The first semi-final of EURO 2012 is the battle between Spain and Portugal. Del Bousque focuses on teamwork, and taking control of the match while Portugal relies on Ronaldo to shine.
With a convincing win 2-0 over France, we can say that the 4-6-0 formation works well for Spain. Without a real striker, Fabregas is the one playing highest on Spain's front while Silva and Iniesta move further to the wings. Del Bosque does not need to depend on Torres, Negredo or Llorente for goals. More important, this formation brings out the strength of Spain's midfield, meaning taking ball possession and control the pace of the game. Moreover, their 6 midfielders are all very skilled, each of them was their own club's soul in midfield, which make it even more formidable. If they ever lose the ball, it's usually taken back by their midfield, which lessen the pressure on the defense and limit opponent's counter attack.
However, Del Bosque is not strategically rigid, he did have good changes when necessary. In the match against France, after Spain took the lead, he felt that the pressure on midfield was too much. Hence, Pedro and Torres were introduced which made France more cautious, which resulted in lessened pressure for Spain.
Del Bosque's 4-6-0 formation is working well for Spain
Portugal also has some skilled players, but unlike Spain they choose to have a tight defense while relying mainly on Ronaldo in the front line. Paulo Bento received some criticism from home on this rather negative playing style. However, until now he has been quite successful. Except the loss against Germany, Portugal was progressing well into the quarterfinal.
Similar to Bosque, Bento made the best out of the players he has. Pepe and Bruno Alves make a solid wall in front of Portugal's goal. The trio Veloso - Moutinho - Meirless are assigned the task to feed Ronaldo as much as they can. Nani, Joao Perreira or Coentrao are waging havoc in the wings. Meanwhile, Postiga was used as a bait and attract opponent's defender to create more spaces for CR7. Portugal's game is totally surrounding Ronaldo. So far, Ronaldo hasn't let his team down. He has had 3 goals, and denied 3 goals by woodwork.
Spain is still the team to catch right now, with 18 competitive game undefeated. However, when looking at the head to head history, back in November 2010, Portugal team inflicted Spain's heaviest defeat since 1963 with a shocking 4-0. Will this pose any psychological effect on this match, we will have to wait and see.
Our Prediction
We are leaning towards a draw in the 90 minutes time, and the match might then have to go to extra time and even penalty. Bursting damage that Ronaldo can do to Spain is equally dangerous to Del Bosque's men ability to control the game.
Betting Tips
Let's take a look at odds offered by 36BOL.com:
Coming into later stage, it's getting harder and harder to have a good pick, simply because both teams are just as good. With a draw in mind, our recommended bet would be Portugal Asian Handicap (+) 0.5 at odds 0.980.
Fore more odds and market, visit 36BOL Sports Betting
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