8216;Miserly8217; Spain yet to hit peak form

Spain's goalless draw with Portugal before the shootout means they have kept a clean sheet in their last nine matches.

Spain have not been at their scintillating best at Euro 2012 but ominously for their opponents in Sunday8217;s final some rock solid defending means they will face Italy or Germany having conceded just one goal.

The Italians managed to find the net against the world champions in their opening Group C game,a 1-1 draw in Gdansk,but since then Spain have calmly dealt with the best Ireland,Croatia,France and Portugal could throw at them.

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo was left a frustrated and forlorn figure following Wednesday8217;s 4-2 semi-final penalty shootout defeat in Donetsk after some thought he might be the man to unlock a Spanish defence featuring his Real Madrid team mates Iker Casillas,Sergio Ramos and Alvaro Arbeloa.

The former World Player of the Year sent a low shot whistling past the post in the 31st minute but was otherwise restricted to a couple of free kicks which he blasted over the bar before he wasted a great chance to win the game in the 90th minute when he skewed a shot high and wide.

Spain8217;s goalless draw with Portugal before the shootout means they have kept a clean sheet in their last nine matches in the knockout stages of the European Championship and World Cup and the last team to score against them in a knockout game was France,who won 3-1 in the last 16 of the 2006 World Cup.

As coach Vicente del Bosque pointed out,it8217;s a pretty useful foundation on which to win matches.

We never go out there to defend and we are not a defensive team but we are performing pretty well there,he added.

UNUSUALLY RAGGED

Story continues below this ad

Wednesday8217;s success means Spain join the West Germany team of the 1970s as the only sides to reach three successive finals at European championships and world cups and they can eclipse the Germans,who lost the 1976 Euro final to Czechoslovakia,with victory in Kiev on Sunday.

As Del Bosque and his squad head to the Ukrainian capital,however,there will be much for them to ponder from a midfield display that was unusually ragged,especially in the first half.

Passes from the normally impeccable Xavi,Xabi Alonso,Andres Iniesta and David Silva went astray all too often and Xavi again looked a shadow of the player who has set a new standard for a playmaker in recent years.

Del Bosque8217;s decision to throw centre forward Alvaro Negredo into the fray from the start backfired and he barely contributed before being replaced by Cesc Fabregas in the 54th minute.

Story continues below this ad

Spain looked more dangerous as the match wore on,especially in extra time with the nippy Pedro and Jesus Navas on either flank,but it was a generally toothless display in which they managed just five shots on target to Portugal8217;s two.

One thing that will surely please Del Bosque is the mental strength his players showed in the shootout,especially after Xabi Alonso8217;s opening kick was saved by Rui Patricio.

Sergio Ramos showed courage to score Spain8217;s third goal with an audacious chip similar to Andrea Pirlo8217;s for Italy against England in their quarter-final shootout.

Ramos missed a spot kick as Real Madrid were eliminated by Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final in May.

Story continues below this ad

He said that he noticed the keeper was diving away to one side for all the shots and he chose to mimic Pirlo8217;s effort from the other day,Del Bosque said. It seems to be the fashion now and I like it.

The contrast with Portugal8217;s Ronaldo,who also missed against Bayern,was striking,as he was inexplicably held back in the shootout until it was too late and Spain were through.