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Analysis: Spain, Michael Jordan and the siege of Chattanooga
Spain smote Saudi Arabia with such brusque intent on Sunday evening that by the time the first hydration break arrived, the thirst for a reaction had been quenched. Lamine Yamal pierced the Saudi defence time and again. When Mikel Oyarzabal touched the ball, it was a chance, if not a goal. This Spain was exuberant, quick, aggressive without recklessness. More than anything, it was familiar. What none of us realised at the time is that Spain managed to do all of it while under siege.
Their opening draw against Cabo Verde came out of the deep blue, and more than anything, baffled the Spanish public. La Roja have treated their country to success, but have done so playing with fluid movement and a pioneering spirit, the faces of Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and Rodri Hernandez visible on the bow of the ship. When Cabo Verde massaged a slightly misshapen Spain attack into lethargy, committing just a single foul, it was met with a slightly perturbed Spain crowd, but no more frustrated than the Spain players themselves.
It is a monument to the faith in this Spain side that it was not met with hysteria, but instead simple disappointment in that particular performance. ‘Upset’, shouted Diario AS, ‘Red Alert’ read Sport, and Mundo Deportivo were a little more emotional with ‘What a Comedown.’ It’s true that Marca permitted themselves a more melodramatic headline with ‘Historic Disappointment,’ but the most derogatory, meting out disdain in equal measure, came from BILD in Germany, who declared ‘A Group of Islands Embarrass Spain.’ Below the headlines though, and beyond the first few minutes of the nightly analysis of Spain’s problems over the airwaves, was a refreshingly mature perspective.
To summarise the general sentiment, Luis de la Fuente’s side had been unable to move the ball swiftly enough, and his selection of Gavi didn’t quite convince, but the return of Lamine Yamal to the starting XI, and Pedri to his best position, deeper in midfield, would remedy many of the ills in Atlanta. “A wake-up call is not a bad thing, quite the opposite,” shrugged former Spain manager Jose Antonio Camacho on Cadena SER. All things that de la Fuente has done before, and did against Saudi Arabia, and with regard to the tempo, the very thing that the players and de la Fuente had pointed to as an issue.
“It’s normal that they were upset or furious. Nobody likes having their professionalism, ability, or work questioned. This reaction is logical, but it’s no different from things we’ve done in the past,” said pointedly after their sharp 4-0 response. “We wanted to make a statement, to assert ourselves.”
Before the match, Lamine Yamal was already a little acidic before he shredded the left side of the Saudi defence. “You want to jump to conclusions. Now Spain is terrible. But those who know, know that’s not the case,” he complained after several days of stewing in Spain’s base camp in Chattanooga, Tennessee. “We’re calm, even with all the noise from outside,” said Gavi’s much more natural alternative on the left, a rather satisfied Alex Baena, on the other side of the Saudi rout.
??? Los jugadores de la Selección responden a las críticas: ¿estaban picados como dijo Luis de la Fuente en la previa del partido ante Arabia Saudí?
? @JLAllegue92 #FIFAWorldCup #Mundial2026 pic.twitter.com/IYDn5BVeVB
— MARCA (@marca) June 21, 2026
Spain’s style of play is expansive, sweeping, at times it feels as if it can rip through any opposition in the world. Their squad is full of talent, and firm in its belief in its own abilities, and behind them are, as de la Fuente is not slow to point out, 33 games without defeat. Hence why the siege mentality response feels… A little unconvincing. Or at least ill-fitting. While Spain are in fact taking on the rest of the world en route to glory, they rank high among the favourites to win the World Cup, and few contenders have seduced as many neutrals.
Were this de la Fuente side closer to La Furia Roja, the Red Fury, a whirling dervish of legs and studs famed for bad-tempered victories, perhaps it would be easier to buy from the outside. Perhaps de la Fuente and this Spain squad need a beast to slay though. Coming into Euro 2024, few gave the 63-year-old rookie manager and his young side much hope of winning it.
? Lamine Yamal on Instagram: “I am here”. pic.twitter.com/KbkvhOr7aj
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 21, 2026
Who can forget Adrien Rabiot’s perplexing desire to lay down a challenge to Lamine Yamal before the semi-final? Four years on from the release of The Last Dance, Michael Jordan’s words vibrated through Lamine Yamal’s phenomenal equaliser. Prior to that, the squad had rallied around their captain Alvaro Morata, who was shaded by a question mark wherever he walked, until he hoisted the trophy high above his head.
“No one is immune to criticism,” a more placated de la Fuente commented later in his press conference, statement made. “Their pride was stung, their self-image. They can do even better, but those comments they receive motivate them, and that’s good.” Just as the great Jordan constantly found something to take personally, the optimistic Spaniard will hope that the contrived bullishness hints at a similar mindset.
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