Much had been said about the Euro 2012 semi-final between Portugal and Spain. It was time to act, time to decide the first finalist, time to manifest dominance in football and time to show to the world why so much had been said about this fixture.
Due to the absence of striker Helder Postiga, who is suffering an injury picked up in the quarter-final, Portugal started with Hugo Almeida up front, assisted by Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo, with the rest of the squad remaining the same. Spain, on the other hand, opted to go for a conventional fixed-role risk-averse strategy by putting Alvaro Negredo in charge of the onslaught, dropping Cesc Fabregas and Fernando Torres, both of whom have scored twice for La Roja in the competition.
All through the first half, both teams made one point very clear - they had no intention of letting the other go through without giving the other a good run for their money. Spain, as has been and is expected of them, began their usual tiki-taka football whenever they got even the minutest of spaces. One-touch passes abounded the midfield, but were not enough to put the ball in the Portuguese goal. Portugal, on the other hand, had clearly indicated that the passing superiority of La Roja would not perturb them. As a matter of fact, Portugal were the first to get a corner in the first 5 minutes. They pushed Spain behind and did not allow the attacking rhythm to set in, thanks largely to quick passing and swift runs by Moutinho, Nani and Ronaldo. They had also garnered crowd interest every time the ball reached Ronaldo, while cat-calls, boos and whistles echoed through the Donbass Arena when the possession switched sides. This could possibly be the cause of some lackadaisical passing from La Roja, allowing many interceptions by the closing-in Portuguese.
Spain had clearly been put on the back foot and Portugal continued to counter the play and create gaps and opportunities frequently. A booking for Sergio Ramos and Coentrao, a free kick at the end of the half and a header on target by Ramos, all happened in quick succession, but was still not enough to put something on the score-line. Spain seemed to be struggling a bit to find their menacing form and passing rhythm, while the Seleccao ensured that they controlled play as much as they could to dissuade Spain from barging into the Portuguese half. Despite all this, the first half did not really live up to the expectations, but an interesting watch lay ahead. Or so we hoped.
Fans in the stadium, viewers on TV and everywhere around the globe hoped for a second half that would bring out the best in both sides. Jordi Alba and Arbeloa tried to cut inside the Portuguese defence all through the first half and even in the second, but lack of creative play in the centre was not helping the Spanish cause. Alvaro Negredo, who hardly saw the ball in the first half, was quite rightly substituted by Fabregas just 8 minutes into the second half. This was quite justified considering that Bruno Alves, Portugal's central defender, seemed to have a one-point agenda - break Negredo, quite literally. Showing his supposed physical prowess over Negredo and later Fabregas seemed to Alves' priority. It seemed as if Seleccao coach Paulo Bento had placed Bruno Alves there for exactly that purpose !!
Bookings began to flood in the second half, with as many as 10 people on the ground booked. Tempers began to flare, and goal-scoring chances began to be missed with increasing regularity from both sides. Extra time seemed to beckon and it did. But judging by the work-rate of both, penalties seemed the highly likely mode to decide the outcome of the fixture.
A couple of quick passes by La Roja, Iniesta's shot on target deflected by Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio, Sergio Ramos' free-kick that just scraped over the crossbar, everything seemed to be pump up the adrenaline. As the final 15 minutes of play began, both teams upped their tempo. Fluid attacking by Spain and swift counter-attack by Portugal engulfed the second half of extra time, but neither side could get the breakthrough.
120 minutes of play had ended, but the first team to qualify for the final was yet to be decided. Penalties needed to be taken. After Xabi Alonso's penalty was saved, Portugal had a chance to take the lead, but Joao Moutinho's penalty had the same outcome. Iniesta and Pique scored for La Roja but Pepe and Nani were no different for the Seleccao. Sergio Ramos then came up with a perfect "Panenka" and found the net comfortably, but Bruno Alves hit the crossbar, thus putting Fabregas in control of scoring the winner for La Roja. Fabregas' penalty, I admit, had a bit of luck favouring him, but it got the job done and put Spain into the finals of Euro 2012.
The best or the worst part of the entire "penalties" episode was that penalty expert Cristiano Ronaldo saved himself for the fifth strike, perhaps because he thought he could handle the pressure, but he never even got a chance to test Casillas. Bruno Alves, the undisputed Flop of the Match (at least for me), denied Ronaldo the opportunity to take his penalty. Ronaldo had just lost the match without kicking !!!
I do feel for the Seleccao though. They played their hearts out. No doubt about that. Ronaldo, Moutinho, Pepe and Coentrao were simply outstanding. They threw everything they had at their Iberian rivals, but at the end of the day, it just wasn't enough. I, personally, am a huge fan of Fabio Coentrao, who has been phenomenal not only for Portugal throughout the European campaign, but also for Real Madrid.
Man of the Match Sergio Ramos was certainly laudable. His tackles proved crucial to thwart a couple of runs by Ronaldo & Co. and his "Panenka" penalty was a calming assurance of his ability to perform under pressure.
It does feel, at times, that football is 'unfair', especially under the backdrop of such performances and results. Nonetheless, it is as it is.
VAMOS ESPANA !!!
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