Euro 2008: Spain v Russia: A Cultural Perspective

The second semi-final between Spain and Russia in Euro 2008 on Thursday could have massive cultural impacts on the respective countries as Goal.com investigates…..

Jun 24, 2008 4:04:11 PM

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This is something the Spanish haven’t experienced in a long, long time; 24 reluctantly lingering years in fact. But for the first time since the 1984 European Championships the Iberian nation have at last seeped into the last 4 of a major international competition and understandably this has already started to alter the contour of the nation’s sporting perspective.

On the other hand there is Russia, the nation still politically festooned with corruption allegation, a nation that has yet to come to grips with the present. This is a nation that has rarely tasted any sporting glory, a nation that since the collapse of the USSR has consistently failed to refurbish the glory days of the past. But now that they are in the semi-finals of the UEFA Euro 2008, the possibility that at long last they might just wring a change in their sporting arena is just starting to gather momentum.

The Spanish Cause

But it already has gathered momentum in Spain. June 22 was the date on which Spain had been knocked out from each of their last three major international competitions but against Italy on Sunday night at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Basel, La Furia Roja decided to purge themselves of their old ghosts at last and slay their dementors like Harry Potter exorcising his demons.

Now that victory came over Italy, Spain’s eternal enemies, the missionaries of anti-football, a footballing nation that has long raced ahead of the Spanish but only via means of unethical, dull, boring football, by playing defensively and always obscenely getting the best slice of luck. But on Sunday night Spain ultimately vanquished their 88-year-old jinx and managed to defeat Italy in a competitive fixture for the first time since 1920. And prove that they win without disfiguring opponents’ faces (remember Mauro Tassoti and Luis Enrique Martinez in the 1994 World Cup semi-final?).

The Spanish papers of course have been making a meal of it, pouncing on every inch of their column to underline just how massive this victory was not only over their old ghosts but more importantly over themselves. Spain have always suffered from a deep cutting sense of inferiority complex, a Don Quixote-esque madness to perceive every windmill as a giant, to perceive things in just the way they are not. But that victory over Italy on penalties has brought on a new and far more favourable perspective: that the Spanish can and have managed to bulge out of the cocoon.

The Catalan Cause

And surprisingly this Spanish victory has been more or less embraced in Catalunya too, You see, Catalunya in spite of being a part of Spain doesn’t think itself to be Spanish at all. Catalans, as they would tell you, are simply Catalans and practically hold the mainstream Spanish in loathes just the Basques do. Every time that Spain conceded during the 2006 Germany World Cup, there were fireworks lighting up the sky in one of Europe’s most autonomous regions.

But Spain breaking their 24 year old jinx has even had an effect on Catalunya. No, they have not been going bonkers over this essentially Spanish (and not Catalan) victory but there has certainly been a decent welcome to the idea that Spain might even win some silverware at long, long last. There have been several Catalans who didn’t even watch the match but those who did invariably felt that this time Spain could come home victorious from an international competition.

The Russian Perspective

Now, Russia might take any achievement from now on as a bonus to what they have already garnered. Indeed the Russian players have already been assured of a decently healthy package of bonus after threading into the knockout stages and now that they are into the semi-finals of Europe’s biggest international competition, rest assured that the Russian footballers would ask for no more incentive to reach the final.

The talisman for Russia to transform them from an also-ran to a genuine title contender is the Dutch sorcerer Gus Hiddink, a Criss Angel of sorts for the Eastern European nation who has been the harbinger of change. In his two years in charge of the Russian national football team, Hiddink has quickly come to realize that although not everything is good in the nation in terms of football, with a collective will and strong leadership there is every scope that Russia might just resurface in the footballing world.

Which is why Russia have no real big stars and rely more on collective strength than individual brilliance. True, Andrei Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko have been two of the best players in the competition but before June there were very few who had even heard of those names. It is due to Hiddink’s tactics and ability to use the limited Russian resources to the maximum that Russia have managed to pull off what is certainly the biggest coup in Russian football history as they have reached their first major international semi-final since the disintegration of the USSR.

Towards More Changes

So Spain and Russia both are in uncharted territories. While those in Madrid have been celebrating as if they have won the World Cup, those in Moscow have already pledged to please Hiddink and his men. When Spain and Russia confront each other on Thursday night, they would do so knowing that the sporting contour in either nation has already been altered with renewed vigour and an optimistic angle added to the mix. Reaching the final would just take that newly discovered joy of winning and change to a new level.

Subhankar Mondal

Euro 2008