Portugal vs Spain 

This game is not to be missed and the recent drama in the Spanish camp will only fuel the fire.  Both teams have world class players, a history of international success (with some failure mixed in too) and as neighboring countries a bitter rivalry that is almost as long as a Major League Baseball baseball game.  Spain’s coach Fernando Hierro has been on the job less than 72 hours.  The usual question for Spain is whether or not the FC Barcelona and Real Madrid players will mesh together after battling it out all season but only 9 of the 23 players rostered come from those clubs this time around.

Cristiano Ronaldo continues to score goals in big moments and the World Cup trophy is the only thing (besides humility) that his career is missing.

The Spanish team is looking to an unlikely source for inspiration given the recent coaching change – the 1989 University of Michigan men’s basketball team.  Gerard Pique recently referenced the Wolverines as 30 years ago, Michigan faced nearly the same situation as Spain when coach Bill Frieder announced before the NCAA tournament that he would leave after the season to take over Arizona State.

Michigan decided to fire Frieder immediately and promoted assistant coach Steve Fisher, who led the Wolverines to the national title.

No pressure Hierro.

(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)