The Euro Zone
- Portugal v Spain
Portugal v Spain, BBC1
We started with 16 teams but are now down to four nations with two mouth-watering semi-final matches to decide which teams will be competing in Sunday's Euro 2012 final.
First up is the derby between Portugal and Spain in Donetsk with the winners facing Germany or Italy in the final in Kiev on Sunday.
Spain are narrow tournament favourites and bookmakers expect them to be too strong for their Iberian rivals even though Portugal possess the player of the tournament so far in Cristiano Ronaldo.
There can be no doubt Ronaldo holds the key to Portugal's dreams. He has scored three goals in his last two Euro 2012 matches and been a consistent menace to opposing defences, whereas the Spanish bid will rely on a team effort above any individuals.
It has worked in the last two tournaments and the European and world champions are closing in on an historic treble having conceded just one goal in four matches at Euro 2012.
Best bet
Portugal have enough in their locker to land a shock success over Spain and end talk of La Roja's hat-trick bid. With a strong defence, compact midfield and Ronaldo up front, Portugal have all the tools needed for a giantkilling and they did beat Spain, albeit in a friendly, 4-0 in their last meeting.
Longshot
It is very rare not to see Ronaldo as the outright favourite in the first goalscorer betting and he is worth backing to open the scoring having come alive in the victories over Holland and Czech Republic. Ronaldo, who has scored 86 La Liga goals in the past two campaigns for Real Madrid, is the joint-leading scorer at Euro 2012 and he leads the statistics for shots on and off target in this competition.
Key stats
Spain have not conceded a goal in their last eight knockout ties at a major competition
Portugal have lost only two of their last ten fixtures against Spain
Top tips
Each day we ask the Racing Post's top football tipsters for their Euro 2012 predictions and all four are expecting a tight tussle in Donetsk.
Steve Davies - Spain 1 Portugal 1
James Milton - Spain 1 Portugal 0
Mark Langdon - Spain 0 Portugal 1
Ian Wilkerson - Spain 1 Portugal 0
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