Euro2012 – Spain vs Ireland – David vs Goliath
By David, bettingexpert.com | Published
No nation has seen more fans travel with their team for this Euro championship than Ireland. They win that match hands down against Spain. In terms of quality though there is a huge gap between the two with Spain a clear favourite in this encounter.
Spain – Ireland Odds: Euro 2012
On the right are odds for the match between Spain and Ireland, which will remain visible right until kick off.
Spain – Ireland Preview: Euro 2012
It will indeed be a huge feat if Ireland manage to even hold Spain. Another loss for Trappatoni’s side, however, will mean elimination. The Irish will be desperate in this match and that may work in their favour or against them.
Del Bosque’s Spain will have its won problems as well if they do fail to win this game. Going to the wire with Croatia can be very dangerous and considered they are playing the least dangerous of the teams in their group the current World and European champions will be expected to get nothing less than three points. If that expectation does start to come lacking throughout the 90 minutes mercury will be rising and desperation may become evident on the faces of the Spanish players instead.
This is clearly not an easy game to prepare for Trapattoni. There have been rumours of unrest among the players after the defeat with Croatia. Robbie Keane did lash out at the refereeing decisions which deprived them of a penalty and awarded an offside goal to their opponents. They have to deal with that now and move on to tackling this gargantuan task. There is no other option left.
What Trapattoni will look to focus on is reinstating his old ways. The early goal against Croatia ruined their cautious game plan centred on counter attacking to harm the adversaries. That does not mean we will see Ireland suddenly attacking from the start. Especially when they are playing Spain. It will be the same old Ireland ready to run forward on the break using their wingers.
On the other hand Spain will be expecting this and reason would suggest Del Bosque will this time round field a true striker. He did come under heavy criticism from Spanish media for having lined up with Fabregas as forward. He did score but many felt they could have dealt ore damage to Italy with a real striker disturbing the central defenders.
The coach defended his choices harshly and he may be inclined to prove his point against Ireland by fielding a similar line-up. The ex-Real Madrid manager still does not digest being labeled a copy cat as he, according to the media, tries to emulate Barcelona’s game.
We will have to wait and see what his reaction will actually be and therefore how he chooses to line up his starting eleven against Trapattoni. It may make or break Spain’s campaign in this tournament.
Spain – Ireland injury news: Euro 2012
No injury news worthy of note. Trapattoni may think twice before fielding O’Shea though after the poor performance in the first match. He clearly is not fully fit to play after the injury worries he had before the tournament kicked off. Playing every four days will not be good for him or the team.
Spain – Ireland Betting: Euro 2012
Odds for a +1 handicap are over 3.00. It may be a long shot but Ireland’s defensive approach and Del Bosque’s insistence on not fielding a true striker may work together in favour of this bet.
Verdict: Ireland +1
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