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Euro Cup 2012 Free Picks Portugal vs. Spain Preview Lines + Predictions

Spain vs Portugal Euro Cup 2012 Betting Picks + Odds

European and world champions Spain will have to work together as a team if they want to suppress Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday in the first of two exciting Euro 2012 semifinal matches to determine who moves on to Sunday’s final.

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Euro 2012 Semi Final
When: Wednesday, June 27, 2012 at 2:45 PM EST
Where: Donbass Arena, Donetsk
TV: ESPN
Line: Portugal (+320), Spain pick, -270 (-115), Draw (+250)

Though the Spaniards have a the better record in head-to-heads between their Iberian rivals, winning 16 to Portugal’s six of 34 games played, but the record over the last 50 years is in Portugal’s favor. Portugal have lost just twice to their arch-rivals and won four out of 12 in that period.

There will be a lot of bitterness too, as the Portuguese will surely remember when Spain eliminated them during the knockout stage of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

However, Portugal does have the mental advantage of winning the most recent fixtur–a 4-0 thrashing in a friendly back in November 2010, a few months after Spain’s World Cup conquest. [ad-3678122]

But that’s not going to carry them very far all by itself, as Spain has proven to be a very difficult side to beat so far, alternating between a traditional attack led by striker Fernando Torres and a six-man midfield fronted by playmaker Cesc Fabregas, which picked apart France’s defense in Saturday’s 2-0 quarterfinal victory.

Defensively, Spain is playing well too, and has not conceded a goal in the knockout rounds of a major tournament–a run of eight games.

However, they are yet to face an attack that is as potent as Portugal, and is led by Ronaldo, who is back on form after failing to score in Portugal’s first two Euro 2012 matches.

The Real Madrid superstar has been able to cut loose, andis playing with less pressure and more freedom around the pitch. That has resulted in him finding his scoring touch again, netting two goals against the Dutch and one more against the Czech Republic to put Portugal into the semifinals.

Matt’s Free Pick– Spain, 2-1– While playing as a team will be a huge factor in this one. You can’t overlook the individual battles that will help decide who prevails at Donetsk’s Donbass Arena. Unfortunately, for Portugal, Spain has way too many individual weapons to counter the lone Ronaldo.

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By Cappers Picks

Articles on CappersPicks.com are written by Q (the Head Honcho) at Cappers Picks or by our resident "in house" handicapper Razor Ray Monohan! Enjoy the free picks folks! "Pad that bankroll one day at a time!"