Iberian Rivalry will get renewed tonight as Spain take on Portugal in the first semifinals of the Euro Cup 2012 at Donetsk tonight. Last time these cross border rivals met in a major international competition, Spain eliminated Portugal from the 2010 FIFA World Cup after La Roja won 1-0.

But that result would hardly matter tonight when these super heavyweights of football lock horns . Both the teams are coming off the back of three consecutive victories and are looking in great form. It is going to be an intriguing match and none of the team start as a favourite.

Portugal who stuck to the same starting XI in all four of its matches would now be forced to make a change as their centre forward Helder Postiga suffered a thigh injury in the last match and either Nelson Oliviera or Hugo Almeida is expected to start tonight, whereas for Spain whether they take with a more direct approach and start with Fernando Torres or stick with Cesc Fabregas will be a thing to watch.

Both these teams have some good players at their disposal and here are some of the players who are expected to create an impact in today’s match:

Players to watch out for:

Portugal:

Christiano Ronaldo: The skipper after a silent start to the tournament has helped Portugal win their last two matches. The Real Madrid winger now has three goals in the tournament and his overall tally in Euro Cup is six and is now tied third on the list of all time goal scorers at European Championships behind Michel Platini and Alan Shearer. He would be in a familiar position as the Spanish side is filled with his Real Madrid teammates and El Clasico rivals FC Barcelona. Spain knows how dangerous he could get in the middle and would have a strategy to stop him.

Nani: The Manchester United winger has been instrumental in Portugal’s success this Euro and he would like to maintain his form against Spain. He can get extremely dangerous with his runs and would be an integral part of the Portuguese move tonight.

Fabio Coentrao: The left back has been in great form this tournament and what makes him dangerous is the way he launches counter attacks. He has been very successful in penetrating into opposition penalty area.

Spain:

Xavi Hernandez: He has been great in the midfield and has acted well with his role of linking with midfield and defence. He has been immaculate with his passing and as a matter of fact has more passes than any other player in the tournament.

Xabi Alonso: Alonso was a livewire on the pitch in their match against France. He not only scored a brace in that match but was great with play making as well. He created moves for his side and threatened opposition’s defence throughout the match.

Cesc Fabregas: The Barcelona central midfielder has been playing as a roving striker in the match and did adapt to the role pretty well. He scored two goals already and has been good while making runs. He can get really dangerous in the match against Portugal.

By Samikshan Dutta Choudhary

Indian Sports News