Tuesday, June 29
Spain -0.5 (10 Units)
The Spanish are the kind of team that gets better as the tournament progresses and I think it has shown in all three of their matches so far. They opened the tournament with a 1-0 loss to Switzerland but what else would you expect with the pressure they had coming into this as defending 2008 Euro Cup Champions? Their 2-0 win over Honduras was a lot better as superstar striker David Villa finally got his golden boot campaign going and their 2-1 win over Chile in the final group stage game was their best so far despite conceding a late goal. Apart from their game against North Korea, Portugal doesn't have a single goal in this tournament with all 7 of their goals coming against what I consider the worst nation in this tournament. They could not get on the board against Brazil nor could they score against an erratic Ivory Coast defense and that is alarming. Portugal beat these guys in the group stage of Euro 2004 but Spain has obviously put together a much different squad over the course of the last six years.
You have to go back to 1950 to find the last time these two Countries met in World Cup action (qualifying matches) and believe it or not this is the very first time they play each other in the actual World Cup Tournament. All three of their World Cup encounters have been qualifying matches and Spain is 2-0-1 in those matches outscoring Portugal 9-4. I just don't think Portugal have the offensive prowess to hang with a Spain squad that can strike at any given time. Even in World Cup Qualifying Portugal managed only 10 goals in 8 matches with 4 of those goals coming in the opener against Mali. They failed to score against Sweden twice and failed to score against Albania. Portugal's scoring problems have not by any means been solved.
This wager is for 90 Minutes and Injury Time only.
:toast:
Spain -0.5 (10 Units)
The Spanish are the kind of team that gets better as the tournament progresses and I think it has shown in all three of their matches so far. They opened the tournament with a 1-0 loss to Switzerland but what else would you expect with the pressure they had coming into this as defending 2008 Euro Cup Champions? Their 2-0 win over Honduras was a lot better as superstar striker David Villa finally got his golden boot campaign going and their 2-1 win over Chile in the final group stage game was their best so far despite conceding a late goal. Apart from their game against North Korea, Portugal doesn't have a single goal in this tournament with all 7 of their goals coming against what I consider the worst nation in this tournament. They could not get on the board against Brazil nor could they score against an erratic Ivory Coast defense and that is alarming. Portugal beat these guys in the group stage of Euro 2004 but Spain has obviously put together a much different squad over the course of the last six years.
You have to go back to 1950 to find the last time these two Countries met in World Cup action (qualifying matches) and believe it or not this is the very first time they play each other in the actual World Cup Tournament. All three of their World Cup encounters have been qualifying matches and Spain is 2-0-1 in those matches outscoring Portugal 9-4. I just don't think Portugal have the offensive prowess to hang with a Spain squad that can strike at any given time. Even in World Cup Qualifying Portugal managed only 10 goals in 8 matches with 4 of those goals coming in the opener against Mali. They failed to score against Sweden twice and failed to score against Albania. Portugal's scoring problems have not by any means been solved.
This wager is for 90 Minutes and Injury Time only.
:toast:
