On its way back to the peak of European men’s soccer, Spain walked a tightrope between identity and reinvention.
This Spanish team, of course, can still knock the ball around with the best of them. In defeating England, 2-1, on Sunday in the European Championship final, Spain set the tempo with 63 percent of the possession and a 15-9 shot advantage. Rodri and Fabián Ruiz stroked passes with aplomb, and substitute Martín Zubimendi was equally efficient after coming on at halftime.
Yet the tiki-taka style synonymous with La Roja’s dynasty from 2008 to 2012 — when Spain passed opponents to death while winning two European Championships and a World Cup — has given way to a more proactive approach.