Portugal v Spain World Cup 2018

Portugal V Spain

(Synopsis in red)

Pregame bets:

This has a draw all over it, really it does. I would be well surprised if it is anything but a tie. If there are goals then I’d expect Ronnie to be on the score sheet too, that is the basic law of averages, better than that law in fact!

€10.00 Single
Portugal v Spain – Anytime Goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo 7/5

€6.00 Single
Portugal v Spain – Draw 12/5

Full betting review here>https://www.thisdrinkinglife.com/top-bets-of-the-world-cup-2018/

What can I say, Ronnie always does the business for me, love the guy. Great to be up on one bet 3 minutes into the game. Love it. Get in!

Beers: Group B of Beer World Cup:

World Cup of Beer Group B

Gallas Wit Cinco de Abril Versus Estrella Galicia. Although I enjoyed both beers, I will give this one to Gallas, as it was just that bit more fruity and tasteful. 1-0 to Portugal.

PreGame:

What a mouth watering clash we have and its only day two. Spain V Portugal, ex World Champions versus current European Champions. Will be really interesting to see how the effect of losing their manager a few days before the World Cup, how that will play out in the minds of the Spanish players.

Spain seemed to have settled back to their old routine, of winning games and playing nice football, so this shock decision might unhinge all their good work of the last few years. You would imagine that top players wouldn’t be affected, but it is an excuse for not playing well that could be used. Will be hard for Hierro, who has steeped in at short notice, to stamp his authority in less than a 2 days!

Portugal looking at all this must be crying mamma from the heavens, surely this will give them a big boost going into this clash of the titans. Ronnie also should know the ins and outs of the Spanish defence as he goes up against them or plays with them every other week, I am sure he is raring to put one over his club-mates.

But Portugal dont have the depth to their squad as Spain though, so I think the most likely result would be a draw. Two defences that will cancel each other out in a game that could be very likely a cagey affair.

A more detailed review on Portugal here and on Spain here

What a great game, with everything you want in a football match, goals, great passing, top technical skills on show, and the best players performing, brilliant to watch.

A very lively start by Portugal resulted in Ronaldo getting a rather soft penalty, but it was a penalty nonetheless. A good penalty to put Portugal into an early lead. This rattled the Spanish and it took them a short while to get back into the game. Not long after Ronaldo set up Guerreiro with a peach of a pass only for the Portuguese number five to fluff his lines. The look of disgust on Ronnie’s face was priceless, especially after he had sprinted 40 yards to get near the box. He really is playing besides some duff players on this Portugal team.

On the other side, Iniesta and Isco were beginning to dominate the game for Spain, and the tide turned when Diego Costa scored a great goal to equalise, despite being shadowed by two Portuguese defenders he still manged to get his shot away, and leaving the child Pepe lying on the ground like a buffoon. Class.

But just when you thought that Spain had gotten control of the game, Ronnie steps up again and unleashes a rocket. Ok De Gea should have held it as it was straight at him, but he let it slip into the net and Portugal went top again. I felt a little sorry for de Gea as he had a good game, and was great to see him pinning the ball around showing his ball skills, ala Nueur. Great when goalkeepers do that.

Thought William Carvalho did well for Portugal, as a holding midfielder, and had a general calming influence for the Portuguese players, and was also impressed with Thiago for Spain when he came on, lively and doing good work on the flanks.

Talking about wingplay, it was here that a cross came in for Diego Costa to nab his second from close range, to equalise again, a typical poachers goal. And then not long after we got a great strike from Nacho for Spain to take the lead. What a turnaround! But Spain at this time were playing some truly outstanding touch football, was like looking at the Spain of a few years ago.

It was all Spain, but then Portugal got a free kick and you just sensed that this was going to be Ronaldo’s night. Now we all know that his record of taking free kicks is rubbish at tournaments, but we also sense that he knows what he is doing. I, myself, was thinking at the time, surely he must be scoring them in training, to keep taking them all the time even when he fucks them up. But he is a confident fucker, and sure enough he managed to get it up and over the wall, to get his hat-trick and Portugal’s third. What a great way to finish a great game.

One more thing I would like to add. The atmosphere at this game was great, all noise and fun from the crowd. Compared to the Iran – Morocco game where all I could hear was those fucking vuvuzelas buzzing away like a drone. Tells you a lot about the football culture, or lack of it, in those two nations. A good atmosphere adds to the game, the players can feed off it, it is part of the package. So enough with those vuvuzelas, please!!!!!!

Music to get you in the mood

AVIADOR DRO – 001 Nuclear sí (Spain) V GNR – Quando Eu Morrer (Portugal)