Barca B leads Spain Under-19s to the Semifinal, as Spain beat Portugal 2-1
Currently the champions of the World (having conquered the 2010 FIFA World Cup two years after the UEFA European Football Championship), Spain are now competing in an Under-19 tournament and are expected to win the cup as they have already started to impress the fans. Just like in the 2010 World Cup, the Spanish club, Barcelona, is dominating the number of players in the Spanish Under-19s as well.
We all remember how the Spanish club’s players dominated the amount of players on the field in the Spanish squad. 8 of Barcelona’s players went to the FIFA World Cup 2010, and 7 of them actually played in the first team, as the goalkeeper Victor Valdes was the only player who did not manage to get his hands on the ball. 7 of the Barcelona players, including the new signing David Villa, were in the starting line-up of the final match that they played and won against the Dutch side.
In the Under-19s tournament, 7 of the Barcelona B players featured in a match against Portugal, as 6 of them were included in the starting 11 and the 1 was substituted in the second half. Barcelona’s coach, Pep Guardiola, is missing his best 7 Barca B players that he was going to use in the pre-season, but now he is looking for the bench as most of the A team’s players are on vacation while the B team is out for the Under-19s tournament.
The 7 players that are included in the squad of Spain Under-19s team are: Keeper Àlex Sánchez, defenders Montoya, Bartra and Planas, and midfielders Romeu and Thiago. The striker, Rochina, came on during the second half.
The match highlighted the play of Spain’s team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. They dominated possession of the ball, as most of Barcelona’s players are trained that way; they are supposed to keep moving the ball around to frustrate their opponent. Just like Barcelona in their usual league matches, the Spanish Under-19s side reflected the same style of play and possessed the ball more than 60% of the game. The match started off well for the Spanish side, as the ex-Barcelona player Pacheco, who is currently playing for Liverpool, struck a beautiful goal in the 12th minute to help the Spanish team take an early advantage over the Portuguese. The current Barcelona midfielder, Thiago, came very close to making the score line 2-0, but he struck the shot wide and did not manage to score the second to confirm their win over the European giants, Portugal. On the other hand, the defence of Spain was also a sight to watch as they were able to repel any sort of threats that the Portuguese forwards were trying to put on them. They never came under pressure and combined well at the back, moving the ball around to help the team build well at the back, for scoring goals.
Spain was the more dominant team from the start of the second half. Chances kept flowing for them as they kept on building up from the defence and tried to score more goals to confirm their win over the Portuguese. During the 78th minute, the Portuguese finally came up with a move that moved the Spanish defence. The Portuguese player Pinto scored a fabulous shot from the edge of the box and made it 1 apiece. After the equalizer, the Spaniards pressured for a second and actually found it just before the 90th minute. With two minutes left on the clock, Pacheco scored his second for the team as they got the top spot in the group, confirming that they will be playing the semi-final of the tournament. The finals match for the Spaniards is on Saturday and it is against the Italians, who also look to be a tough side, just like the Portuguese.
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