España -v- Portugal, Tues 7:30pm RTE & BBC HD

redout

España -v- Portugal

Match 56 - Last 16
Cape Town - Green Point Stadium
Tueday 29 June, 2010
7:30pm RTE & BBC HD

redout

This should be well worth a watch.

Wouldnt know who to pick.

Cant wait for Ronaldo.

Degag

You were just waiting for the final whistle weren't you!

Mr. Guappa

No team news? Fail :pac:

redout

Degag wrote: »

You were just waiting for the final whistle weren't you!

It was a scripted finish by the looks of it.

Should be investigated.

Best erase that other game from our minds.

antodeco

Should be a good game. Only problem is, both teams will diving all over the place and holding their faces...

namloc1980

redout wrote: »

It was a scripted finish by the looks of it.

Should be investigated.

Best erase that other game from our minds.

What's to investigate. The result suited both teams.

redout

namloc1980 wrote: »

What's to investigate. The result suited both teams.

It was as if they agreed not to bother eachother and accept the result as it stood.

namloc1980

redout wrote: »

It was as if they agreed not to bother eachother and accept the result as it stood.

Yeah what's the problem with that?

The only thing that should be investigated is how a crap team like Switzerland got to the World Cup!

gimmick

^ Such are the vagaries of football. Why would either risk elimination?

redout

Portugal will have seven players on a yellow going into this game who could all potentially miss the quarter-final:

Mendes, Almeida, Ronaldo, Duda, Tiago, Pepe and Coentrao.

Spain are the only team in the tournament yet to receive a card.

steelcityblues

Blame Switzerland for not scoring against one of the few genuinely crappy teams in the competition!

fulhamfanincork

Going to be a boring game in my opinion.

Portugal will look to soak up the pressure that Spain will apply from keeping the ball and look to counter attack.

An early goal for Spain would be nice so that the game opens up.

dreamers75

redout wrote: »

Spain are the only team in the tournament yet to receive a card.

Lucky diving, feigning injury and asking for yellows isnt a punishbale offence.



oh wait...


Shouldbe interesting, will there be any actual tackles in this game?

CorkMan

IMO Spain to go through. Portugal will defend loads, and Ronaldo has only scored once in his last 13 games for Portugal.

Spain to have too much, Villa on form, Torres getting hungry, Iniesta hitting form. etc.

3hn2givr7mx1sc

If you're going to be great and write Spain as 'Espana' would you not make Portugal what ever Portugal is in Portugese?

redout

dreamers75 wrote: »

Lucky diving, feigning injury and asking for yellows isnt a punishbale offence.

Yeah that explains it :rolleyes:

Cop on.

redout

baz2009 wrote: »

If you're going to be great and write Spain as 'Espana' would you not make Portugal what ever Portugal is in Portugese?

I did :rolleyes:

LoL

Hoki

Portugal will be a very tough team to score against , i think if Portugal can get the ball off the Spanish & take one of their chances it might be enough for them to advance .

On the other hand Spain are one of the top 3 teams in the world at unlocking stubborn/organised defenses ( bar the opening game vs Switz ) so a narrow win for them is just as likely.

At this moment however, i think the game will go the distance with the Spanish emerging victorious after bringing on penalty king Reina in the 119th minute!

CorkMan

baz2009 wrote: »

If you're going to be great and write Spain as 'Espana' would you not make Portugal what ever is in Portugese?[/QUOTE]

"Por-tuu-gaal" lol exact same spelling in english as in portuguese

3hn2givr7mx1sc

redout wrote: »

I did :rolleyes:

LoL

República Portuguesa

redout

baz2009 wrote: »

República Portuguesa

Portugal is what the country is commonly referred to as in portuguese just as Spain is referred to as España .

You are really just trying to be smart since you noticed your mistake.

If you wanna get technical about it then its Reino de España

That means Kingdom of Spain to save you using a translator

Aidric

The Davestator

Don't know about torres being hungry, I'd say he'll have to be hungry from the bench cos he was brutal tonight. No touch whatsoever.

Dcully

I wonder how many times Ronaldo will check the big screen in the stadium to see if the camera is on him :rolleyes:

dfx-

The sooner the better that Portugal are out, the better.

Their two games against Cote D'Ivoire and Brazil are probably the worst two games in the tournament...following on from their games in 2006.

Mr. Guappa

dfx- wrote: »

The sooner the better that Portugal are out, the better.

Their two games against Cote D'Ivoire and Brazil are probably the worst two games in the tournament...following on from their games in 2006.

They could easily beat Spain, they are very solid at the back and with Ronaldo and other attacking options from midfield they look dangerous when they need to. IF they do beat Spain they will face Paraguay/Japan in a Q-F so you could quite easily be looking at them right until the end.

redout

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

They could easily beat Spain, they are very solid at the back and with Ronaldo and other attacking options from midfield they look dangerous when they need to. IF they do beat Spain they will face Paraguay/Japan in a Q-F so you could quite easily be looking at them right until the end.

Meh, then a potential semi awaits with either Germany, Argentina or England. This side of the draw is far tougher than the other side with only Holland and Brazil really. Five big times here with only two on the other.

redout

Del Bosque has said that Torres has a small muscle injury after the game.

Alonso has a sprained ankle thanks to a ridiculous tackle he received in the first half against Chile.

Del Bosque on Portugal "No, Portugal concern me. We've seen today how they controlled the game against Brazil, hitting them on the counter-attack. Portugal are going to be a very tough side. I take no satisfaction from the fact we're up against Portugal instead of Brazil. They are both great national teams."

To put into perspective how ridiculous the game with Chile finished up Pique had more passes than Xavi which is unheard of. Both teams were a disgrace.

104 - Pique
103 - Xavi

HalloweenJack

Raul Albiol injured in training tonight.

It looks like he went over on his ankle. He had to be carried off the pitch while crying.

redout

HalloweenJack wrote: »

Raul Albiol injured in training tonight.

It looks like he went over on his ankle. He had to be carried off the pitch while crying.

Sad for him but at least he doesnt start in the first place.

redout

Increasing calls in the Spanish press for Del Bosque to drop the defensive "double pivot" of Busquets and Xabi Alonso which they reckon is taking away from Spain's attacking game and revert to the usual one defending midfielder only.

redout

Everyone bar Albiol trained at Greenpoint this evening including Xabi Alonso who has been nursing a sprained ankle since the Chile game.

Barring a surprise it should be the same 11 who faced Bielsa's team last friday.

flahavaj

redout wrote: »

Increasing calls in the Spanish press for Del Bosque to drop the defensive "double pivot" of Busquets and Xabi Alonso which they reckon is taking away from Spain's attacking game and revert to the usual one defending midfielder only.

I kinda agree myself. I don't think you need both, as well as Xavi in the one midfield.

Hoping portugal win this to facilitate my pre tournament gambling.

MisterAnarchy

redout wrote: »

Increasing calls in the Spanish press for Del Bosque to drop the defensive "double pivot" of Busquets and Xabi Alonso which they reckon is taking away from Spain's attacking game and revert to the usual one defending midfielder only.

Well Busquets shouldnt be in the team in the first place ,he simply isnt good enough .
No need for a second holding midfielder to be honest ,Spain will have the vast majority of the possession anyway .

CorkMan

IMO it should be:

---

Casillas

Ramos

---

Puyol

---

Pique

---

Capdevila

---

Alonso

---

Xavi

---

Fabregas

---

Iniesta

---

Villa

---

Torres

With the option of Iniesta and Villa going out wide and drifting in at times. Alonso should be the anchor man and Xavi and Fabregas solely based on playmaking, with Fabregas slightly more attack-minded.

If there are no goals, put on Silva for Torres to create more width, with Iniesta staying on the right wing and Villa staying in the middle. TBH, I think Spain have a great chance of winning as Ronaldo has only one goal in 13 matches for Portugal (doing a Rooney). Although Torres is the same since coming back for spain, Spain have Villa and Iniesta to bang em in.

Apart from Ronaldo Portugal are average TBH, Deco is their 2nd best player IMO and he is past it now. Simao hasn't been great at Atletico. They hammered North Korea alright, but failed to score against Ivory Coast and Brazil and I think Spain will score against them. I think the last 16 is their best place for this world cup, and I think that will happen.

redout

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Well Busquets shouldnt be in the team in the first place ,he simply isnt good enough .
No need for a second holding midfielder to be honest ,Spain will have the vast majority of the possession anyway .

No he really should. He is twice the holding midfielder that Xabi Alonso is and lets face it - Alonso aint an out an out holding midfielder like Busquets. His role is slightly more advanced he is far more involved bringing the ball forward. Yes there are arguably better players than him in the role like Toure at Barca and perhaps Marcos Senna for the national team but a string of injuries and some pretty average performances over the past season made Del Bosque's task pretty easy in the end. Also when you add to the fact that Busquets has been immense for Spain (lauded both by the press and the management) and is the player whom Del Bosque has said Spain cannot do without then there aint a hope he will be dropped and righly so.

The presence of Xabi Alonso in the Spain midfield which means one less attacking midfielder is choking Xavi of the ball and thus Spain are suffering. When a player like Alonso see's more of the ball than someone like Xavi (was the case in the first two games, third Alnso went off injured) who can do far more damage you are simply shooting yourself in the foot and this is exactly what the Spanish press are picking up on. The obvious solution is to drop Xabi Alonso (a player who was brought in that changed the Spanish system) and bring back the other attacking midfielder who Spain are suffering without. I would have David Silva back in that team like a flash.

_Bella_

Hopefully it will go to penalities...!

gimmick

I would drop Alonso, push Iniesta back to midfield, and have David Silva where Iniesta was playing. I would also drop Torres as he has not been at the races at all so far. Probably have Mata in instead of him and have Villa through the middle.

Shanotheslayer

Spain to win 2-1. I hope...

Portugal to get a red card after Spain score.

Frisbee

gimmick wrote: »

I would drop Alonso, push Iniesta back to midfield, and have David Silva where Iniesta was playing. I would also drop Torres as he has not been at the races at all so far. Probably have Mata in instead of him and have Villa through the middle.

My thoughts exactly. Iniesta deserves to be played in the centre, nto shunted out onto the wing. Yeah he's a capable wide man but he's much more effective in the middle alongside Xavi.

Paul Tergat

Ugh. As an England fan I get pretty annoyed with the talent Spain has. Aye, drop Alonso and throw on Silva, maybe drop Torres and put Mata on, move Iniesta in the centre to play with Xavi. FU SPAIN :mad:

flahavaj

gimmick wrote: »

I would drop Alonso, push Iniesta back to midfield, and have David Silva where Iniesta was playing. I would also drop Torres as he has not been at the races at all so far. Probably have Mata in instead of him and have Villa through the middle.

+1 on all this, the team is so much better balanced that way, has better width and plays all their really key players in their best positions.

The current set up is overly cautious, lacks width and just looks shapeless to me.

SlickRic

i agree with any Spain formation that means Torres doesn't play.

flahavaj

SlickRic wrote: »

i agree with any Spain formation that means Torres doesn't play.

Ye would be better off with him continuing to play, if he keeps his current form up no ones gonna want him. :pac:

He is approaching Rooney levels of sh*tness tbh.:eek:

Vyse

_Bella_ wrote: »

Hopefully it will go to penalities...!

Hopefully it won't. I'd rather see the better team win in normal time.

Davaeo09

I personally think this is Spain's match for the taking.
If the can keep the ball and move it about with pace Portugal won't have a say in the game other than counter attacking.

I expect a big performance from Xavi and Iniesta tonight.

SlickRic

flahavaj wrote: »

Ye would be better off with him continuing to play, if he keeps his current form up no ones gonna want him. :pac:

He is approaching Rooney levels of sh*tness tbh.:eek:

you can see both are knackered and unfit.

now Rooney has an extra 2 weeks rest, and has Fergie back in his life, he'll be back to normal unfortunately.

Torres, if he stays around, i'm not so sure about, because Spain, let's face it, are likely to go deep in this, unless Portugal pull off something remarkable; and Torres desperately needs time off. he has done for close on 2 years now.

i'd worry for him next season.

redout

SlickRic wrote: »

you can see both are knackered and unfit.

now Rooney has an extra 2 weeks rest, and has Fergie back in his life, he'll be back to normal unfortunately.

Torres, if he stays around, i'm not so sure about, because Spain, let's face it, are likely to go deep in this, unless Portugal pull off something remarkable; and Torres desperately needs time off. he has done for close on 2 years now.

i'd worry for him next season.

Torres done an interview day before yesterday in the Spanish press and said his recovery from surgery has gone slower than planned and he aint yet 100% though not far off. He said he needs games.

Been looking forward to this since I knew they'd be playing eachother. Should be a cracker.

conno16

ronaldo will be the difference
he'll take great pleasure in destroying sergio hairband ramos and pique