Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Spain vs Portugal Time and Live Score: FIFA World Cup 2010

Spain and Portugal are going to face each other on 29 June in the last match of the round of 16 in World Cup Football 2010. The match will take place at the Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town. With both sides determined to play at their best, it seems to be an enticing affair for those who would like to experience some excellent display of football.

Time

The match begins at 18:30 GMT and 20:30 local time. In Spain, football fans can watch the match from 20:30. As per Portugal time, the match kicks off at 19:30. In the US, the match starts at 14:30 (New York time) and at 11:30 (California time).

Live Score

To get the live score of the match, visit the following link:

http://live.skysports.com/ScoreCentre/live.html

Spain had a disastrous start in the tournament as they lost to Switzerland 1-0 in their tournament opener, but bounced back to win the last two matches in the group stage, and thus, finished at the top of Group H point table.

Portugal, though did not lose any of their group stage matches, finished second in group G behind Brazil. Portugal thrashed North Korea 7-0 and drew with Ivory Coast and Brazil.

Portugal has some good news when it comes to injury. Midfielder Deco has returned to full training after missing the matches against North Korea and Brazil due to his right hip injury. However, given the excellent performance of Tiago in the previous two matches, it would be a tough call for coach Carlos Queiroz. So, there is a possibility of Tiago starting against Spain, even if Deco is available for selection.

Ruben Amorim, the understudy of Deco and Tiago, is also available for the match. Simao Sabrosa would also most probably be in Portugal’s starting eleven. However, striker Danny could miss the match after suffering an injury in training on Monday.

Portugal defense is rock solid and that is evident in the fact that they have not conceded any goal so far in the tournament. With Eduardo in goal, they have two top class center backs in Carvalho and Bruno Alves. Coentrao would play as left wingback and his attacking intent would contribute to their attack. Right back Paulo Ferreira would most probably start in the match ahead of Miguel.

In the midfield, Pedro Mendes should play the holding role, even though Pepe was featured in the same position against Brazil. Meireles would play in the left side of the midfield, while the either Tiago or Deco would occupy the right side.

In attack, Ronaldo and Simao would be playing on the right and left wings respectively with Liédson most likely to play up front. However, there is a possibility Almeida could also play up front.

Portugal Eleven (Probable)

Eduardo, Ricardo Carvalho, Bruno Alves, Paulo Ferreira, Fábio Coentrao, Pedro Mendes, Tiago/Deco, Raul Meireles, Ronaldo, Simao, Liédson/Hugo Almeida

Spain Eleven (Probable)

Iker Casillas, Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Ramos, Joan Capdevila, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso (if Alonso is not fit Javi Martinez), Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, David Villa, Fernando Torres

Predicting for a match of like this would be a tough job for anyone. Both sides are pretty much equal in terms of squad strength and have fifty-fifty chances in the match. However, Spain seems to have an edge over Portugal.

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