Prediction: Spain vs South Korea

29th May 2012

World champions Spain kicked off their Euro 2012 preparations with a comfortable victory over Serbia and they are now set to face South Korea in the penultimate warm-up game before the start of the European Championship. The Taeguk Warriors are preparing for the final round of the Asian Zone of 2014 World Cup qualifiers and they are hoping to get an additional boost with a good result against La Furia Roja.

Spain will be the team to beat at the Euro 2012 after their impressive showings at the last two major tournaments and La Furia Roja are determined to prove they are up for the task. The loss of Carles Puyol and David Villa was certainly a big blow for La Furia Roja, but if anyone can cope with the absence of two first team regulars it is Spain. Even with Chelsea, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao players all out of contention, Vincent del Bosque’s side showed a lot of promise in their warm-up game against Serbia and ran out 2-0 winners thanks to two second-half goals. Players like Mata, Torres, Xavi, Iniesta and David Silva have since resumed full training and are all set to play some part against South Korea, as Vincent del Bosque looks to field a very strong side this time out. The likes of Andoni Iraola, Benat Extebarria, Thiago Alcantara, Javi Garcia, Adrian Lopez and Roberto Soldado have not made the final cut, but Cesc Fabregas has been included despite struggling with a thigh injury. Sergio Ramos missed two training sessions on Tuesday due to lower back pain and he is unlikely to be risked.

Korea Republic have long ago established themselves as one of the best national teams in Asia and they look determined to make their forth successive appearance at the World Cup. The Taeguk Warriors were stopped in the last 16 stage by Uruguay in South Africa and they are hoping to make at least one step further in Brazil. They first need to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, but that shouldn’t be such a tough task after Korea Republic were drawn alongside Iran, Lebanon, Uzbekistan and Qatar. The final phase of their qualifying campaign starts on 8th June, when Choi Kang-Hee’s man play Qatar away and the game against Spain will serve as a great test before the trip to the Persian Gulf. Boss Choi Kang-Hee has served up a couple of surprises, leaving Arsenal striker Park Chu-Young and Bolton winger Lee Chung-Yong out of the side, but Sunderland forward Jo Dong-Won and Celtic’s Ki Sung-Yong have made the squad.

Conclusion

There are no doubts Spain are hot favourites to win the game that will be played in Switzerland, but very good Korea side could take advantage of the absence of Carles Puyol and Sergio Ramos. Vincent del Bosque is still experimenting with his line-up and I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see plenty of chances at both ends.

Verdict: Both teams to score

Best Odds: 23/20

Bookmaker: Bodog