When Sergio Camello scored for Spain U23 in the 10th minute of extra time, coach Thierry Henry left the sidelines and tried to walk back to the bench. But there was a problem with the "captain" of France U23.
A series of players and staff of Spain U23 left the bench and ran towards Camello. At the same time, they ran through French technical areas and forced Henry to try in vain to escape the crowd. In the end, Henry could only bend over, endure unexpected collisions and watch Spain win gold medals.
Henry's experience, in many ways, is what the entire world of football is going through right now. Spain's dominance at all ages, genders and tournaments is making the rest of the football world wonder how long this will last?
Spain men's team alone won the UEFA Nations League last year, EURO and the Olympics this year. Meanwhile, their women's team won the World Cup last year and the UEFA Nations League this year. In addition, their U19 teams, both men's and women's, have won the European championship this year.
This is an incredible achievement, even more so, as Spain's success extends to many levels. The men's Olympic football sport, mainly a tournament for under-23s, is just another reminder that Spain's talent is extremely abundant.
While some teams at the 2024 Olympics make the most of 3 overage players allowed, Spain is not dependent like that. Juan Miranda, Sergio Gomez and Abel Ruiz are just mid-range names and are unfamiliar with big leagues.
Instead, the fire in Spain's U23 squad comes from rising stars. Barcelona's Fermin Lopez (21 years old) and Villarreal's Alex Baena (23 years old) combined to score 3 of Spain's 5 goals against France. Meanwhile, Camello (23 years old) also excelled with a double.
Football fans may find this image familiar. The Spanish men's team had a period of dominance in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The middle of the 2010 World Cup title is the consecutive victories at EURO 2008 and 2012. The La Roja version at that time always made hundreds of passes per match and completely overwhelmed the opponent.
In terms of personnel, it is impossible not to ignore the continuity that Spain has built in its coaching work. Luis de la Fuente, who just won EURO, is a long-time national youth coach, winning the U19 and U21 EURO championships with Spain before reaching the highest level.
Santi Denia, who led the Olympic team to a gold medal, also has a similar background. He is currently the coach of Spain U21, and previously spent 8 years as a coach of Spain U17 and 4 years as a coach of Spain U19.
While Spain was previously known for its tiki-taka style, now, they do not always have the advantage of controlling the ball. U23 France actually had 55% possession of the ball in the Olympic final, but Spain was the winning team.
