Before I start let me just say I'm "neutral" on spain. As in, I didn't favour them to win the world cup, but at the same time I really wouldn't mind if they did.
Obviously this is a very talented team with half the starting 11 knowing each other real well from their club Barcelona. They are very good on the ball and with the ball as they've dominated possession in every game they've played. I have found them a bit blunt though. For a team with so much possession they don't create many chances and that has to be worrying going to the semi finals.
They have only scored 6 goals in 5 games. I know they have missed 2 penalties but still 6 goals in 5 games is pretty lean from a team with so much attacking potential! Torres has been nothing short of terrible and it seems the side gets invigorated once he is replaced. On the hand David Villa has been sensational having scored 5 out of his country's 6 goals. This of course is a double edged sword. Obviously the key to stopping Spain is to stop David Villa. The Swiss did it well and they're probably the most physical side Spain has played thus far in the tournament.
In the back, Spain has only conceded a couple of goals in the tournament, one being an unlucky deflection. The other however was from the least attacking side in the tournament and even though it was a rather fortuitous goal, I still believed it exposed a soft underbelly in Spain's defence line. They seem to struggle from aerial balls with both Portugal and Paraguay failing to cash in on good header opportunites created.
Overall, i would expect Spain to improve quite significantly if they want to beat Germany. This is unchartered territory for Spain as far their historical progress in the WC is concerned, so with the added pressure I don't know whether they are capable of lifting their game another notch. If they can do that of course, they would be worthy winners in my opinion.
Obviously this is a very talented team with half the starting 11 knowing each other real well from their club Barcelona. They are very good on the ball and with the ball as they've dominated possession in every game they've played. I have found them a bit blunt though. For a team with so much possession they don't create many chances and that has to be worrying going to the semi finals.
They have only scored 6 goals in 5 games. I know they have missed 2 penalties but still 6 goals in 5 games is pretty lean from a team with so much attacking potential! Torres has been nothing short of terrible and it seems the side gets invigorated once he is replaced. On the hand David Villa has been sensational having scored 5 out of his country's 6 goals. This of course is a double edged sword. Obviously the key to stopping Spain is to stop David Villa. The Swiss did it well and they're probably the most physical side Spain has played thus far in the tournament.
In the back, Spain has only conceded a couple of goals in the tournament, one being an unlucky deflection. The other however was from the least attacking side in the tournament and even though it was a rather fortuitous goal, I still believed it exposed a soft underbelly in Spain's defence line. They seem to struggle from aerial balls with both Portugal and Paraguay failing to cash in on good header opportunites created.
Overall, i would expect Spain to improve quite significantly if they want to beat Germany. This is unchartered territory for Spain as far their historical progress in the WC is concerned, so with the added pressure I don't know whether they are capable of lifting their game another notch. If they can do that of course, they would be worthy winners in my opinion.
