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FIFA WORLD CUP 2018

FIFA WORLD CUP 2018 –Portugal vs Spain PREVIEW



A much anticipated match between Portugal and Spain can’t come quick enough. Two nations with high expectations, Portugal looking to be the 4
th team to be the European and World champions at the same time while Spain look to bounce back from a couple of really bad tournaments over the past 4 years. This star studded match up involves players like Ronaldo, Isco, Andre Silva, Iniesta, Pepe, Diego Costa and many more and it is definitely one of the best games during the group stages. Preview below.


PORTUGAL


The European champions are coming into this world cup full of expectation. Lead by a top 2 player in the world Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal definitely got to believe that they are one of the main teams in the tournament and should be competing for the top. Portugal have a very experienced side with players like Pepe, Bruno Alves, Moutinho, Ronaldo, Quaresma. However there are some nice young talent in the team too who will get to play with experienced players and learn on the biggest stage. Players like Andre Silva, Gelson Martins, Guedes, William Carvalho will all want to impress and get the attention of the big clubs. Portugal are coached By Fernando Santos whose done a brilliant job with Portugal since that horrible world cup 4 years ago. He’s made them a very well structured side who are very hard to beat as they’re one of the hardest teams to break down and can play on the back foot against some of the biggest teams, proven in the Euros. Portugal’s experienced players could also be a weakness because they could get done for pace by younger teams, however having old heads is also good to calm down the younger guys when the pressure gets to them and they’ll be able to deal with it themselves better. Ronaldo is obviously the star man, but we should watch out for Andre Silva, a prolific goal scorer who can take the world cup by storm. Pepe will be a massive key at the back for them. They’re just a well organised side that should do damage for sure


Portugal’s road to world cup was relatively simple although they did have to go into the last game to confirm their qualification. They were safe as far as a top 2 spot was concerned, losing the first game but winning the next 9. They were chasing Switzerland after losing to them in the opener, but nobody else really threatened Portugal as they beat everyone else just like Switzerland and met them up in the last game. Portugal beat Switzerland 2-0 to automatically qualify, had they not won, they would’ve had to go through playoffs which would’ve been tougher, but they didn’t need to do so by taking care of business in the end. They dominated every nation comfortably. Ronaldo was the top scorer with 15, Silva scored 9, Portugal WON 9, Lost 1 and drew none. It was just between them and Switzerland on who goes straight to the world cup and who went to the playoffs and Portugal edged it. This is Portugal’s 5th straight world cup and 7th overall. They’re really living the golden era right now.


Right before the World Cup, Portugal played three friendlies and did relatively decent. Although they started off drawing Tunisia 2-2 after having a 2-0 lead, they bounced back with a decent performance against Belgium away from home getting a 0-0 draw and actually outplaying them while Ronaldo didn’t even feature the team. In the final game Portugal destroyed Algeria 3-0, that was the only game Ronaldo played in and Portugal were dominant. They’re definitely in good form going into this world cup, getting a solid win and a good draw under their belt and I think they are ready to do business as usual.


SPAIN


Spain are coming into this world cup as the clear favourites of their group and one of the main contenders to win it all. A team full of insane talent, they have the best midfield in the tournament, one of the best defences and an elite striker in Costa. However Spain just went over some controversy with the sacking of their manager Lopetegui because he signed for Real Madrid and such a thing happening just before the world cup can definitely unsettle a team and they have to find a way to keep their focus on the prize. The replacement for Lopetegui will be Fernando Hierro and he has to get the team mentally right coming into this world cup, or else it will be another 2014, if they stick together and execute their plan then Spain should alright, but if they start to dwell on what happened it could cost them. Spain’s play style if possession football and trying to break down teams with their world class midfield, their weakness could be lack of depth at striker position as they don’t have many experienced players on the international level, if Costa goes down injured they could be in trouble.


Spain had a relatively straight forward road to the world cup. They really dispatched everyone with 9W 1D 0L. They were expected to have a battle with Italy, but it never really turned out that way. Spain dominated the group including beating Italy 3-0 and won it comfortably, their only draw was against the same Italian side at the start away from home, but they kept the 1st place since and never let go of it. Italy never had a chance to compete with Spain during the qualifiers, neither did any other nation. Spain picked up 28 out of 30 points.


Spain played a couple games just before the world cup where they didn’t really look convincing. In their first game they drew 1-1 with Switzerland and then they beat Tunisia 1-0 with a late winner by Aspas. However they’ve showed great discipline against Tunisia by working their way throughout the whole game and finally finding a winner, something Spain will definitely have to go in this world cup at least once. I think they are going into this world cup being fine.


What to Expect From The Game


I think it will be an heavily contested match up between Portugal and Spain. I think we can to see two very disciplined teams. It’s going to be likely that Spain will have the most of the ball, however Portugal with Ronaldo’s and the pace of younger player they can definitely counter attack and expose Spain’s slow defence. The key match up to watch from this game will be Pepe against Diego Costa. They are literally two of the biggest hot heads in football and will try to get into each others head, whoever wins that mental battle between them could really decide the winner of the game because if Costa gets annoyed, he’ll start to lose focus and fail to score, but if Pepe gets annoyed, Portugal’s defence could weaken and he may get himself sent off, kinda like Costa. I don’t think we should be expecting a goal fest in this game because these teams are well drilled, especially Portugal who don’t concede many, but then again Spain are pretty much the same. Spain will need to overcome the mental test of changing managers just before the world cup. To summarise Spain’s midfield will have to find a way to break down Portugal but cant leave bodies forward because Portugal could use counter attacking football to punish them. Portugal need to stay disciplined without the ball and wait for their opportunities. It will be a close game in which I’d expect Spain to get a narrow 1-0 win.


ODDS – Decimal (WilliamHill)


Portugal Win – 3.75


Draw – 3.20


Spain Win – 2.05



KICK OFF – 15th June 2018 – 7pm UK Time









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