Euro 2012 qualifiers: Scotland vs. Spain – Half Time Report (Part 1)
The World Champions are going to visit the European side Scotland as they are going to face each other for a spot in the Euro 2012. Spain's start in the qualifiers has been outstanding and so far in their group they have won all
the matches and the World Champions are on an all-winning run for the European title. The last match that was affiliated with this completion before the qualifiers was the final of the Euro 2008, which was won by the Spaniards when they faced Germany and defeated
them 1-0 with the help of the Liverpool striker Fernando Torres.
The German side won their match against Kazakhstan and now it was Spain's turn to show what they were made of. With their main midfielder Xavi Hernandez out along with his only replacement Cesc Fabregas, the coach decided to play
a five man midfield as David Villa featured as the sole striker for the Spaniards.
The captain of the team Iker Casillas featured between the two poles as he was the goalkeeper for the Spanish side. The first team full backs were present for the match as Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique played as centre backs while
Sergio Ramos and Joan Capdevila featured on the right and the left flanks respectively. Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso were the holding midfielders for the Spaniards while Santi Cazorla Gonzalez was the one who played the central attacking midfielder’s role.
Andres Iniesta and David Silva were the two midfielders who featured on the flanks while David Villa was the sole striker for the Spanish side. Villa was looking forward to break the all-time highest goal scoring record for the Spanish side as he was on level
terms with Raul Gonzales when the match commenced. All eyes were on the Barcelona man as he was given the role of a sole striker and the two time goal scorer in the last game, Fernando Llorente was sidelined for the start of the game.
On the other hand, the Scottish side decided to change a few things round compared to the last game they played in which they totally took a defensive stance. Last time, they played an unusual 4-6-0 formation in which they were
not even keen to score a goal. Throughout the game they only took one try on goal and lost the game 1-0 to Liechtenstein.
During this game, the Scottish coach decided to play a 4-3-3 because they were at their home ground and they expected to give a tough time to the World Champions. Allan McGregor was the one who took charge of the team as a goalkeeper
and he was assisted by Steven Whittaker, Stephen McManus, Phillip Bardsley and David Weird at the back. With a 4-3-3 formation, the Scottish side featured a holding midfielder along with a centre midfielder and an attacking midfielder.
The holding midfield position was taken by Lee McCulloch. The central midfielder was James Morrison who was assisted by the central attacking midfielder, Graham Dorrans. The basic reason for playing more players in the midfield
was because of the way the Spaniards play. They try to keep the ball to themselves and that is exactly what the Scottish side was trying to prevent in the midfield.
Kenny Miller and Steven Naismith played on the right wing and the left wing as strikers while Steven Fletcher was the sole striker in the team and he was the one who kept on making a move forward to help the team score a few goals.
However, there wasn't a single try for the Scottish throughout the first twenty minutes.
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