Euro 2012 : Portugal vs Spain -Semifinal Match Review

Spain , after a successful 4-2 shootout scoreline against Portugal last night in Donetsk , now advances to the Euro Cup finals due to be held at Kyiv . Spain overhauled a stubborn Portuguese team who leveled the Spanish in every aspect of the game  during the 120 minutes of play. Spain , were forcibly held back during the first ten minutes after kick off as Ronaldo and company swarmed in on the Spanish defense , testing   Casillas to his mettle . Ronaldo , was often presented with free kicks around the box , but failed to capitalize time and again . Spanish Coach Del Bosque , made a few surprising changes in his starting eleven as there was no actual Spanish Striker present on the pitch , he rather swapped in Fabregas for Negredo in midfield , which didn't quite prove to be any good . Fernando Torres neither Llorente made it to the Starting eleven and Spain had to automatically resort back to it's midfield 'Marvels' to save the day . Portugal on the other hand were fully equipped and matched the Spanish neck to neck in terms of possession ,attempts on goal and tackles . Tempers often soured on the pitch as Pepe , Bruno Alves of Portugal along with Substitute Fabregas , and Xabi Alonso of Spain  often  got involved in Brief tussles . 

Yellow cards were a familiar sight during the second phase of the game , with more tackles flying in . Ronaldo , tested fellow Real teammate Casillas often as his menacing  runs with ball piercing the Spanish defense line created confusion between Alvaro Arbeloa , and Ramos .Hugo Almedia , who made it to the starting eleven managed to do very little to effectively  put any impact on the game, he was swapped in by Paulo Bento in place of Portuguese international Postiga ,Chances were slim for the Spanish in the second half as Bento's men , on account of their composed and coordinated back line held out the Spanish attack .

As the game , being inconclusive for 120 minutes of play headed towards Penalties , it was all relying on two indivual goalkeepers , Rui Patricio and Iker Casillas  . Xabi Alonso was the first  to try his luck and failed to outwit Patricio ,moments later it was Joa Moutinho who suffered the same fate against Casillas . Pepe , Nani , Iniesta ,Ramos , and pique successfully executed the penalties , until it was Bruno alves' miss which cost Portugal the game after , Cesc Fabregas of Spain converted the last penalty , ending the competition 4-2 .