Euro 2012 qualifiers: Scotland vs. Spain – Half Time Report (Part 2)
The Spaniards started the game the same way they start all their games. With the help of keeping possession, they kept on moving forward from the start and tried to build up slowly just the way they always did. David Villa was
the one who featured as the only striker for the Spaniards and this was only because he was waiting to make a new record for the Spaniards and after his goal, he will become the highest goal scorer in the history of Spanish national football team.
Even though Villa was trying to get his "special moment" in the Spanish national team, it was Fernando Llorente last week who totally stole the show for the Spaniards after scoring two marvellous goals to help the team take the
lead against Lithuania. The Spaniard really became a menace in the air when the Spanish right back Sergio Ramos managed to deliver two inch perfect crosses into the 18 yard box.
The Scottish side, under Craig Levein was defending perfectly throughout the first half; however, the Spaniards were like cannons who kept on blowing on towards Allan McGregor's goal.
David Villa, David Silva and Andres Iniesta all took their chances on goal but the Scottish keeper stood steady and denied the Spaniards time and time again. Even though the Scottish keeper kept on deflecting the ball towards safety,
the home side could not really keep the possession of the ball and during the 35th minute, the Spaniards had 75% possession of the ball.
Vicente Del Bosque's side was dominating the whole game and with their "tiki taka" style of play, the Spaniards tried to build the game slowly to add a goal to their name along with the three points. All the players were combining
well and even though there were new additions in the team, compared to the World Cup squad, they still managed to adapt well with each other and were working together to score more goals and to confirm their spot in the Euro 2012, so they can retain their
title.
The special moment just did not come as the "wonder ball" was still lagging for the Spaniards. Last time it was Sergio Ramos who became the start of the show, but this time there was no Fernando Llorente inside the 18 yard box
to head the ball inside the net. However, David Villa was trying to shine and was seen making a move forward to add a name to himself.
Even though there were many tries and Villa was seen being offside time and time again, the chance to become the leading scorer did come for the Spanish striker during the dying moments of the first half.
In the 43rd minute, Sergio Ramos tossed the ball inside the box to find someone who could score a goal; however, the ball was deflected towards Joan Capdevila who crossed the ball again. The ball found Sergio Ramos who
took a shot towards the goal but the ball was handled by Steven Whittaker, inside the penalty area and the referee blew the whistle as a penalty was awarded to the Spaniards.
It was obvious who was going to take "this" particular spot kick and David Villa was seen right next to the ball; it was time to put his name in the history books forever as he was the one who was about to become the highest goal
scorer in the history of Spanish national team.
David Villa took a perfect penalty kick and found the net, becoming the highest goal scorer in the history of Spanish football, and wrote his name in the books.
Soon, after two minutes, the referee blew the whistle as half time approached. The Spanish team left for the bench as they were disappointed after the performance. Despite such "dominant" performance, the Spaniards still could
not really find that spark that they had throughout the FIFA World Cup 2010, and it was a penalty kick that actually helped them lead the game in the first half.
The Scottish side, however, was very well organized and did not really let the World Champions score a goal against them.
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