As we launch our third Young Sportswriter of the Year competition, here is an extract from Terrific Teams, the latest book in the children’s series
Football School, to inspire the budding journalists
Spain were the first national team to win three international tournaments in a row. Their deserved – and very different – victories at Euro 2008, the 2010
World Cup and Euro 2012, led experts to argue that this terrific team was the best international side in football history. Viva España!
It took
Spain long enough. For decades, they had promised much but delivered little – until this period of total dominance. What made Spain so special between 2008 and 2012 was their approach. As opposition teams came up with new strategies to face them, Spain would change their plans to find innovative ways to win. It helped that the team was dominated by players from
Barcelona, who played with each other all the time. That allowed their main tactic, known as tiki-taka and based around keeping possession with short passes and fast movement off the ball, to flourish.