It's Villa's Destiny

Finding the net. Scoring. Winning the Golden Boot. Call it what you will, it’s second nature to David Villa. It’s his birthright. It’s his destiny.

When I used to say I am a fan of Spain, I meant I was a fan of their style, their midfield and Fernando Torres. When Spain won Euro 2008, Torres was in red-hot form and, despite the fact that it was Villa who ended up topscoring in the tournament, I despised him for stealing Torres’ limelight. For me, Torres was the leading frontman and Villa the sideshow. How wrong was I.

The only reason I think I thought that way was because I loved Liverpool and hardly knew a thing about Valencia. The EPL has so much more worldwide coverage, particularly here in India, that it was inevitable. I was surprised when I found out Villa had scored far more international goals for the La Furia Roja than Torres, and was within touching distance of Raul’s national record. At last count he is 1 shy of Raul’s 44 and is favourite to equal, if not better, the record in the mouthwatering semifinal that is a clash of the titans, Spain versus Germany.

Fernando Torres has had a horrendous run at this World Cup, as both his delightful touch and blistering pace seem to have deserted him as he still struggles to getn India, that it was inevitable particularly here encia. (WOW!!) sideshow. hat it was Villa who ended up topscoring in the tour to match fitness post the injury that consigned him to the bench towards the end of last season. The onus of scoring goals has fallen to Villa and how well has he responded. Spain have not exactly set the World Cup alight as far as goal-scoring is concerned (that has been Germany’s forte thus far), yet Villa stands tall at the top of the goalscorers’ chart with 5 goals in 5 games.

Apart from the 5 Villa has netted only one other goal has been scored by a Spaniard, and that was Andres Iniesta. Even that particular goal was set up by Villa, which means he has been involved in each and every one of the 6 Spanish goals in the competition. Only one man, the impressive 20-yearold Thomas Müller of Germany has been involved in more than 6, scoring 4 himself and setting up 3 others.

Fate’s insistence that Villa and only Villa score for Spain was no more evident than in the quarterfinal against Paraguay. When the world though Xabi Alonso found the net from his spotkick, the referee disallowed it for encroachment in the penalty area. Needless to say, his second shot was saved. When finally Spain did score, it should have been Pedro’s name on the scoresheet. After Iniesta’s run set him up superbly, his shot found the upright and ricocheted off to the foot of none other than David Villa. Villa fared no better, and found the other upright, but as luck would have it, the ball did not rebound out but to the other post and into the net. The commentator did an admirable job of summing it up, “Pedro saw glory; Villa saw the net”.

Each and every one of Spain’s goals in the tournament are very clearly etched into my memory, like Rafael Nadal’s fist pump, Jules Winnfield’s dialogues and Aletta Ocean’s body. They have all been pretty, and owe a lot of their aesthetic beauty to the man always in the thick of things, David Villa.

The stage is set for a phenomenal semifinal as Germany and Spain, two teams as alike as chalk and a jellyfish, take on each other. The manner in which Germany demolished Maradona’s Argentina was ominous indeed. It also spoke of Argentina’s inexperience of facing stronger sides at the World Cup. Argentina’s defence was exposed in the German counterattacks and when it came to creating chances, the midfield seemed to be unable to deliver the ball to one of the best forward lines of the competition. Messi played a deeper and deeper role, and was completely nullified by the close marking of Khedira and Schweinsteiger.

Spain will have none of Argentina’s weak midfield problems, nor is the defence that weak. But things may get difficult if Khedira and Schweinstieger continue their dogged marking and frustrate playmaker Xavi, the way they did Messi. Spain also need to be extremely cautious for Germany’s speed on the counter is phenomenal, particularly on the left flank as Ozil and Podolski can make runs on and off the ball from box to box in a matter of seconds. Sergio Ramos will have his task cut out in containing this duo, and the ageing Puyol and Capdevilla will have to bring all their experience into play when handling the younger, faster and taller Thomas Müller. Paraguay, and Nelson Valdes in particular, gave the Spanish many a scare on the breakaway runs, and Germany will definitely be even more potent. Needless to say, if Spain bring the same game to the table that saw them marginally edge out the South Americans, Germany will coast to the final.

So different are the tactics of the two European giants, that the clash of the individual styles will explode like fireworks in the eyes of the beholder. Germany’s strategy is to take a 20-metre-long run-up, and smash its shoulder into the door, time and again until the door breaks down. Spain’s tactics involve circling the house to be broken into until the cracks appear. Then, like sand, they pour in through the tiniest of gaps and slalom their way to the net.

Germany need a stout and fast defence to be kept at bay. To stop Spain, the defence needs to be watertight, the kind that will not concede an inch. Height of defenders will seldom matter as Spain rarely play an aerial game.

Germany never rest even if they are leading the game, always coming at the opponents to double and triple the lead. Spain, the masters of possession football, can conserve the slimmest of leads for any amount of time with their precision passing and hog the possession percentages to no end. I can’t wait until Wednesday for the match to unfold.

Another thing I simply can’t wait to watch is Barcelona play next season. With Villa joining, they boast of a most delicious lineup. Villa, the right-footed David Villa, bringing the ball in from the left. Messi, the left-footed Lionel Messi, collecting the ball on the right and working his sorcery towards the middle. Xavi and Iniesta, arguably the best creative midfield pair in the world, feeding the duo and creating all the chances. Sergio Busquets holding the midfield together and winning balls back. Dani Alves making his runs down the right and firing in from distance. And Zlatan Ibrahimovic on hand at centre forward to head and shoot in.

What will make things even more interesting is archrivals Real Madrid now have at the helm Jose Mourinho. It will be interesting to see what changes he makes to the Galacticos to counter a Barca side that pretty much looks like a World's Best XI.

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