The teams that Pep built: How Guardiola helped Spain and Germany win the World Cup

The teams that Pep built.

Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola will be an interested observer as Spain meets Germany on Tuesday, and the Catalan coach can be satisfied at his remarkable role in the sides' respective World Cup wins in 2010 and 2014. Without his influence in those tournaments, the trophy may have ended up elsewhere.

"I'm looking forward to a great game," Guardiola said in the buildup to the friendly fixture in Vigo. "Both teams have a great coach and great players."

But they have also had a helping hand from Pep himself. Spain's squad for the 2010 World Cup featured seven players from the brilliant Barca side coached by Guardiola from 2008 to 2012 plus two — David Villa and Cesc Fabregas — who would arrive at Camp Nou later on.

Some of those, like Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol, had long been involved in the Spain setup and also tasted success at Euro 2008, prior to Guardiola's arrival as Barca boss.

However, the 2010 team owed much more to Barca's passing and possession philosophy. Of the seven squad members, five were fixtures in Vicente del Bosque's side in South Africa. Gerard Pique was brought in alongside Puyol at the back, while Sergio Busquets (promoted from the youth team by Guardiola in 2008-09) started in midfield beside club colleagues Xavi and Iniesta.

Pedro, another player permanently promoted by Pep at Camp Nou following his time at Barca B, won a starting spot later in the competition and Victor Valdes, in the finest form of his career, was drafted into the squad for the first time.

"I hope Spain win this World Cup," Guardiola said just days before the 2010 final. "This generation of players deserve it. But Spain is more than just Barcelona. There are players from other teams that are important, too."

That was true, of course, but Barca's base formed the foundations for the most successful Spain side in history and the playing style leaned heavily on Guardiola's possession plan at Camp Nou. In the end, it was a Barca player (Puyol) who headed La Roja into the final in a hard-fought last-four clash with Germany and then another (Iniesta) who sealed the trophy with an extra-time winner over Netherlands.

Guardiola played 47 times for Spain and represented the nation at the 1994 World Cup, but his staunch support for Catalan independence means he may never coach the side. Nevertheless, he has — perhaps understandably — an ally in Del Bosque. "Pep is an important figure who has given a lot to our football," the Spain boss said in 2012. "He has always been committed to the Spanish national team."

Whether he coaches Spain or not in future, Guardiola certainly played his part in the side's success in both 2010 and 2012, when La Roja retained their continental crown with victory in Poland and Ukraine.

And four years on from Spain's win in South Africa, Guardiola's influence was evident again as Germany won the World Cup in Brazil. This time, there were also seven of Pep's players in the squad, including goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, captain Philipp Lahm, top scorer Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze, who netted the winner in extra time in the final against Argentina — just like Iniesta had done at Soccer City.   

"This is amazing for Germany. I'd like to congratulate all my players and head coach Joachim Low," Guardiola said in a message on the official Bayern website afterward. "Enjoy this unbelievable World Cup win. Germany fully deserve it."

For the second straight World Cup, the Catalan coach had seen the bulk of his club team claim the game's greatest prize — and he had played a part this time as well.

Guardiola's decision to play fullback Lahm in midfield was criticized initially at Bayern, but the experiment proved useful for Low as the Germany coach utilized his skipper in that role during the World Cup — something that would have seemed unthinkable prior to Pep's arrival at the Allianz Arena. Low had actually been the first to pick Lahm in midfield, in a friendly against England in 2007, but he had kept the Bayern Munich man in defense after that.

The Germany coach had been trying to move away from the team's counterattacking style in favor of a new possession philosophy after defeat in the semifinals to Spain in 2010 and Guardiola's arrival at Bayern in 2013 seemingly came at just the right time for the national team.

"Guardiola's ideas are superb," Low said in October 2013 ahead of a friendly against Ireland. "Bayern are focusing on shifting the game into the opponent's half and that is our intention as well. We want to have a lot of possession."

So although Bayern enjoyed spectacular success as it won the treble in Jupp Heynckes' final campaign, Guardiola's switch to a passing plan more in tune with his Barca blueprint definitely helped Germany as well. Toni Kroos, in particular, was a big beneficiary: His passing game fitted perfectly with Pep's philosophy and the midfielder blossomed beautifully when previously he had struggled to fulfil his potential for both club and country.

"The great thing about Guardiola is that he doesn't impose his way of playing on a team," Johan Cruyff said earlier this year. "He analyzes what is best for the team, gives specific details and guides them to achieve the greatest possible success.

"It's no coincidence that Spain in 2010, with seven of Guardiola's players, became world champions or that Germany did the same with seven of his players in 2014."