When the Euros started, I decided the best thing to do would be to just enjoy the games and then really analyze the semi-finals onward because you would hope that those teams would represent the best football and fair game to Portugal, who I didn’t imagine getting this far, they’ve played decently throughout.

Match Date: 27 June 2012

Pre-Match

The first thing to point out is a surprise start for Alvaro Negredo. The Sevilla man has to be sharp to justify his starting place over Fabregas and Torres. This means that Spain will line-up in a 4-3-3 with Negredo the only change.

1st Half

Portugal started the first three minutes really well, getting two corners in the space of time, however, they were never really that threatening in their attacks. After the second corner, Spain began to get the ball and play and quickly found that through Alba and Iniesta, the right side of the Portugal’s defense looked very weak. At about the ninth minute, Spain got the first very good chance when Iniesta got to the by line, pulled it back to Negredo, who missed it, but the ball fell to Arbeloa who tried to place it but saw it just go over the bar. So Arbeloa had the first chance of the game, but he is also Spain’s weak link in defense, especially up against Ronaldo. Though they will be familiar with each other from the training ground at Real Madrid, Ronaldo is going to win fouls and at 18 minutes in, Arbeloa had already been penalized three times. At about half way through the first half, Spain have not quite gotten a hold of the game the way they would have liked, though they have created better chances, and some of that has been because of Negredo. Each time he seems to get the ball, he seems to get anxious and either plays a poor pass or is dispossessed. Another reason is that when either Casillas, Pique, or Ramos get on the ball, Portugal push very high to make them play long. It almost came back to haunt Portugal though as Negredo got onto a long ball who held it up well until he got support and gave Spain their second clear effort when Iniesta curled over. Spain’s next best chance came as Silva and Negredo had a 2 v 1 against Coentrão as Ronaldo began to stay higher and higher. Negredo pulled wide with Coentrão, giving Silva acres of space to run at Pepe, in the end though he tried to play a ball into Iniesta that didn’t come off. At the end of the first half, Spain were only slightly the better team, creating a few more chances. Del Bosque’s gamble on Negredo didn’t really pay off in the first half as he lost the ball numerous times, perhaps his only positive contribution was winning two fouls of Alves, but they were near the half way line anyway.

Second Half

Somewhat surprisingly, Negredo maintained his role in the the beginning of the second half, even after losing the ball four times and only completing 57% of his passes in the first half. After about 8 minutes, Del Bosque picked up on these statistics and replaced Negredo and brought on Fabregas to revert to the ‘False 9,’ which gave the Spaniards an extra man in midfield as he drops deeper than Negredo would. In fact, his first touch and pass were made on the halfway line. Another difference to note is that Ronaldo has switched to the right side of the Portugese front line for a bit before moving back to the left side. Neither team really created many chances. Portugal a very promising opportunity with Nani wide open on the right side of the egde of the box, but Moutinho played it too far behind him and the chance led to nothing. Portugal had the next chance as well on a quick counter with Meireles on the ball, playing Ronaldo in, who then blazed it over, like his free kicks.

Extra Time

Not many chances throughout the first 90 minutes due to a lack of the final ball. Spain started with another long ball to the right side of the pitch off their kick off as they did in the first half and this time it was close to coming to something as Navas was able to put in a low cross that Fabregas almost got on the end of. The next chance cmae in the 103rd minute as Alba pulled the ball game for Iniesta who had his shot saved by Patricio. The next clear cut chance came in the 114th minute when Pedro had a chance on a breakaway, but Coentrão covered very well as Pedro tried to cut in. Jordi Alba continued to be Spain’s best player of the day, putting in several inviting crosses in the last fifteen minutes, but again there was no finishing for either side and the game went to penalties.

Conclusion

A match summed up by a lack of the final ball (Portugal put 19 crosses in, 2 were met by a teammate) and clinical finishing. In the end though, if a better side had to be chosen, you’d have to say it was Spain and thankfully in penalties they showed that little bit extra individual quality. Portugal, however, did show signs of how to Spain. In the first half, they were excellent at putting pressure on Casillas and the back four anytime they had the ball which made them have to play long balls, most of which were won by Portugal and played to a Portugese teammate. They dropped off a bit more in the second half though and more so in extra time, always allowing more pressure and inviting Spain to attack. But because it went to penalties in the end, the one question that will stand out is that Portugal took four penalties, but where was Ronaldo? Arguably your best penalty taker and your captain and he didn’t take a penalty even when you had to score one (Alves’ actual turn). If there was any chance of Ronaldo winning the Ballon d’Or this year, it is gone now.