Venue: Bloemfontein Wednesday, June 24th 2009 Kick-Off:19:30

European Champions, Spain go up against the United States later this evening in this first Semi Final Fixture, which can be see Live on the BBC with a 19:30pm Kick Off Time.

Spain have been very impressive so far in this Tournament and many people expected them and Brazil to be fighting out the Final. However, Spain still need to get the job done over the United States tonight and this will not be as easy as some might predict.

The United States shocked everyone with their devastating 3-0 victory over Egypt in their final Group Fixture and with Brazil cruising past Italy 3-0, somehow the United States had found themselves in the Semi Finals of the Confederation Cup!

There can be no doubt that the United States players will be brimming with confidence going into this game and they really haven't anything to lose and I fully expect them to give it everything.

Spain will find todays game difficult and it will be interesting to see how they handle the determination of the United States attack now they have found their scoring boots. One thing is for certain with players like Torres and Villa up front for Spain they have one of the best attacks in the world and look almost guaranteed to get goals in this one and with them also being the only team in the tournament so far yet to concede a goal its no wonder the bookmakers have them priced us as very warm favourites to win this match.

Summary

Its difficult to think that the United States could again pull off another shock in this Tournament and with the Spanish defence is such fine form it wouldnt surprise me to see Spain keep yet another clean sheet. The Spanish midfield contains some of the best players in the world and it will be extremely difficult for the United States to get a foothold in the middle of the park. This will leave them having to play long balls out from the defence to wide positions and will no doubt be looking for early crosses into and around the penalty area.

Spain will take their spearheaded attack straight down the middle, with Torres and Villa being the target men and players like Fabregas feeding off any poor clearances from the United States defence.

An easy win for me with Spain to win this one by at least a couple of goals.

Dave's Prediction:

Spain 2-0 United States @ 6.00 with Stan James