This is where the Euro 2012 heats up and things start becoming a bit more serious. The first semi final will see defending champions Spain meet Portugal on Wednesday as both the teams will battle each other at the Donbass Arena in Donetsk.
It is important to note that both teams entered the last four on the back of three consecutive wins. While Spain beat the Republic of Ireland 4-0 and Croatia 1-0 in the group stages, and also produced an inspiring quarter final display against France to win 2-0, Portugal, on the other hand, beat Denmark 3-2 and Holland 2-1 to overcome the Group of Death, and managed to post a 1-0 win against Czech Republic to advance to the semis.
Going head to head, Spain may have a bit to worry as the defending champions have only won two of their last 12 games against Portugal. Moreover, Ronaldo, who is already now third on the list of all-time top scorers at the Euros with six goals, and only behind Michel Platini (9) and Alan Shearer (7), will look to add more to his tally in the tournament. The talismanic winder has scored 3 goals so far in this tournament after shrugging off a lean start.
But then again, the Portuguese will know that the Spaniards have the best defensive record at the tournament so far, letting in just one goal in four games and not conceding for the last 300 minutes, and Ronaldo needs to find the back of the net as soon as possible to change that. Basically, the Ronaldo-led contingent has struck the woodwork six times in this campaign, with four of those coming from the skipper himself.
As far as the Spanish team is concerned, Vicente del Bosque is likely to stick with the same formation and players he has deployed in the tournament so far. However, the only doubt remaining is regarding the position of the centre-forward. Although Spain started midfielder Cesc Fabregas as a False 9 in two matches, they later chose striker Fernando Torres in their other two games. Both players have scored two goals each, but the Chelsea frontman could get the nod of approval against Portugal, since he offers a serious aerial threat and a direct approach.
The Portuguese, however, may look to change tactics. Paulo Bento has put out the same 4-3-3 formation and starting line-up at the tournament so far but will be forced into a change after centre-forward Helder Postiga, who suffered an injury in the semi final, was ruled out for the rest of the tournament. It is expected that either Hugo Almeida or the 20-year-old Nelson Oliveira will come in for the injured player.
The rest of the key players – Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe and Fabio Coentrao will look to face their Real Madrid team mates and El Clasico rivals.
Fact check: The last time the two sides met was in a friendly in November 2010, where Portugal won 4-0.
The game is set to start at 2:45 pm, ET and 7 pm, BST and the coverage will be provided by ESPN and TSN2. The game will also be covered by BBC One and through BBC Radio 5, as well as the official UEFA Web site. The highlights will be available on BBC One and the BBC sport Web site.
You can watch the live stream of the game on ESPN3, Firstrowsports or foxsoccer2go.com. Moreover, sites like goal.com and soccernet will also follow the game and provide real-time text updates.
