England vs. Spain: A Depressing Lesson in "the Best Team Doesn't Always Win"

In 2004, Greece defied all sporting logic to become football's European champions. They arrived at the finals as 150-1 outsiders, but somehow embarked on a run that saw them draw with Spain, and beat France, Czech Republic and hosts Portugal...twice.

In a tournament boasting the attacking talents of Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo and a teenage Wayne Rooney, the Golden Boot was won by a defensive midfielder called Theodoros Zagorakis. And that just about summed it up.

The remarkable Greek success was every bit the Herculean effort, but Otto Rehhagel's team were a long, long way from being the tournament's best team. Greece were just very effective at stopping the best teams from playing.

Greece's unlikely triumph put football writers in a difficult position. Should we laud the defensive organization of Renhagel's stubborn outfit, and indulge a classic underdog tale to the fullest, or attack Greece for what were perceived widely as negative, stifling tactics? In an article for the Seattle Post, Ravi Ubha argued that their success was indicative of "boring soccer" taking over the world.

""Gone are the days when teams won playing one-touch football, dribbling at opposing players and relying on end-to-end runs," he wrote.  "...Solid defense, good organization and counterattacks are becoming much more effective.""

Most of us had mixed feelings. There was joy to be had in the Greek odyssey, but deep down we prayed to the footballing Gods it would be an anomaly. It's all very well seeing good teams humbled occasionally, but nobody wants to see average ones consistently hustle and spoil their way to triumph. And that goes for any sport.

It is for that very reason that Spain's recent triumphs at Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010 have been so universally celebrated. Here's a team who play football "the right way," blessed with a collection of fabulously talented and expressive players. If you had a dollar for every time a writer has used the term "deserving champions" over the last three years, you'd have at least enough to pay Xavi and Iniesta for a couple of minutes.

And so, on Saturday it fell to England to play the role of Greece, as they beat Spain courtesy of a "park the bus" approach that paid the ultimate accolade to Vincente del Bosque's team. It's not a role the English public are either familiar or comfortable with, but it brought unexpected victory and a lesson in progress (or lack of it) for our most deluded of sporting nations. ESPNsoccernet's Phil Ball summed it up in a paragraph.

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"Joleon Lescott was England's best player, and Scott Parker's harrying of Spain's advanced line in the second half was wonderful to behold, But I can remember only two occasions when England put together a move that resembled football," he wrote.

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Watching on, England fans who bemoaned the Greek triumph of 2004 must surely have sensed the irony that awaits them at next summer's Euro 2012 finals. Fabio Capello's team will go to Poland and Ukraine with no hope of victory playing an expansive, attacking game. But if they defend in numbers, crowd the ball and feed off scraps, they've a chance of going all the way and beating the best teams in the world.

After all these years of believing England has the talent to compete with the best, Capello taught a nation a painful lesson by beating them. England, like Greece in 2004, are woefully inferior when it comes to playing "the beautiful game" the way we imagine it. The question now, is whether the nation that gave football to the world is prepared to get on board, as their team goes about attempting to spoil their way to glory.

If Saturday taught us anything, it's that the best team doesn't always win. And therein lies England's only hope next summer. That, and the stuff of Spanish nightmares.