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Why Xabi Alonso Should Be Guaranteed a Place at the World Cup in 2014
Published: July 5, 2013
Under Luis Aragones at Euro 2008, the Basque midfielder was largely used as a replacement, Marcos Senna often preferred ahead of him. Since Del Bosque took charge though, Alonso and Sergio Busquets, in the now famous "double pivot," have become a feature of La Roja's side.
With that in mind, Spain were left with quite the quandary when a groin injury ruled the 31-year-old out of this summer's Confederations Cup in Brazil.
The quandary seemed to provide evolution against Uruguay though. For the first 45 minutes, Spain were unstoppably smooth; dominating possession and pressing to win the ball back better than ever—if that's possible.
When the whistle went for full time, there was a strong feeling that 2-1 flattered the South Americans in a big way. Spain had pretty much shaped up with a Barcelona-like 4-3-3, and both Goal columnist Ben Hayward and Yahoo!'s Shahan Ahmed argued that the need for Alonso was questionable after the performance.
"Spain may be a stronger side without Xabi Alonso," argued Ahmed, whose argument became weaker as the World Cup warmup progressed.
Despite defeating Nigeria, La Roja were certainly not as comfortable as they would have liked, while Italy were the better side in normal time in the all-European semifinal. Then, there was the final, in which Brazil battered a weary and Alonso-less side, 3-0.
All the evidence suggests that any doubts over the Real Madrid midfielder's place in the starting lineup were premature. Admittedly, there were other factors which carried Brazil through the final—home advantage, the vocif...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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