Portugal look potential winners of Euro 2012 but they face an exceptional Spain team in the semi-finals and are likely to come up just short in their pursuit of glory.
Having been beaten 1-0 by Germany in their opening fixture talk of Portugal lifting the trophy was thin on the ground but one man has turned around their fortunes and Cristiano Ronaldo will now be hoping to fire them into the final.
A 3-2 win over Denmark in Group B was followed by a come-from-behind victory over the Netherlands and the Real Madrid man was instrumental in both triumphs as the Portuguese finished runners-up in their section.
Now with three goals in the finals, Ronaldo has finally delivered at a major tournament and, such is his quality, Portugal will be hoping the forward can carry them all the way.
It is a tough ask to do it against the world’s best however and, while Portugal have stepped up to the plate when it has mattered most, CR7’s ten teammates are a class or two below their decorated Wednesday opponents.
Spain haven’t impressed everyone with their performances in Poland/Ukraine but the defending world and European champions have eased their way into the last four and their display against France last time out really caught the eye.
Again starting with no recognised striker in their quarter-final clash, Vicente del Bosque’s team advanced thanks to an unlikely brace from Xabi Alonso and their ball retention was a joy to watch.
Much hyped in the preliminaries, France got nowhere near the Spanish and, while I expect Portugal to offer more of a threat than Les Bleus, it is La Roja that are by far the more likely to contest the final.
With Cesc Fabregas once again tipped to start furthest forward, Spain can be backed at 2.00 to prevail inside 90 minutes and that looks pretty fair to me.
The selection have won each of their last eight tournament knockout games without conceding a single goal datign back to 2008 and that run looks set to continue before a final date in Kiev on Sunday.
2pts Back Spain (vs. Portugal) @ 2.00 (Bet 365)