please tell me you are kidding me...they have a terrible keeper to start with and they just played a team that looked like they were playing for pk's....fernando torres is not the same since his injury.... villa has been keeping this team breathing along w/iniesta and xavi....every team u named above i wouldn't even stutter to go to the window to bet on against this spanish team.....
I agree with you on Torres, he is far away from his 2008 form and Spain probably would be better off right now, if he was sitting on their bench. But still Spain has looked in control of their games and must be kept in mind as one of the favorites imo.
I completely disagree with you on Casillas (goalie), who is still one of the top goalies worldwide, although he had a really bad day today and could have easily cost Spain today. But today it wasn't just Casillas, their whole defense at times was out of position when Portugal counter attacked quickly. Still they had this game in control all the time and Portugal was saved several times by a great goalie performance.
From the teams mentioned above, I would consider Spain a favorite vs any of these teams except Brazil, mainly because of the matchups: Spain is well organised defensively and by controlling ball possession and the pace of the game, they should match up quite well defensively vs GER/ARG/NED: Their spacing is great, they commit very few fouls, draw almost no cards and seldom allow their opponents to get behind their defense.
Offensively Spain would present huge matchup problems for ARG/GER/NED: ARG/GER already showed plenty of holes and made easy (and costly) mistakes defensively (Demichelis, Mertesacker, to name just one for each team), Neuer has looked shaky at times for Germany and the Argentinian keeper is just plain out bad. Netherlands imo is too slow defensively with guys like Mathijsen and Heitinga is a weak spot too.
Having said that, if Spain plays the top teams, they def. have to work on converting their scoring opportunities: If they keep throwing away exceptional scoring opportunities vs teams like GER/ARG/NED/BRA, it will most probably do them in.
I had URU as one of the surprise teams before the world cup started and still think, they are a team you dont want to play in a ko-game because of their defense and the duo of Suarez/Forlan. But compared to the other 5 teams, imo URU lacks some strength in their midfield and overall are just a tad worse in almost every aspect of the game. Would be really surprised to see them advance further than the semi-finals (but I see them winning to nil vs Ghana, although it might take them OT or penalty kicks to do so).
But still, I think every one of these 5 teams (BRA/ARG/NED/GER/ESP) can beat each other on any given day, so imo it's the closest world cup I can remember.
@cocktaillongshots: But depending on the HC-line, I'd still bet against Spain ;-)
I completely disagree with you on Casillas (goalie), who is still one of the top goalies worldwide, although he had a really bad day today and could have easily cost Spain today. But today it wasn't just Casillas, their whole defense at times was out of position when Portugal counter attacked quickly. Still they had this game in control all the time and Portugal was saved several times by a great goalie performance.
From the teams mentioned above, I would consider Spain a favorite vs any of these teams except Brazil, mainly because of the matchups: Spain is well organised defensively and by controlling ball possession and the pace of the game, they should match up quite well defensively vs GER/ARG/NED: Their spacing is great, they commit very few fouls, draw almost no cards and seldom allow their opponents to get behind their defense.
Offensively Spain would present huge matchup problems for ARG/GER/NED: ARG/GER already showed plenty of holes and made easy (and costly) mistakes defensively (Demichelis, Mertesacker, to name just one for each team), Neuer has looked shaky at times for Germany and the Argentinian keeper is just plain out bad. Netherlands imo is too slow defensively with guys like Mathijsen and Heitinga is a weak spot too.
Having said that, if Spain plays the top teams, they def. have to work on converting their scoring opportunities: If they keep throwing away exceptional scoring opportunities vs teams like GER/ARG/NED/BRA, it will most probably do them in.
I had URU as one of the surprise teams before the world cup started and still think, they are a team you dont want to play in a ko-game because of their defense and the duo of Suarez/Forlan. But compared to the other 5 teams, imo URU lacks some strength in their midfield and overall are just a tad worse in almost every aspect of the game. Would be really surprised to see them advance further than the semi-finals (but I see them winning to nil vs Ghana, although it might take them OT or penalty kicks to do so).
But still, I think every one of these 5 teams (BRA/ARG/NED/GER/ESP) can beat each other on any given day, so imo it's the closest world cup I can remember.
@cocktaillongshots: But depending on the HC-line, I'd still bet against Spain ;-)
hey soriano, i agree that any of these teams can beat each other any given day...and i have rode and will most likely ride that uruguay train til it derails..but u can never convince me that casillas is a top goalie....i am sorry, but time and time again i feel for bettors backing this guy in net...sometimes i wonder if he is paying attention....cheers
