Who said football is a passing game?
The beautiful game is at its spellbinding best when the ball is being passed around with pure perfection.
When you think of great footballing sides, Pep Guardiola’s famous Barcelona team and his now equally impressive Man City squad immediately come to mind.
However, in a performance that would have caused Pep to have some sort of seizure, Russia’s Vladimir Granat proved that you don’t always need to pass to death in order to win.
The centre-back, who plays his club football for Rubin Kazan, was part of Russia’s back five which held so strong against Spain.
Russia’s team performance left little to be desired for the footballing purists amongst us, with Granat’s individual showing reaching peak banter levels.
Amazingly, Granat made it to one hour of football without playing a pass since he was subbed on at half-time.
To add some context to that, at the same time, David De Gea and Igor Akinfeev had made 20 passes combined. Goalkeepers.
Feast your eyes on this monstrosity…
Literally, how is that even possible.
The stat becomes even more hilarious when you realise that Spain broke the record for the most passes ever in a World Cup match since records began.
Fernando Hierro’s men completed a total of 770 passes before extra-time, passing the 1000-pass mark during extra-time. The first team in World Cup history ever to do so.
Sergio Ramos made a ridiculous 141 passes during the match, the most of any World Cup player.
Who cares about Ramos, those numbers are nothing on Granat’s stats at full-time.
F**k your 1000 passes, Granat is our hero.
His phone is already ringing off the hook with contract offers. Hardly a surprise.
Where will he go, Barcelona? Real Madrid? Man City?
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