watch Spain vs Ireland Live free Streaming Online 14/6/2012 –
Spain vs Ireland Live free Streaming Online 14/6/2012
watch Spain vs Ireland Live free Streaming Online
14/6/2012
watch Spain vs Ireland Live
watch Spain vs Ireland
Spain vs Ireland Live
Spain vs Ireland
There are losses, and there are losses.
To say Ireland’s
tournament didn’t exactly get off to the kind of start the team had envisioned
would be an understatement of the most epic proportions. The Irish didn’t just
lose to Croatia last Sunday, they were embarrassed, and to make matters worse,
it was the one game that Giovanni Trapattoni’s team really had to win if it is
going to have any kind of realistic chance to make the
quarter-finals.
Now it is faced with the
David vs. Goliath task of upending defending world and European champion Spain
to force its way back into the reckoning. Unlikely? Not according to World
Cup-winning Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque.
“I am worried about every
aspect of our opponents,” he said in the buildup to Thursday’s contest. “Ireland
have more than just one threat. They have tall, strong players and are dangerous
on the wings. Their attackers also offer a lot. We are going to have
difficulties in this game as in any other but we hope to be able to combat those
difficulties.”
Del Bosque has all manner
of ways to do that, with arguably the greatest collection of talent in the
tournament, especially in midfield. The Spaniard surprised many in the opening
game against Italy when his side took the field without a recognized striker,
and though the tactical switch didn’t pay off with a full three points, it did
show the options available to him, and it was met with some praise in the
Spanish press.
“Playing without a
frontman is neither sacrilegious nor unusual,” wrote El Pais Thursday.
“Classical teams like River Plate in the 1940s, Hungary in the ’50s, Real Madrid
in the ’60s, Brazil and the Netherlands in the ’70s and Barcelona nowadays have
all done the same. The current Spain side – along with all of those mentioned
before – are as ingenious as they are efficient.”
It remains to be seen if
Del Bosque will try the tactic again, but Ireland cannot afford to worry about
what Spain does. Trapattoni’s team needs a win in the worst way possible, but
though unlikely the Irish like nothing more than pulling off an upset, such as
their wins over England at Euro 88 and Italy at World Cup 94.
Former Ireland manager
Eoin Hand has no doubt where a victory over the reigning world champions would
rank.
“If this team were to win
then that would, without doubt, be the most incredible result any Irish team has
ever produced and I don’t say that lightly,” he told UEFA.com. “And that is an
incredible motivation for these players.”
Spain’s player to watch:
Sergio Busquets
Of the 672 passes that
Spain completed against Italy, nobody made a bigger contribution than the
Barcelona midfielder, who completed 115, to join teammate Xavi Hernandez, who
had 113, and his former Barca coach Pep Guardiola as the only Spanish player
with over 100 completed passes in match. It remains to be seen what he can do
for an encore against Ireland.
Ireland’s player to
watch: Robbie Keane
For a team that
desperately needs a result, it may just be the captain’s time to deliver. The
Los Angeles Galaxy striker has scored a record 53 goals for his country, but
grabbing one or two on Thursday against Spain may be the only thing stopping
Ireland from being back home this time next week.
Did you
know?
After scoring the only
goal against Croatia, Sean St. Ledger has now scored in three games for Ireland
– none ended in victory.