IT WOULD BE CHURLISH to be too harsh on Spain as they progressed to the last 16 on an enthralling night in Stuttgart, but for long periods they reverted to type and displayed the cumulative nervous tic spawned by years of frustration.
If you wanted someone in the trenches with you, then it did not look like these were the right players, albeit if they were digging the trench it would no doubt have a nice rockery and a water feature. So Spain should pay thanks to Francesc Fàbregas, who arrived as a half-time substitute and shed Spain of their insecurities.
It was his shot that was parried and enabled Raúl to prod home a cathartic 44th international goal. It was his pass that freed Fernando Torres, who rounded the goalkeeper and flicked in the second. Torres’s late penalty was cruel on Tunisia, who had blown Spain’s cover as confident cavaliers and will hope that they can now secure their first World Cup win since 1978 against Ukraine on Friday and progress to the next round.
“I don’t know why we haven’t got further in the past,” Luis Aragonés said, his two-year unbeaten streak as Spain coach preserved. “We have to get closer to the great teams.”
The message was that the gap is still there. The players’ attempts to play down their form reflected the knowledge that if their old rivals, Italy, are in the group of death, Spain are in the group of sofas, pipe and slippers.
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But this is Spain and nothing remains easy for long. The test of their potential was always going to come when things started to go wrong. The surprise was that it happened not in an expected quarter-final against Brazil, but in the eighth minute against Tunisia.
David Villa had already rippled the side-netting from distance when Carles Puyol was muscled off the ball by the impressive Zied Jaziri. His pass was met by Jaouhar Mnari and, although Iker Casillas blocked his shot, he kept his cool to net the rebound.
It was a considerable shock for anyone who had witnessed Tunisia in their opening game against Saudi Arabia, when they took the lead, squandered it and salvaged a point. But Jaziri has looked the best of Roger Lemerre’s side and was a thorny presence, while Hatem Trabelsi was a good attacking outlet on the right. And so, as each Spain attack ended in disappointment — a header by Torres drifting wide, a handball appeal dismissed — the excitement and anxiety grew in equal measure.
Aragonés looked to two generations of Spanish football to avert humiliation. Raúl, the iconic Real Madrid striker, and Fàbregas, the brightest blossom in the Arsenal garden, were thrown on. Immediately, Ali Boumnijel, the 40-year-old Tunisia goalkeeper, was called on to show that old man’s gloves can work just as well as kid ones.
Fàbregas’s arrival added zest to the midfield caresses of Xabi Alonso and Xavi and the game was deliciously poised, the commitment of Tunisia as they sensed an historic upset jarring against the mounting trepidation of Spain.
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The first goal, after 71 minutes, sparked jubilation in the stands but it was the song of the reprieved. “I wouldn’t call it a collapse,” Lemerre said. “It was two good moves by Spain that undid us. This 90 minutes gives us great hope.” For Spain, hope may rest in a 19-year-old from Highbury.
SPAIN 3 TUNISIA 1
Raúl 71 Mnari 8
Torres 76, 90 (pen)
REFEREE: C Simon (Brazil) 6
ATTENDANCE: 52,000
TUNISIA: Jaziri 7, Chedli 5, Namouchi 7, Mnari 7, Nafti 6, Bouazizi 5, Ayari 6, Haggui 5, Jaidi 7, Trabelsi 7, Boumnijel 6 Subs: Ghodhbane 5 (for Bouazizi, 57); Yahia 5 (for Ayari, 57); Guemamdia (for Chedli, 80). Not used: Essediri, Chikhaoui, Santos, Nefzi, Ben Saada, Jemmali, Saidi, Kasraoui, Melliti. NEXT: Ukraine.
SPAIN: Casillas 5, Sergio Ramos 5, Pablo 5, Puyol 4, Pernia 4, Senna 5, Alonso 7, Xavi 7, García 5, Villa 5, Torres 7 Subs: Raúl 7 (for García, 46min); Fàbregas 8 (for Senna, 46); Joaquín 6 (for Villa, 57). Not used: Salgado, Marchena, Albelda, Reyes, López, Iniesta, Cañizares, Juanito, Reina. NEXT: Saudi Arabia.