On July 16, Sun Wen, vice president of the Chinese Football Association and a legend of women's football, shared a set of data on the Spanish team and expressed her views.
Sun Wen wrote
Everyone knows Spain's passing and possession skills are formidable, but De la Fuente's Spain's true hidden strength lies in their high-intensity, structured pressing combined with lightning-fast counter-pressing—a core competitive advantage against strong opponents. According to Opta's low PPDA rating of 7.2 to 8.4, meaning that for every 7-8 passes the opponent completes, Spain initiates a pressing attack, the lower the rating, the better the team's pressing performance; Spain has the lowest PPDA among all teams. Furthermore, taking the group stage as an example:
1. A total of 353 ball recoveries, the most in the entire tournament;
2. Averaging 14.3 ball recoveries in the attacking third per game, ranking 1st in the tournament.
3. They regained possession on average in just 11 seconds after losing the ball (compared to 14 seconds for France), demonstrating a significantly faster counter-pressing and transition speed.
4. High-pressing success rate of 38%, the highest among all teams in the World Cup; 5 goals converted from counter-pressing, tied for first in the tournament. These statistics are hidden behind the passing and possession game, and the Asian team Japan is perhaps the most obvious example of this trait.
