These days, we associate Spain with tiki-taka, an attack-minded and free-flowing passing game. Before Johan Cruyff lay the foundations for that style during his time as Barcelona manager, the dominant playing style in Spain tended to be somewhat less exalted. In the mid-Eighties, merciless defending and unabashedly negative tactics were the order of the day for Spanish teams.
It hardly yielded the Spaniards a glut of trophies. Although clubs like Real Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona had been able to win the UEFA-Cup and the Cup Winners Cup, the biggest price in European club football had eluded them since 1966 and the national team hadn't been able to win a tournament since 1964. Things appeared to be looking up in 1984, when Spain made it to the final of the European Championship. But in that final they slumped to a 2-0 defeat against Platini's France.
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| José Antonio Camacho tries to stop Alain Giresse |
On their way to the final, the Spanish had met a team that represented a completely different football philosophy. With players like Jesper Olsen, Frank Arnesen, Soren Lerby, Allan Simonsen, Preben Elkjær Larsen and the young Michael Laudrup combining to play an energetic attacking style of football, Denmark were a breath of fresh air in the mid-Eighties. At Euro 1984 the Danes, who had eliminated England in qualification, were especially impressive during a 5-0 win over Yugoslavia and during a 3-2 victory over Belgium, where they staged a fightback after going two goals down. Against Spain in the semi-finals the Danes were held to a 1-1 draw, after which a miss by Elkjær Larsen in the penalty shootout saw them eliminated.
During the 1986 World Cup, it looked like the Danes had only improved. In a group that included West-Germany, they won all their matches. The absolute highlight was a 6-1 dismantling, including a wonderful hattrick by Elkjær Larsen, of an Uruguay team who's ultra-negative and aggressive tactics made them a pastiche of everything that was wrong with football in the Eighties. When Denmark met Spain in the round of sixteen, the stage seemed set for them to get their own back for the elimination they had suffered two years earlier. And until the 43rd minute everything more or less went to plan. The Danes had the better of the game and had taken the lead, albeit that it took a penalty for them to do so. But then a dramatic lapse of attention by Jesper Olsen let Spain back in the game. A square-pass across his own area found the feet of Emilio Butragueño. The Vulture, as the sly Real Madrid forward was know, didn't hesitate for a moment and produced the equalizer.
| Emilio Butragueño on the bal against Danmark |
In the second half things went from bad to worse for the Danes. They continued to have the better of the game, but with the Spanish defending in numbers Elkjær Larsen had uncharacteristic difficulty finding the net. After going 2-1 down due to a counter-attack, Denmark threw what little caution there was in their style of play to the wind and put on an extra attacker. For all their desperate efforts, the Danes only succeeded in conceding more goals, and a red card, eventually losing by a staggering five goals to one. Unlike his Danish counterpart, Butragueño was the very picture of efficiency that day. The three goals he scored in the second half meant he was the first player since Eusebio in 1966 to score four goals in a World Cup match.
For the Danes a national football trauma was born. And the Spaniards? They went out of the tournament in the next round after encountering a team that was as defensive and tough to break down as they where, Belgium.