FIFA World Cup 2010: Spain vs. Portugal, Fernando Torres vs. Cristiano Ronaldo

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at Internationaled.org

Published: June 28, 2010

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Spain and Portugal are due to make Iberian football history in Cape Town on Tuesday when they meet for the first time in the finals of the World Cup. They will compete for a place in the last eight after coming through two demanding final group matches in which they were set severe tests of physicality and desire.

In a sense, their meeting in the round of 16 represents a clash of the unfulfilled. Spain's disappointments at the World Cup are legendary. They are five times quarterfinalists—in 1934, 1982, 1986, 1994, and 2002, when they beat the Republic of Ireland on penalties before going out to South Korea by the same method. Now, as reigning European champions, they hope to make achievement match ambition at last.

Portugal entered for the first time in 1966, when they fielded the great team of Eusébio, Mário Coluna, José Torres, and António Simões. Coached by a Brazilian, Otto Glória, they conceded three goals to North Korea in the quarter-finals before sweeping aside their opponents. Two Bobby Charlton goals denied them a place in the final, and they beat a decent Soviet Union side in the third-place playoff.

Since then, they have been unable to qualify on seven occasions and failed to get out of the group stage twice, but finished fourth last time.

Having won their group in 2006, they disposed first of Holland and then of England in the knockout rounds, giving hope that another Brazilian coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, would take them all the way.

But in a repeat of the semifinal of Euro 2002, they were then beaten 1-0 by France and went on to lose the consolation match to Germany. In marked contrast to their 1966 predecessors, a lack of heavyweight firepower—Pauleta and Nuno Gomes were their strikers—cost them dear, as it may do again.

This time, however, Spain and Portugal come to the tournament second and third in the FIFA rankings, and...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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