Portugal Vs. Spain, Euro 2012 Semifinals: Negredo's First Involvement Sees Striker Stuffed By Pepe

Alvaro Negredo's the big story in terms of tactics today, and the Sevilla centre forward has just had his first touch of the ball. An excellent pass from Alvaro Arbeloa sets up David Silva to play the striker down the right channel, but Negredo is almost instantly dispossessed by Pepe. Fernando Torres could have done that.

Portugal are looking to press Spain very high up the pitch, and so far the defending champions are playing into their hands. They don't look comfortable on the ball just yet, and if they can keep this up for a good length of time, frustrating their opponents, they have a chance at pulling off an upset. The problem is that Spain are legitimately excellent at dealing with the press, so there's every expectation that they can simply stage a breakout, as Xabi Alonso's long ball to Silva has just shown.

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