Portugal vs. Spain Euro 2012: Scoring the Key Battles in the Semifinal

Portugal pushed Spain to the very edge, but in the end, the Spaniards still managed to emerge triumphant in the duo's Euro 2012 semifinal. With amazing precision, Spain's players converted four of their five penalties, and let Iker Casillas do the rest.

It worked, just like it worked in Euro 2008 against Italy. Casillas, who today made history by becoming the first player to ever record 100 international victories in his career (though this game may be counted as a draw by some), made the penalty save he needed to make—and left the rest up to Rui Patricio.

Though it is mostly academic now, let's go back and review how exactly Portugal managed to keep Spain so quiet in front of goal, and what role players of both teams had in producing today's result. 

Alvaro Negredo (and Cesc Fabregas) vs. Pepe and Bruno Alves

Pepe capped off his Euro 2012 with a terrific performance. He may have earned his first yellow card, having been among his team's worst passers—but he more than made up for it with three tackles, six interceptions, nine clearances and one blocked shot.

Most of all, before Sergio Ramos put Rui Patricio to shame with his Panenka, Pepe was on course to have the best penalty kick of the game.

With an long run-up to the ball, many expected Pepe to blast the ball over the goal, but he coolly slotted the ball past Casillas, even though the Spanish keeper and Real Madrid teammate did pick the right direction.

Bruno Alves will be remembered for his penalty miss—which was actually not too badly struck—but he also played a good 120 minutes prior to the shootout. The stat line reads two interceptions, four clearances, two blocked shots and nine accurate long balls. Not bad.

Most importantly though, neither Alvaro Negredo nor Cesc Fabregas succeeded at threatening Portugal's goal. Negredo had an ultra-quiet 53 minutes on the pitch before being subbed off, and Fabregas' 67 minutes weren't much better.

Portugal's loss certainly won't be a knock on Portugal's defenders. If anything, it was their superb defense that kept the Portugal's goal unperturbed for 120 minutes.

Winner: Pepe and Bruno Alves

Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Alvaro Arbeloa

At first, it seemed like Cristiano Ronaldo was set to have his way with Alvaro Arbeloa. He got off a good early cross, and fired off a few warning shots in the first half.

But unfortunately, Ronaldo never really kicked it into the next gear. Swarmed by Spain's defenders and defensive midfielders, Ronaldo never had much space to operate, and was left to plead for weak penalty calls and fouls near the box.

He got a couple of good opportunities on Portuguese counter-attacks, but was often let down by a poor through-pass or by the counter-attack leader deciding to take the shot all on his own (see: Hugo Almeida). 

Those opportunities surely served as a reminder to him of how good it is to have a player like Mesut Ozil on your side.

In the end, Ronaldo began to tire, and finished the game with seven shots—none of them on target.

Meanwhile, the frequently criticized Arbeloa, won five aerial duels, made six tackles and completed two interceptions and two clearances. Again, he provided very little going forward, but on defense, he got the job done.

Considering the large gap in quality between the two Real Madrid teammates, I'm giving this one to Arbeloa.

Winner: Alvaro Arbeloa

Joao Moutinho vs. Sergio Busquets

You could probably throw both Raul Meireles and Xabi Alonso into the mix here, but Joao Moutinho and Sergio Busquets were more committed to attack and defense respectively than their teammates were.

Joao Moutinho continued to wow the world with incredible quality from midfield. He was the only starting midfielder that Paulo Bento left in the game for Portugal for the entire 120 minutes, and rightly so.

Moutinho didn't take any shots, but he made two key passes (a team high) and nine interceptions (also a team high), while adding in three tackles, one clearance, three cross and five accurate long balls.

More importantly, his interceptions were the catalyst for most of Portugal's counter-attacks, which was practically Portugal's only source of dangerous attacks for the entire game.

He made one bad pass on one of Portugal's counter-attacks that effectively killed a good scoring chance, but otherwise, he hardly put a foot wrong.

However, just because Busquets failed to neutralize Moutinho does not mean that he had a bad game. On the contrary, the Barca midfielder played fairly well.

He completed 77 passes with 87 percent accuracy, made two key passes and chipped in defensively with two tackles and two interceptions.

He arguably had the best game of Spain's central midfielders on the day, but that's not saying much since Xavi and Xabi Alonso didn't shine very brightly against Portugal.

Ultimately, Busquets was good, but Moutinho was better. This one, too, goes to Portugal.

Winner: Joao Moutinho

Nani vs. Jordi Alba

In my predictions for this game, I said that Nani would have to play well for Portugal to have a chance of beating Spain. He is, after all, Portugal's only other dangerous "true attacker" besides Ronaldo.

For the most part, Nani didn't deliver. For stretches of the game, he was dangerous—making good runs at the defense and putting in crosses—but he finished the game with 60 percent pass accuracy and only 20 completed passes. He took zero shots on goal, and was dispossessed a team-high three times.

On the other hand, Jordi Alba, the left-back he went up against, was terrific. Alba continued to build up his reputation with three crosses, three tackles, two interceptions, and four clearances. He even completed a team-high three dribbles.

But Alba's biggest contribution wasn't what you'd see on a stat sheet. It was hustle. Deep into extra time, Alba was still full of energy, sprinting 60 feet up the field to make himself an outlet for a teammate. Absolute class, and a real asset if he does move to Barcelona.

Winner: Jordi Alba

Iker Casillas vs. Rui Patricio

I could discuss the performances of Portugal's full-backs or Spain's wide attackers or even both, but in truth, those matchups had little impact on the final result. Both sets of players effectively nullified each other, and didn't sway the game much in either team's favor.

What this game came down to was the battle of the goalkeepers in the penalty shoot-out.

Honestly, I feel almost bad for Rui Patricio. The young Portuguese keeper has always had his doubters, but today he did an excellent job in proving them wrong. His saves against Iniesta and Jesus Navas were world-class, and both would've been goals conceded by many other keepers.

In the shoot-out, Patricio also came out fighting, saving the first penalty. Unfortunately, he could not follow up with more saves, as Spain's players placed their penalties with confidence and accuracy. 

Still, credit to him for picking the right direction on multiple shots. He clearly did his homework, and was in position to capitalize on any mistakes the Spaniards might make.

Iker Casillas wasn't as tested as Patricio, but he too delivered. He came out of goal when he needed to, and though he didn't have to make a single save prior to the penalty shoot-out, he was a decent distributor of the ball.

Most importantly, when Patricio made the penalty save that had Spain in trouble, Casillas answered right back with a save of his own. That's clutchness at the highest level. Could Pepe Reina or Victor Valdes produce the same results for Spain? Highly doubtful.

Winner: Draw, both were superb.