accurate complete report, a Spanish expert wouldn't have done it better. I only would like to point out every Spanish club from the big ones to small towns and "barrios" keep producing footballers who progress from children team to the top clubs. It hasn't changed and it's a question of time since everything clicks in again and a new golden generation blooms. Who knows, maybe it's the one in the present Eurocup. I'll come back when this finishes. Congrats again, you have a new subscriber.
@@jal051 I remember we used to have a saying in those times: "Jugamos como nunca y perdimos como siempre". New generations haven't heard about it, fortunately!
Correction: It was the last 16 against France in 2006. It was so bad that the coach that time blasted his players. 2008 was the start of a football dynasty that can never be repeated nor replicated. Spain won Euro and became #1 in the world and two years later won the World Cup right here in South Africa and made history in 2012 by destroying Italy un the final and retained their title. There will never be another country that can dominate football for 4 years with a football identity of Tiki taka than the Spanish and many countries and clubs tried ans failed miserably since.
That Spanish generation was absolutely amazing. Some of my favourite players like Torres, Iniesta, Ramos and Villa are from that side. Though imo, the true alarm bells started ringing in 2013 when Brazil dominated Spain in the Confederations Cup and how Bayern and Dortmund dominated Barcelona and Real Madrid in the UCL semi finals.
@@saadhasan2518 awesome game, can still be seen and enjoyed. The germans slowed down in the second half so as not to further humiliate them in their own country (but Schürrle was unaware of that fact and continued scoring goals).
As a salty Germany Fan, I’ll point out only 2 teams were good enough to beat Germany at the time: 2006: Loses to Italy in WC Semis 2008: Loses to Spain in Euro Final 😡 2010: Loses to Spain in WC Semis 2012: Loses to Italy in Euro Semis 2014: Italy and Spain eliminated In WC Group Stage; GERMANY WINS WC! Italy and Spain literally stoped a potential German dynasty!
on the other hand look at Argentina's nemesis of that time. 2006 Germany eliminates them in the quarters. 2010 Germany eliminates them in the quarters. 2014 Germany eliminates them in the finals.
This should be called "The Conquering and Colonization of the World by Spanish Football". Spanish football from this era didn't go away. It went from from being called Spanish football to just being called football. Personnel determines what it looks like on a given team and Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Busquets, Fabregas, etc only happen once. They are the all time greats of playing in tiny spaces. But most of the good countries support the passer like them now with many options and less distance than before, they manage risk in possession like them - speculative passing has plummeted, play out of the back as the regular way, many utilize a high press at least as an option.
I think the main problem was that the top clubs in Spain started to use their academy talents less and less and use more foreign players. The effect is twofold; firstly, lower focus on academy talents means less talents for the nation itself to work with, and secondly, more foreign players playing in La Liga means more players are used to Spanish tactics and formations, meaning their opponents have more knowledge on how to counter them. Barcelona, a club that used to pride itself on its academy talents, started to prioritise foreign players worth hundreds of millions (looking at you, Coutinho and Dembele) over La Masia graduates, and that shift in priority sent Barcelona on the verge of bankruptcy. Only recently did they shift that focus back to academy talent and look at it now. Gavi, Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi, Balde. All wonderkids set to become Spain's next gen golden age. Real Madrid's Castilla is basically growing cobwebs now with how much neglected it has been. Perez's obsession with the Galacticos might be giving them the results, but its actively hurting Spain's youth players. Only the Basque clubs have been consistent with their prioritisation of youth, and it gave Spain the results.
Yeah all those wonderkids after a president ruined the club and left no choice. I'm sure that president filled his pockets by swindling the club's money.
I love your videos man. But as a spaniard i must say this is my favorite so far. You nailed every single detail. For me personally its a shame Iniesta or Xavi didnt win Ballon D'Or on 2010 (specially when Modric won 1 on 2018 for doing an amazing world cup) but it is what it is. Love your content ❤
I remember when Spain came to South Africa for a friendly match after winning the 2012 Euros. South Africa won by 2 goals to 1 but due to a technicality enforced by the Spaniards, the match was null and the result voided. It was when I first saw the problem with tiki-taka. Too much possession without a final product was the downfall of the Spanish national team. In teams like Barcelona they had Messi who could literally produce something out of nothing and singlehandedly influence the outcome of the match almost at will. In short, all that Spain needed was a player like Messi or Cristiano as an outlet for all the possession the team had in matches.
@@nova3752 That last line was not necessary. And I never said Spain were not playing good football but their tactics became easily deciphered due to one dimension of their main target, possession. If South Africa could figure them out then what about other teams. Like it or not, the Spanish team began their decline after the 2012 Euros.
Finally football iconic has posted again❤. And speaking of Spain 2008-2012, it was the most consistently dominant international football team I've seen in my admittedly short football watching time (post 2002). Only Germany came close, but had too many semifinal and final exits.
25:46 The best Netherlands team for 40 years, in 2010? That's a bold claim. In practice, it's 1988 when they actually won something (securing 2-0 in the final of the Euro). If you meant on paper, it's assuredly 1992, with Ronald Koeman, Rijkaard, Gullit, Bergkamp, and prime Van Basten. The early 2000 weren't too bad either with the likes of Van Der Saar, Seedorf, Davids, Kluivert and Van Nistelrooy.
What a video It really makes me look back and really admire what a country it was.Sometimes I ask myself what would have happened if not of the 2 losses they had
Spectacular video about the best National Team I have seen in my life. Congrats. I think one of the biggest mistakes for the fall of that team, apart from the age of their best players, was that they did not know how to renew ideas and players, there were no alternatives, their game became too predictable and began to be more horizontal, one of the main problems in recent years. Fortunately, with De la Fuente the way they played has changed and this national team again amazes with a new trophy. Is it the beginning of a new dominant era?
Barcelona from 2008-2012 was the best team ever Real Madrid was the second best team during that time And if you combine it you got the best national team ever in Spain
Acting like there wasn't a massive number of non real or barca players in that squad.. In fact most of the squad wasn't madrid or barca. Fabregas, Juan Mata, David Silva, Capdevila, Albiol, Jesús Navas just to name a few..
Domination could easily include Brazil in there as well 94-2004 - 2 world cups and 3 copa’s - they also were arguably the most entertaining football teams
Definitely not the most entertaining in 1994, that Brazil squad was panned back home for playing ugly, but they did get back a lot of their flair in 98 and 02.
The downfall is not that surprising. It's happens with every national teams... Not just Spain. That's why I predicted neither Croatia nor Belgium is gonna do well this 2024 Euros. These golden generations that ends up generating these successful systems will always have downtime... And there will be those kids who grew up watching them that will revive a new generation in around 10 year period. Germans died after 2014... They are reviving now. Italians died after 2006-2008... They went soo down by 2014. They revived and won a freaking Euro in 2021. Netherlands is also in their downtime since 2014. Maybe not this Euro but by next World Cup, they are reviving back up. This is the prime of French national team... And they will die out in next 4-6 years. It's a cycle. Not a perfect one and you can find exception everywhere, but it is there in some shape or form.
@@lexkanyima2195 Football is Argentina's national religion. By the time a "golden generation" has run its course, they have another batch of promising young players ready to roll. It's kinda the same reason why Brazil has almost always finished top 8 in the world cup. When the entire country is so invested in the sport, it's no surprise they keep creating talent.
@@nonewthing Not a bad guess, I was also in the same page with you. Not them winning the 2026 world cup but them performing really well in it. But after looking at their performance in this Euros, I'm starting to have doubts. But see how the Spanish national team is starting to look refreshing and revived with full of energy? It's been 11 years since they reached the finals of the confederation Cup in 2013... Which can be considered as the final trophy the last generation won. Or it's been 12 years since they won the Euros. Anyway, you can see the ~10 year cycle right? The cycle size may vary but it is there
It's about time the ballondor starts giving an honorary one, for career, not just a insane season Xavi and Iniesta definetly need one and many more players that had to compete with those 2 aliens
This Spanish side was just out of this world when in full swing. Loved making this one!
Also, If you want to support the channel, go ahead and try out Opera browser for free using this link - footballiconic.com/the-spanish-dynasty-when-spain-ruled-the-world/
Great vid 👌⚡️
Great video. Just one thing, there is a mistake in the Spanish coat of arms, the Borbón shield in the center is the french one, Spains is an oval. I'm not blaming you. It was a mistake our own football federation made just after winning the WC. Many of us have that shirt. They corrected shortly after.
😂😂😂
😊. Lol 0p
Three weeks later, Spain is back 🏆
That was fast! 😂😂😂
A new spanish dynasty
Theres something about this generation of footballers from the late 2000s to late 2010s. They truly had character
I agree. I‘m still interested in football and I always will be but I just can’t seem to find the same excitement that I used to have 5-6 years ago when watching football. This current generation doesn’t have the same amount of world class players that the 1980s generation used to have. (By 1980s I mean born in the 1980s)
This is just nostalgia lol. "Back in MY day...."
they learnt t the tiki taka way before even being conceived in the womb mate. Its in their DNA
@@iancrane5705 easy write off to say nostalgia. I could call you lazy for not watching any matches from that era 😂 those who have share ops opinion.
And people our age 10 years from now will say the same thing about the layers back in their day.
David Villa, so underrated
Arguably among the players that made that 2010 World Cup so special. One of the most underrated strikers.
He isn't underrated in Spain... so the rest of the World can go fcuk itself
Old fifa legend
How exactly? How was he underrated 😅😂... It just so happens that back then football had both quality and quantity of players in all positions
@@wanyamatimothy5346 when someone talk about "top strikers" people usually forget about David Villa except for spanish people. If he had more marketing or was a Barcelona-Madrid player since young, it would another story. Or even if he wasnt spanish but brasilean or argentinian
That was a Dynasty. The way they dismantled Italy in the 2012 final was they're absolute Zenith ....Brazil.82 my favourite team but this lot a close second .
I remember feeling bad for Italy haha
I think that Spain side is the best i have watched, because they simply neutralized teams by not letting the other get out of their own half.
2012 Spain would annihilate that team tbh
@@nikolaskoric804zenith is another word for peak
@@navirbox4913 I ment Brazil.82 my favourite team ......not the best .
Prime Spain was like The Beatles. A perfect storm that caught everyone off-guard for a brief period and went on creating history after history almost as if it was a daily routine. Eventually they ran their course ending up in flames. But they have cemented themselves in the pages of history books. Changing the world forever.
Great comparison... like The Beatles!!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
But, anyway... The Beatles are soooo unique and fantastic...
Again, thank you very much, Sir.
Greetings from Spain!!!
@@carlosfernandez-qp1xm 🙏🏼
😂Spain is more like Beethoven, immortal!!
WE'RE BACK BABYYYYY 🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦
I think apart of Spain`s issue is that everyone had their prime at the same time.
Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Xabi Alonso, David Silva, Cesc, David Villa and Pedro.
it was just already proven world class players.
Ramos, pique, Puyol as the captain of the national team, Casillas. Hell, you could make a wordclass team out of the reserves from that era
@@darkrose8328 Look at the bench in the 2010 wc final. Cesc, Mata, Silva, Torres on the bench. Insane
Jesus Navas, capdevilla, and Llorante (as a third striker, which Spain never used) in 2010 were all class players.
We've got a lot of great young players now. We'll be world class again soon enough.
@@Josep_Hernandez_Lujan I'm an england fan and I've been really impressed by spain. The fact that your B team can still play like your first team to the same effect is scary.
Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Alonso, Silva, Fabregas, Senna, Mata, Cazorla. That era of Spanish midfielders was insane
Ni senna ni cazorla jugaron el mundial
@@ARCPolus They were still part of the Euro 2008 squad and would have been starters for most national teams
It was basically Prime Barcelona + Real Madrid
Mostly Barcelona
The Pep effect is real
@kuromori6200 only Casillas, Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso from Madrid
@@footballhipstertvstill Madrid and Barca so what’s your point?
@@NeroPiromanlol
Imagine casually subbing Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta for Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabrigas and David Silva 😂.
I loved that Spain team. Especially when they played without a recognized striker. It was like something you only can do on video games. And the media had a frenzy when they did that. Xaxi, Iniesta, Silva, Fabregas, Mata, Busquests & Alonso. What a bunch of players
Fernando Torres was the best in the World in 2008, but his stint at Chelsea during the 2010s eventually ruined him
David Silva was not a striker he was a goalie 😂😂😂
I’m from Spain and I remember when we won the World Cup. While the final was going on it was non-stop noise. Horns sounding everywhere, and as soon as we won all of the apartments erupted with noise. This is no exaggeration everyone partied for DAYS. Normal everyday men would sleep in bars, wake up and keep partying. People were sleeping in the streets, and the festivities never seemed like they were going to end. I just wish that I was older during that time so I could have appreciated it more. I don’t remember the 2008 euro, but I sure remember living it up for the 2012 edition.
Yeah football is like a religion here and it was our first world cup. I remember I was living in madrid those years while in college, and it was absolutely bat crazy, I have never seen such celebrations in this country as such
I was in Spain for the 2012 Euro’s and the whole town erupted with celebrations when they won. It was amazing.
Most Spanish care more about their club than the national team. 😮
@@aldozilli1293 True, but it used to much more than now. It was worse in the past. Even on the pitch. I remember matches were Barca & Real players refused to pass each to eachother while on the same side.
Those were beautiful days in Spain. The only time I have seen all the country joined instead of trying to self-destruct themselves.
Anyone here after Spain winning the Euro
Yae! 🇪🇸🇪🇸🏆🏆🏆🏆🇪🇸🇪🇸
Vamos!!
This golden age of Spain will never be topped ever again, truly generational talents from Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol to unsung heroes in David Villa, Silva and Fabregas. What an era it was
None of those players were unsung heroes, they all get their recognition
You forgot Torres
Completely missed out so many world class players
@@justvibingman496 just wait and see...
well spains future looks better now than ever... a team full of young players won the euro in the second best way... only second to spain themselves lol... not even that early 2004 and 2006 spanish sqaud could win it when they were young... spain is truly unfair lol
Tiki-Taka is such a hard thing to replicate as well. I've coached youth soccer for at least 15 years, and I try to implement (and imitate) various techniques used by professional teams. Trying to teach impatient kids to be patient is one of the most difficult things for players, and their parents to understand. This is how I find team captains... the first ones to understand why we're doing it are the strongest players overall.
It not good, it destroys players flair
You need very special talent to master it, no normal individual can master it
Even now very few spanish players can do it, btw pep doesn't play tiki taka now
I think that Tiki-Taka will no been even replicated, but in 😊Spain we are still producing players with an smooth control of the ball because its something that we teach to kids since the begining, whereas other countries focus just on the physic we give the ball to the kids and say to them, football is abaut to move the ball if you control the ball you control the game.
futbol sala, esa es la clave, todos los españoles lo jugamos de crios, es lo mas parecido a jugar en las calles como se hacia antiguamente, los brasileños ademas juegan futbol playa, lo que les hace tener un control de la pelota excepcional
Best team I've ever seen. They were disgustingly good.
Having this and prime El Clasico was a real treat
Them and Barca
Senna and capdevila never get enough credit for that 2008 win, both worked their arses off
as a Germany fan i didnt love this era one bit but i damn sure respected the hell of it. Amazing
Germany could have easily won Euro 2008 and WC 2010, but this Spanish team was unbeatable
Hahaha. Fair!
@@alanledesma4945they couldn’t win anything easily😂
As a spaniard,m: what a video man. Congratulations and thanks for the hard work you put for this video 🙌🏻
Thanks!
@@FootballIconic Thanks to you from another spaniard :)
When i was a kid i thought a team beating another team 4 - 0 in a final was normal. Looking back now i see Spain simply had no competition during that time
Re: no Ballon D'Or winner -Maybe part of Spain's strength was not having a single superstar.
An equivalent I can think of off the top of my head would be Germany 2014. The players were committed to the team, and nobody was out for individual glory. Working together, they secured glory for their country.
The names of these Spaniards will never be forgotten. They will be remembered together, as they should be, as the most successful team of all time.
Imho as players of a team sport, there can be no higher honour than achieving victory as a team.
Thank you very much for this amazing documentary!
🙏♥️💛
Lmao It has nothing to do with not having a superstar. The problem was that a literal genius existed too.
But If even Messi never played, you have another one, a human-machine called CR7. There was simply no way one of our players could have won it.
I have seen It with my own eyes every weekend and I have no shame saying this, Messi and CR7 were SEVERAL levels above every other Spanish player in the league.
@@evilsohel1434iniesta was better than Ronaldo and Messi in a lot of things…
@@evilsohel1434 Te olvidas que tanto Messi como Ronaldo tenian equipos montados a su alrededor: Ya has visto como han acabado cuando han abandonado el Barcelona y el Real Madrid. ¿Qué ha ganado Messi o CR7?. Poco o nada, La selección Argentina tuvo que adaptarse a MEssi porque cuando no lo estaba no se comía un rosco. De todas formas ¿cuantos mundiales de selecciones tiene CR7 y cuantos eurocopas de naciones? ninguna, es un individualista y si su selección no se adapta a el, no funciona.
@@hyperborea2 Are you high on meth? Ronaldo won the 2016 Euros. Why do so many online football fans know nothing about football?
@@renzoqu lol inesta awsnt bttr than messi in no aspect
When you know that Football Iconic posts, you know it’s gonna be a good day. 😎
Rarely posts a bad vid usaually a banger
Now we are in the female version of the spanish dynasty....has anyone seen bacelona and spain female teams? Love their football and attitude
Certainly a young one compared to other fellow spaniards, but. I've lived enough to watch and remember the soul crushing match against Korea and saw Villa playing for a short spell in my hometown team (Real Sporting de Gijón) while I was still a kid. Can't express with words what it meant to go from Aragonés to Iniesta scoring in that final.
Thanks for another wonderfull note about this honestly incredible team.
How nice is to see people from all the world giving his praise to your national team? Love from Spain. What a nice video @FootballIconic never misses!
People always remember Del Bosque as the man behind this success, but I will always remember Aragones as the best coach Spain has ever had. He took a failure of a team and broke the curse of the quarterfinals. Every Spaniard remembers where they were when we passed that quarterfinal against Italy, and of course, the final.
The WC was amazing, but for me the first Eurocup was an all time high, unbeatable. The energy on the streets was something I had never seen before. And again, the WC win was also great and there was also a lot of energy, but in my opinion, nothing like the 2008 Eurocup.
I am not even a big football fan, and I was yelling at the top of my lungs in the streets full of people, to the brim. It was a moment to live. Subsequent victories were great, but the first one is always the sweetest.
I will say, however, that the Iniesta goal of the WC final is the goal I remember the best. It is a goal for History.
@@JackDespero NO way. World cup win was a waayy bigger deal in Spain, especially bc it was the first WC EVER. Spain already won the Euro in 1964
@@marcushamsun83 But the Euro victory is more important because without it we wouldn't have the believe in winning the WC. Maybe you aren't as old as I am, but we used to think we couldn't pass 1/4, and that wasn't just us, the fans. It was difficult for the players to believe too. It had been many, many years of getting excited in the groups phase just to be sent home in one way or another in 1/4
@@marcushamsun83 Well,not like most people even remotely remember that... But yeah, Iniesta's goal is Iniesta's goal
Weird fact about that Northern Ireland match, but I was one of those kids who walked with the Spanish national team, and wow, it was incredible. It's a moment in my life I'll never forget. Still have the mascot shirt in my mums house somewhere
22:36 This fact needs some context:
Villa, while technically a Barça player at the 2010 World Cup, hadn't played a single match for Barça yet. He had just been signed from Valencia CF, so by all intents and purposes he should be considered a Valencia player at the tournament, with no experience with Barça's "tiki-taka" tactics.
Like David Silva, he was also from Valencia CF.
Wrong. VILLAREAL CF.
@@raymundowellington6592what are you on about? Both played in Valencia
@@zacvancastle. The sheer confidence with which people online say incorrect things will never cease to amaze me
Great video, prolly got recommended due to Spain winning this Eurocup! Glad that it reached me. Just wanted to point out that the fact that Messi being awarded the Gold ball in 2010 was an absolute steal from Xavi or Iniesta. In my opinion, it stinks of celebritism. Given that in 2010 Barcelona had it's best year with Iniesta and Xavi being the ones abilitating Messi to shyne to his full potential. Also Messi scored 0 goals with Argentina during the World cup while Iniesta was key to Spain's victory, scoring the decisive goal in the finals and Xavi being insanely important for the team as he also performed at top tier for both Barcelona and Spain. In addition, both Xavi and Iniesta were at the end of their futballistic peak or career. Keep up the great work.
P.D.: I'm not hating on Messi ofc, he's a legend himself.
In 2010 Villa signed for Barcelona before the World Cup but had not played for them so I wouldn’t put him in there as a Barca player he was a Valencia player who had just completed a transfer
Same with David Silva.
We gotta thank Spanish dynasty and Pep's dynasty with Barca for the football that is played today because when you see every great team today or in the last 5-10 years they all played similarly to those teams when attacking
Well not really, it's more about physicality & gegenpressing these days. Tiki-Taka would only work in lower tier leagues, everyone had done their homework on that particular play style.
@@ammarharith5512they adjust in any style.
No lmao, real madrid never played with that, and have won most champions league in last decade
Tiki taka is thing of past, with good pressing techniques you can easily counter it
I’ve been watching your videos for a few years now and I have to say, unmatched quality and spirit! Love it, thanks for all the effort you put into this. Keep it up!
Wow! Sorry for the late response, but thank you so much, brother!! Means so much
@@FootballIconic Hey bro, question so how do you get that is the rise and fall of Spanish football?
Like Madrid won the CL this year, Barcelona women's won CL also and well this year Spain wins the 2024 euro ? Plus how many finals have Spanish teams won in the last year's ? Do you know ?
Euro 2012 was just embarrassing for Europe and just showed how dominate Spain were. They played with Arbeloa the entire tournament, essentially playing with only 10 men, and still won the tournament 😂
If you think Arbeloa was bad... You need to re-evaluate your beliefs
@@IgnacioAguilarToledo the "cono"cido de Gerad Pique
Tinashe i hope you see this ever since i found this channel a few years ago THIS IS EASILY THE BEST FOOTBALL CHANNEL ON TH-cam everyday that Football Iconic Drops is a great day 🔥🔥🔥
They reigned supreme for only 4 years, but damn did they make those 4 years count.
After the winning the Euros, Euros U18 and an Olympics Gold Medal, I’m convinced this dynasty is back
41 min vid? Yess sir !! Love it
Bro is the goat of mini football docs
I can't understand why people call the present day a 'fall'. Semifinals in the last Euros, Nations league Champions, knocked out of last WC QF on penalties.. I think Spain have always been competitive.. they havent had a fall from grace like that of Germany for eg. or even France who got knocked out in the early stages of the last Euro despite being favorites
It's normal. Generations get old and transitioning to the next one is hard. It happens to every country. Even Brazil went through dry periods after each or their many magical generations.
2014 was a massive drop. The punishment from the Netherlands for a rubbish penalty faked by Costa was a reality check. And while the last tournament wasn't bad, and we won this year, there was a hard stop that shook us.
That being said, winning EC and WC for me was already a dream and if we wouldn't win again, I was sorted. But there might be more :)
I'll be forever grateful to David Villa to make me fall in love with this beautiful game called football.
It has been proven that the ecuatorian referee at the Korean World Cup had been 'bought'. The scandal isn't only about Spain's match. It also happened to Italy. What hurts the most as a Spaniard is that our team in that WC was really good, much better than anything we've had before. Valerón was a genius midfielder at the level of Xavi and Iniesta, and we had good players in all positions. We probably weren't the best team in the tournament, but we stood a solid chance at reaching the final.
In 2010 David Villa was still a Valencia FC player. He had signed for FC Barcelona a few days earlier, but he hadn't incorporated yet.
BTW, Luis Suárez is the only spanish player who has won a Ballon d'or.
The referee of the controversial South Korea-Spain match of the World Cup 2002 (0-0 and defeat on penalties) is egyptian, btw!
Casillas' toe still haunts every dutchmens dreams till this day.
I'm from Spain, I've just discovered yr channel and love yr analysis of tactics.
22:37 David Villa didn't play for Barça at the time. He was going to play for Barça at the 2010-11 season, but at the 2009-10 season he played for Valencia
What I find interesting is that the rise of Spain happened even before the rise of Pep's Barcelona
It was never peps. Ir was always Messi.
@@oommcc No, Rijkaard had that team and failed, Guardiola made some changes and won everything.
@@robertoperez4118 What? Rijkaard won the ECL with the difficulty of having a young Messi. All that Pep is belong to Messi, all of it, even the opportunity he was given at Bayern and City. All belong to Messi and clearly.
@@robertoperez4118 What? Rijkaard won the ECL with the difficulty of having a young Messi. All that Pep is belong to Messi, all of it, even the opportunity he was given at Bayern and City. All belong to Messi and clearly.
@@oommcc no, Rijkaard didn't, It was Ronaldinho 😂
What a BANGER of a video. All you say is so precise and correct it boggles my mind. A lot of people dont get it and let fanatism get on the way of logic.
I'm Spanish and this video is amazing, great work, thank you for this, you have a new subscriber 😊
Infinite thanks to Luis Aragonés who knew how to exploit the strengths of the players he had and endured the tremendous and shameful pressure that the Spanish media exerted on him for leaving Raul out.
La Roja now also have a Nations League, The Women's World Cup and a Euro if England do not pull off a miracle. Their Dominance is still present
What an accurate complete report, a Spanish expert wouldn't have done it better. I only would like to point out every Spanish club from the big ones to small towns and "barrios" keep producing footballers who progress from children team to the top clubs. It hasn't changed and it's a question of time since everything clicks in again and a new golden generation blooms. Who knows, maybe it's the one in the present Eurocup. I'll come back when this finishes. Congrats again, you have a new subscriber.
Also, up to 2008 we had the psychological factor of considering ourselves 'cursed'. That's gone. Our players now believe they *can* win.
@@jal051 I remember we used to have a saying in those times: "Jugamos como nunca y perdimos como siempre". New generations haven't heard about it, fortunately!
Now it's over, we are champions!! I just came back to agree a new golden generation has been born.
@@joangg Euro 96 against England...
Correction: It was the last 16 against France in 2006. It was so bad that the coach that time blasted his players.
2008 was the start of a football dynasty that can never be repeated nor replicated. Spain won Euro and became #1 in the world and two years later won the World Cup right here in South Africa and made history in 2012 by destroying Italy un the final and retained their title. There will never be another country that can dominate football for 4 years with a football identity of Tiki taka than the Spanish and many countries and clubs tried ans failed miserably since.
That Spanish generation was absolutely amazing. Some of my favourite players like Torres, Iniesta, Ramos and Villa are from that side. Though imo, the true alarm bells started ringing in 2013 when Brazil dominated Spain in the Confederations Cup and how Bayern and Dortmund dominated Barcelona and Real Madrid in the UCL semi finals.
And Bayern and Dortmund also spawned Germany's World Cup winning team a year later.
@@ezraezra2928 yeah, and they proceeded to destroy Brazil in their home ground, it's been 10 years now
@@saadhasan2518 awesome game, can still be seen and enjoyed. The germans slowed down in the second half so as not to further humiliate them in their own country (but Schürrle was unaware of that fact and continued scoring goals).
ive been watching this guy for a couple of years now and hes def my favorite channel by far
You're a real one for that! Thanks a lot!
@@FootballIconic thank you for all the amazing content !
and we are back
As a salty Germany Fan, I’ll point out only 2 teams were good enough to beat Germany at the time:
2006: Loses to Italy in WC Semis
2008: Loses to Spain in Euro Final 😡
2010: Loses to Spain in WC Semis
2012: Loses to Italy in Euro Semis
2014: Italy and Spain eliminated In WC Group Stage; GERMANY WINS WC!
Italy and Spain literally stoped a potential German dynasty!
Thank you for this very fun fact😂
on the other hand look at Argentina's nemesis of that time. 2006 Germany eliminates them in the quarters. 2010 Germany eliminates them in the quarters. 2014 Germany eliminates them in the finals.
Argentina lost the first world cup match and gone on to win the world cup
Afterwards
Now, the exact same feat of international dominance now belongs to an incredible Argentina.
People usually forget the best national team in the history of football. 2008-2012
Guess who's back... back again... Spain is back, tell a friend
Absolutely love these long form video essay, just a joy to watch thx mate
This should be called "The Conquering and Colonization of the World by Spanish Football". Spanish football from this era didn't go away. It went from from being called Spanish football to just being called football. Personnel determines what it looks like on a given team and Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Busquets, Fabregas, etc only happen once. They are the all time greats of playing in tiny spaces. But most of the good countries support the passer like them now with many options and less distance than before, they manage risk in possession like them - speculative passing has plummeted, play out of the back as the regular way, many utilize a high press at least as an option.
Johan Cruyff y el Cruyffismo en el Barça llevó a todo ésto, Stevie Wonder lo vé.
amazing video! really well explained, you deserve more views
I think the main problem was that the top clubs in Spain started to use their academy talents less and less and use more foreign players. The effect is twofold; firstly, lower focus on academy talents means less talents for the nation itself to work with, and secondly, more foreign players playing in La Liga means more players are used to Spanish tactics and formations, meaning their opponents have more knowledge on how to counter them.
Barcelona, a club that used to pride itself on its academy talents, started to prioritise foreign players worth hundreds of millions (looking at you, Coutinho and Dembele) over La Masia graduates, and that shift in priority sent Barcelona on the verge of bankruptcy.
Only recently did they shift that focus back to academy talent and look at it now. Gavi, Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi, Balde. All wonderkids set to become Spain's next gen golden age.
Real Madrid's Castilla is basically growing cobwebs now with how much neglected it has been. Perez's obsession with the Galacticos might be giving them the results, but its actively hurting Spain's youth players.
Only the Basque clubs have been consistent with their prioritisation of youth, and it gave Spain the results.
Yeah all those wonderkids after a president ruined the club and left no choice. I'm sure that president filled his pockets by swindling the club's money.
And now we have a national team with almost any player of Barça or Madrid and it is a success.
Never mentioning Germany 1972-76 is criminal for someone with ball knowledge. Other than that, great video as always
Well at that time there was also the Netherlands of 'total football', and Cruyff.
We are back!🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦
Best doc on La Roja I've ever seen. Please do one on the Spanish Women team, they are just simply unbelievable
I love your videos man. But as a spaniard i must say this is my favorite so far. You nailed every single detail. For me personally its a shame Iniesta or Xavi didnt win Ballon D'Or on 2010 (specially when Modric won 1 on 2018 for doing an amazing world cup) but it is what it is. Love your content ❤
I come from the future to tell you that this video has aged wonderfully well
I'm also from the future, Spain will win the Euros 24
They are back 🇪🇸
Well researched, keep it up 👍🏽
I remember when Spain came to South Africa for a friendly match after winning the 2012 Euros. South Africa won by 2 goals to 1 but due to a technicality enforced by the Spaniards, the match was null and the result voided.
It was when I first saw the problem with tiki-taka. Too much possession without a final product was the downfall of the Spanish national team. In teams like Barcelona they had Messi who could literally produce something out of nothing and singlehandedly influence the outcome of the match almost at will.
In short, all that Spain needed was a player like Messi or Cristiano as an outlet for all the possession the team had in matches.
Wow. 2 euros, a world cup and a nations league title. I guess a south African wouldnt know good football
@@nova3752 That last line was not necessary. And I never said Spain were not playing good football but their tactics became easily deciphered due to one dimension of their main target, possession.
If South Africa could figure them out then what about other teams. Like it or not, the Spanish team began their decline after the 2012 Euros.
@@nova3752get a fucking grip he's right
Then In 2013 Neymar nd brazil team decimated spain in confederations cup final
@@SonuSharma-xx2hj Didnt Messi beat them 4-0 right after they won the World Cup, with Spain having their best 11 against him?
Good news gentlemen... We are back!
Greetings from Spain!
😊
Never seen you do a video over 30 mins, or am i tripping!? This is gonna be good ! 🍿
Always trying to give longer vids for topics that deserve it haha
Hi, we´re back :)
Finally football iconic has posted again❤. And speaking of Spain 2008-2012, it was the most consistently dominant international football team I've seen in my admittedly short football watching time (post 2002). Only Germany came close, but had too many semifinal and final exits.
25:46 The best Netherlands team for 40 years, in 2010? That's a bold claim. In practice, it's 1988 when they actually won something (securing 2-0 in the final of the Euro). If you meant on paper, it's assuredly 1992, with Ronald Koeman, Rijkaard, Gullit, Bergkamp, and prime Van Basten. The early 2000 weren't too bad either with the likes of Van Der Saar, Seedorf, Davids, Kluivert and Van Nistelrooy.
I'm spanish but when i heard that something clicked, "oh wait".
Cucurella’s hand happened during an offside play. That’s why it was not considered.
Whenever I want to sleep via listening some good football stories, i turn on your channel. No offence, keep up the good work bro
What a video
It really makes me look back and really admire what a country it was.Sometimes I ask myself what would have happened if not of the 2 losses they had
Spectacular video about the best National Team I have seen in my life. Congrats. I think one of the biggest mistakes for the fall of that team, apart from the age of their best players, was that they did not know how to renew ideas and players, there were no alternatives, their game became too predictable and began to be more horizontal, one of the main problems in recent years. Fortunately, with De la Fuente the way they played has changed and this national team again amazes with a new trophy. Is it the beginning of a new dominant era?
Spain still give us the best european football in euro2024.
U were saying? 🇪🇦🤙😍
OH EVEN BETTER
¡¡¡¡AGUANTA ARGENTINA!!!!! 🤘🇦🇷🏆⚽
As we say in Spain, about the time when we couldnt win any competition, "Juega como nunca, pierde como siempre".
Barcelona from 2008-2012 was the best team ever
Real Madrid was the second best team during that time
And if you combine it you got the best national team ever in Spain
Leaving out best barca nd Madrid players Messi nd Ronaldo
Acting like there wasn't a massive number of non real or barca players in that squad.. In fact most of the squad wasn't madrid or barca.
Fabregas, Juan Mata, David Silva, Capdevila, Albiol, Jesús Navas just to name a few..
We had a dinasty! Our style even had a name! TIKITAKA! Thank you, dear god!❤
A great video about a fantastic group of players
Domination could easily include Brazil in there as well 94-2004 - 2 world cups and 3 copa’s - they also were arguably the most entertaining football teams
Definitely not the most entertaining in 1994, that Brazil squad was panned back home for playing ugly, but they did get back a lot of their flair in 98 and 02.
As you said at the begining of. the video. A perfect storm.
And they're back. This time much younger 😱
You will have to update this mate!
You described all this period at the perfection, wow
Who is here after eliminating🇫🇷?
that spain team from 2008-2012 was unreal, that's a golden generation, consisted of essentially prime barca
You should have a lot more subscribers, quality content mate
Outstandin video, my friend. You keep outdoing yourself.
Pele once said: " The two best national teams I have ever watched were my brazil of 1970 and Spain national team from 2008 til 2012".
The downfall is not that surprising. It's happens with every national teams... Not just Spain.
That's why I predicted neither Croatia nor Belgium is gonna do well this 2024 Euros. These golden generations that ends up generating these successful systems will always have downtime... And there will be those kids who grew up watching them that will revive a new generation in around 10 year period.
Germans died after 2014... They are reviving now. Italians died after 2006-2008... They went soo down by 2014. They revived and won a freaking Euro in 2021. Netherlands is also in their downtime since 2014. Maybe not this Euro but by next World Cup, they are reviving back up.
This is the prime of French national team... And they will die out in next 4-6 years.
It's a cycle. Not a perfect one and you can find exception everywhere, but it is there in some shape or form.
And what about Argentina ? They are consistent for 50 years at that point. So the downfall doesn't matter.
@@lexkanyima2195 Football is Argentina's national religion. By the time a "golden generation" has run its course, they have another batch of promising young players ready to roll. It's kinda the same reason why Brazil has almost always finished top 8 in the world cup.
When the entire country is so invested in the sport, it's no surprise they keep creating talent.
@@Guimaster127 they really are rebuilding talent to become a team.
France will win the 2026 world cup but not sure about the 2028 euros. Think the downfall begins like 2030
@@nonewthing Not a bad guess, I was also in the same page with you. Not them winning the 2026 world cup but them performing really well in it.
But after looking at their performance in this Euros, I'm starting to have doubts. But see how the Spanish national team is starting to look refreshing and revived with full of energy? It's been 11 years since they reached the finals of the confederation Cup in 2013... Which can be considered as the final trophy the last generation won.
Or it's been 12 years since they won the Euros. Anyway, you can see the ~10 year cycle right? The cycle size may vary but it is there
It's about time the ballondor starts giving an honorary one, for career, not just a insane season
Xavi and Iniesta definetly need one and many more players that had to compete with those 2 aliens
They kinda did that already with Maradona and Pelé, but mostly since the BDOR wasnt given to south american players yet