Euro 2012 Preview - Spain
Nickname: “La Roja" ("The Reds")
(Not So) Absurd FIFA ranking: 1st
Coach: Mustachioed maestro Vicente Del Bosque
Match Schedule:
June 10 – Spain v. Italy (Gdansk, 12 p.m. EST)
June 14 – Spain v. Ireland (Gdansk, 2:45 p.m.)
June 18 – Spain v. Croatia (Gdansk, 2:45 p.m.)
Prospects: Spain are current World and European champions and understandably have Sepp Blatter's top ranking. So, why does it seem as if the wheels might be about to come off the Spanish bus? Well, to begin with they'll be missing top scorer David Villa this summer. Add the loss of Citeh's midfield dynamo David Silva, and it begins to look like crisis in Iberia. Not so fast, though. In a relatively weak group, Spain still have a free pass to the Quarters and then all bets are off.
Key Player: With Silva missing, Barca new boy Cesc Fabregas will likely step up into the role of making late dangerous runs in on the sumptuous balls from Xavi and Iniesta.
Youngster to watch: Del Bosque has been running out Atletico Madrid striker Adrian in the absence of David Villa and the continued poor form of Fernando Torres - and he's been scoring!
Who Will Get the Goals: My pick for Golden Boot - Athletic Bilbao hero Fernando Llorente - the nearest thing Spain have in this generation to an out and out striker.
Who Will Get the Cards: With Carles Puyol out injured, my favorite to pick up a quick yellow is Barca deep lying midfielder Sergio Busquets.
Prediction: An easy passage through the group stage starting with a humiliating defeat of Italy in the opener; a tight, hard-fought win over England in the Quarter-finals; not enough left in the tank for the semi-finals - out to a vengeful Netherlands in a scrappy re-match of the SA 2010 final.
posted by The Blue Devil @ 5:14 PM
2 Comments:
I couldn't agree more except that England might not even make it to the quarters. Either way I would expect defeat to a thuggish Dutch side in the quarters. Teams are starting to figure out the Spanish as teams did with Arsenal.Busquets to definitely get the cards due to his short temper and stupidity more than anything else.I agree with the goals prediction.Since I was absent when you posted the Dutch my response to will get the cards is a toss up between Van Bommel , De Jong, and Heitinga. Perhaps all of the above.
Villa's missing so isn't a forward more likely to be the key man? Llorente, Adrian, or Torres? If there's no one to be clinical up front, all the tiki-taka in the world isn't going to do them a lot of good if there's no Messi on the end of it.
Spain may have already peaked and I'd not be surprised if they don't progress beyond the quarters unless it's England they face.
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