tick tock. The sound of time running out for either Portugal or holders Spain at

UEFA EURO 2012 – or the noise emanating from an explosive Cristiano Ronaldo, fused, primed and

waiting to destroy La Roja's title defence?
 
  "We have to take notice of Ronaldo," added Del Bosque, whose side downed France 2-0 in the

last eight. "He's an excellent player and it's logical that there's so much talk about him." In

truth, there was plenty of talk when Ronaldo was having a quiet tournament, but, after scoring

all three of his team's goals in vital wins against the Netherlands and quarter-final opponents

the Czech Republic, many are asking whether he can get his first against Spain in Donetsk.
  
  Del Bosque is taking heart from silencing Ronaldo in South Africa, when Spain defeated their

Iberian neighbours 1-0 in the round of 16 en route to FIFA World Cup glory. "We knew how to play

against him and how to stop him and we'll try the same tomorrow," he said, before nonetheless

insisting that "we don't want to look back" when reminded of his charges' 4-0 friendly loss in

Lisbon just four months later.
 
  Portugal coach Paulo Bento struck a similar note and would be fielding the same starting

lineup for a seventh straight competitive game were it not for Hélder Postiga's thigh injury.

Hugo Almeida will now lead the line as the Selecção das Quinas hunt a first ever win against La

Roja on foreign soil.

  we  have ambition   and courage," said Bento. "We know what we have to do. We have to put pressure

on our opponents and our aim is not to defend all the time. We won't do that against the world

and European champions. I think they know we can cause them problems."

They certainly did that at UEFA EURO 2004, inflicting Spain's most recent defeat in this

tournament to knock them out in the group stage. Portugal's own campaign eventually ended with a

showpiece loss to Greece, and Bento wants to lead them to another final.

"There can't be any more beautiful opportunity than the one we'll have tomorrow. We could reach

the second final in our history and we're all conscious of that. We're aware of our

responsibility to the Portuguese people to continue in this tournament." Back home, they will be

hearing every second tick down until kick-off.

 
Tel:86-020-86520690
MOBILE:0086-13926247903
Skype:xfsales3        
MSN:jt1588_sales3@hotmail.com