The noise around this World Cup last 16 tie has been deafening. Every pundit worth his salt has been waxing lyrical about the usual suspects; Mbappé'...
The noise around this World Cup last 16 tie has been deafening. Every pundit worth his salt has been waxing lyrical about the usual suspects; Mbappé's blistering pace, the enduring genius of Messi, the sheer physicality of Haaland. And yet, as the Portuguese and Spanish camps settled into their hotels last night, a quieter narrative was brewing. One that revolves around a Basque man with the touch of a poet and the composure of a bank vault.Mikel Oyarzabal is the player everyone seems to overlook because he doesn't demand the spotlight. He simply takes it. While Spain's starting XI remains unchanged from the whitewash of Austria, a move that screams 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it', the real story is how this side has stopped relying on the tiki taka caricature. They now have a poacher, a man who drifts into the half spaces and finishes with the sort of clinical coldness that makes goalkeepers look foolish. His runs aren't flashy, they're predatory. And against a Portuguese backline that can occasionally be caught napping on the transition, that could be the difference.Portugal, for their part, will be licking their wounds after a group stage that promised more than it delivered. There's a brittleness there, a tendency to get rattled when the low block doesn't hold. Spain, with their unchanged side, will look to pin them back, to force mistakes through sheer possession. But this isn't the ponderous Spain of old. This is a side that knows when to go direct, when to play the killer ball. The question is whether Portugal's midfield can disrupt the rhythm before Oyarzabal gets a sniff. Squeaky bum time, indeed.Scott's pre match reading for GoalZaza highlights something crucial: the golden boot race is a sideshow. The real battle is for control of the middle third. If Spain's engine room clicks, they could run riot. If Portugal find a way to break on the counter and isolate the full backs, we could see the upset of the round. But my gut, as an old hack who has seen a thousand of these Iberian dust ups, says this is Oyarzabal's night. He doesn't need the headlines. He just needs the net.
