Maybe Alfio “Coco” Basile said it best. In the run-up to the 2006 World Cup, one of the coaches making his debut at the tournament approached Basile, head coach of Argentina at the time, and asked him for advice. Basile listened and then, by way of offering guidance, asked a question of his own: whether the debutant had any pre-tournament matches scheduled for his team. Yes, he was told, to which Basile replied: “And can’t you cancel them?” After all, he reasoned, you’re not going to see anything.
It’s not entirely true, but there was a hint of that on Thursday night when Spain played their final preparation game before the World Cup, taking on the Jordan national team in Amman before flying to Doha, the capital of Qatar. There was a moment with just 11 minutes left and the score at 2-0 when the commentator on one Spanish radio station said that was the best thing about the game: that there were just 11 minutes left. There would be two more goals — but there was something in that comment.
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When the final whistle blew, Spain had beaten Jordan 3-1. By then, Rodri, usually a defensive midfielder at Manchester City, was playing in defence while attackers Marco Asensio and Dani Olmo were playing as inside midfielders. Yeremy Pino was up front and striker Alvaro Morata had sat out entirely.
Ninety minutes earlier, an unexpected starting XI had included Robert Sanchez in goal, making his second ever appearance, and Aymeric Laporte at left-back. Koke had started in the deep midfield position; Asensio was the false No. 9; Pablo Sarabia and Ansu Fati played either side of him.
