First semifinal of EURO 2012, Spain vs Portugal

   
       Old enemies and local rivals Portugal and Spain face each other in Euro 2012’s first semi-final at the Donbass Arena in Donetsk on Wednesday evening 27 June 2012(28^th June 12-15am IST). Portugal have never won this tournament before but Spain are the current holders following their triumph last time out in 2008. Spain also won it the second time it was held, back in 1964.
          Peoples are thinking that is going to be an unequivalent battle between a team full of eleven superstars & one man army Portugal side. But regarding the performances of few other good players like Nani, Postiga in this current EURO the battle of the Iberian peninsula should be a good between them. Spain, the best team in Europe, the obvious favourites. From a fantasy footballing perspective, it’s a dream to see play players like Xavi and Iniesta in a same side though Jordi Alba has also proven his utility in the La Furia Roja side in this tournament.
        There is a classic debate in Vincente Desl Bosque side regarding Fabregas vs Torres, no one knows which one will start from the beginning, which makes their selection a bit dangerous. Perhaps Fabregas will keep his place in the famed 4-6-0 lineup leaving Torres to make another substitute appearance latter. Torres did start two group games and does have two goals in the tournament, however…
        Portugal, of course, rely heavily on Real Madrid superstar Christano Ronaldo as he comes up against a number of his Real Madrid colleagues in this Spanish team. Golden opportunity for him to bring a conclusion on that debate that who is superior Messi or he. Not much more needs to be looked at than that. Meireles and Moutinho are affordable midfield selections who could burst forward but they won’t see much of the ball against Spain.

     Portugal were the first team to advance to the semi-finals – following their 1-0 win against Czech Republic on Thursday , now Paulo Bento is hoping the extra two days rest over Spain will be an added advantage for them. But the question how much they will occupy the possession of ball in that Spanish side.

   The Spanish armada have beaten France in the quarter stage by a clear 2-0 margin in the third quarter final on 23^rd June keeping immense dominance throughout the entire match. Only Vicente del Bosque is quite worried about the fatigue & tiredness factor just before the semis against Portugese side.

    Spain and Portugal met two years ago in the first knock-out round of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Then, a solitary second-half goal from David Villa saw Spain through to the quarter-finals. Spain, of course, went on to win the tournament.

       If we go through the previous records Spain have won most of the matches they played against Portugal. In their previous 35 encounters, Spain have won 17 times  while Portugal managed to win 6 times amongst them & 12 matches remain draw. Only twice they met in UEFA cup before, wayback 1984 they finished in an 1 all draw & in recent time in 2004 Portugal won the match in 1-0 margin.

Spain’s Route to the Semi-Finals

Tournament favourites and reigning world champions Spain continued their charge in the quarter-finals in what looked on paper like a tough match against France, but which ended up being a disappointing event as the French never really got into their stride. A first half header and a last-minute penalty, both from Xabi Alonso, sealed the 2-0 win.

In the group stages, Spain could only draw their opening game against Italy but rallied to demolish Ireland 4-0 in the second game. And they needed a late winner from Jesus Navas to win the final match against Croatia.

Portugal’s Route to the Semi-Finals

Any doubts that Portugal’s captain Ronaldo was now back to form after a poor performance in the first two group games were laid to rest as he tore through the Czech Republic defence in the quarter finals. True, they only won 1-0, but Ronaldo got that goal and the scoreline did not reflect the Portuguese domination of the game.

Portugal lost their opening group game 1-0 to Germany but then won a five-goal thriller 3-2 against Denmark. They fell behind to the Netherlands after 11 minutes, but Ronaldo rescued the day with a brace, one in each half. Portugal came second in the group, three points behind Germany.

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