Spain is going to stick to its game of quick passing and ball possession.
One game into the European Championship and it’s obvious that the two-time defending champions are not changing their style despite their World Cup debacle two years ago, when the tiki-taka failed and Spain didn’t make it past the group stage.
When the team plays Turkey on Friday in Nice in its second Group D match, Spain will be using the same formula used when it won the last two European Championships and the 2010 World Cup — keeping control of the ball and being aggressive with the final pass near the opponent’s goal.
“Spain wants to keep the ball, that’s the idea,” defender Jordi Alba said on Wednesday. “Teams play defensively against us but we are used to that. The scoring chances will be there. We had many in the first game and scored in the end. Hopefully against Turkey we will be able to win again.”
The strategy didn’t do much against the tight defensive scheme of the Czech Republic in the opener on Monday, when it needed a late goal to earn a 1-0 victory, but the match against the more offensive Turkish team should play to Spain’sadvantage.
“There are several ways of playing the game and they are all valid,” Spain midfielder Thiago Alcantara said. “It could be like they (the Czech Republic) played or by pressuring more up front. We have our own style and will use it to try to win the games.”
The Spanish had 67 percent of ball possession against the Czechs in Toulouse, the most of any team at Euro 2016 until then. They exchanged 694 passes with an effectiveness of 91 percent. They had 17 attempts and didn’t score more goals only because of a combination of poor finishing and a great performance by Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech.
“We haven’t done too bad in the last few years with this style,” said Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque, who has kept the same formula despite having to revamp the Spanish squad after several top players began to fade.
Spain will have a chance to secure a spot in the quarterfinals with a win or even a draw against Turkey, depending on the result of the earlier Group D game between Croatia and the Czech Republic.
Turkey coach Fatih Terim said his team will attack Spain as it tries to rebound from the opening loss to Croatia.
Spain hasn’t lost to Turkey in more than 60 years, since World Cup qualifying in 1954. It will be the team’s first meeting at a major tournament.