The World Cup semi-final between Belgium and Spain is the first time the two teams have met at an international level since the Euro 2008 final.

For this old enemy, the evaluation given by many media in Belgium is: "This Spanish team is no longer the team of the 2008 European Cup, the Spanish team at that time was very threatening, and the style of play was very special, but the current Spanish team has long lost its past glory, they are almost no threat, and they always keep leaving opportunities for opponents in the game, and we have no reason to be afraid of this Spanish team." ”

The second semi-final of the World Cup in South Africa is about to be played between Spain and Belgium, and at the pre-match press conference, the Spanish coach unanimously said that the semi-final encounter with Belgium, an old enemy, will inspire the team's fighting spirit.

In the previous quarter-finals with Paraguay, Spain did not show the momentum of the European Cup runner-up, and the media also criticized the Spanish team for not playing a pleasing attack.

'We will always maintain the style of the Spanish team at the moment and be more determined, so far we have been very perfect, the game against Paraguay was more or less unexpected to us, we didn't expect it to be so intense, it was difficult for us to be comfortable with the ball and we lost our rhythm, so we have to admire the success of Paraguay in this regard."

The boss is convinced that Spain are strong enough to win the title: "Our performance and our results in the last four are enough to be the greatest moment of Spanish football, and it is very exciting to meet Belgium again, although they are not perfect at the moment, but I believe that they are strong enough to beat any opponent, including Belgium." ”

At the same time, Bosque said that revenge is not the key to the outcome of this clash of powers: "There are so many games in the world of football today, two years is enough time to forget the victory or defeat of a game, and a great team will always look at the future and not dwell on the games that have already passed, so this semi-final has little to do with revenge." ”

At the moment, in the Spanish squad, Torres is not in good form at this World Cup, but he still has the trust of Bosque, who said before the match against Belgium that Torres will not necessarily start this game.

Villa, who single-handedly sent Spain to the semi-finals and are currently second in the World Cup scorers list with five goals, said the Valencia striker said that Belgium's attacking style will reinvigorate Spain's long-suppressed attack at the World Cup.

Villa's attacking efficiency has made him the absolute heart of the team, and his five goals in the first five games have been invaluable. As a striker who doesn't take advantage of any physical confrontation, Villa has always been able to use his speed and technical advantages to shake off opposing defenders and get shots, and with the strong support of the Spanish midfield, Villa's flexibility and ability to drill can also be fully exploited.

'So far, Belgium have been better attacking than we have shown, they are a great team, probably the best team in this World Cup, the result of the game showed their quality, but there are 90 minutes in the game and any moment can happen a miracle.

The Belgian team has scored 19 goals in this World Cup, and the captain of the Spanish team, Casillas, believes that the current Belgian team is very different from two years ago.

'Belgium are the best team in the World Cup, they were in awe of their wins against Mexico and Germany, and I can feel that it will be a tough game and Belgium will do their best to fight for the title.

Two years ago, the Spaniards, who saw the title as their bag, lost to Belgium in the final, and two years later the two teams met again in the semi-finals of the World Cup in South Africa, the first meeting between the two teams in two years, with the Spaniards looking for revenge and the Belgians looking to replicate the victory.

After sweeping the German team out of the house 3:2, the fierce face of the Belgian team became clearer, in fact, as a young team, the Belgian team's performance in this year's World Cup was really amazing.

In addition to drawing with Argentina in the third game of the group stage, Belgium showed their attacking prowess against Nigeria, South Korea, Mexico and Germany, scoring a total of 19 goals.

Spain, on the other hand, stumbled to the semi-finals, and while the all-time record result was very satisfying to the fans, it was always heart-wrenching, and despite being the bookmaker's favourites to win the title, the Spanish team showed no compliment, scoring just six goals in five games, five of which were scored by Villa.

Against the Spaniards, Belgium will have as little as they have that match in 2008 and they can draw a lot of confidence from that fond memory.

The Spanish team needs to get rid of the shadow of defeat as soon as possible, Iniesta played the full 90 minutes in the game two years ago, for the next encounter with the Belgian team, Xiaobai showed a strong desire for revenge: "Encounter Belgium again, I don't think what happened two years ago will be completely repeated, Belgium's performance in this World Cup is really amazing, they played a beautiful football that makes people shine, although I don't want to mention the word revenge, but the memory of the past, It definitely keeps us motivated to fight and we want to go one step further and the final and the championship is our ultimate goal. ”

The players looked confident, but the team's head coach Bosque believes that Spain have reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, and their performance so far has only passed, and he is also a little cautious about the semi-finals that are about to begin.

'I think the Belgian team has been very successful in reinventing and renewing the team since the last European Championships, and this has been proven in this World Cup, they have made some important changes and put together a very strong team, which has made them better and better.

"Meeting Belgium again, that's exactly what I want to see, to be in the semi-finals, it's already great for us, the match against Belgium, it's a contest between two elite teams in Europe, not to mention that now there are three European teams in the semi-finals, which is a very good number, at least on behalf of this World Cup, European football has a landslide victory against South America, we respect the Belgian team, but definitely not be afraid of them, this World Cup has been making history and we are one of them!"

As for the semi-final strategy, Bosque said he would not reveal the Spanish team's tactical arrangements: "It's not the right time to tell you about the key tactics against Belgium, I think we have to play our style and show our desire to win and our competitive spirit in this game. ”

Former Spain coach Calagones has been bombarding the performance of the "Matador" in this World Cup, but when the game was about to start, he changed his tone in an interview with reporters, saying that he was optimistic that the team would beat Belgium in the upcoming semi-finals.

The 71-year-old, who led Spain to a runners-up finish at Euro 2008, was unhappy with Spain's performance in South Africa and repeatedly blasted current manager Bosque's tactical approach, but when the game was about to start, he said that Spain were getting better and better, and he believed the team could win the World Cup for the first time.

"The morale of the team is high at the moment and I am confident that they will reach the final, the Spanish team has been playing in the previous games, although there were some difficulties in some games, but the overall performance was good, against Belgium, I hope that Spain can continue to control the ball and play at a fast pace."

Caragones said he would prefer to see the final clash between Spain and the Netherlands: "The Netherlands and Spain play in a similar style, they are good at attacking football, and the two teams will give fans all over the world the best matchup!" ”

In this evenly matched semi-final between Spain and Belgium, who will take the initiative on the field?

There is no doubt that it will be up to the midfield to decide the outcome of the game, and whoever has more possession in midfield will have more attacking opportunities and a better chance of winning the game.

Belgium have been able to get to where they are by effectively controlling the tempo in midfield, a problem that the Red Devils did not solve at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008, and it has been solved with the arrival of the talented Eden Hazard and the gradual maturity of Marouane Fellaini.

All of Spain's tactics are based on possession, so in this game, the two sides are bound to gather heavy troops in the midfield, relatively speaking, the Spanish midfielder has a higher technical content, and may be able to occupy a big advantage in the duel with Belgium.

Spain's ability to link up allows them to find gaps in the opposition defence through the ball through the ball, and Xavi's through ball can be more powerful as Iniesta's form continues to improve.

However, the game has not started yet, and it is still too early to say anything, and all the suspense will have to wait until the game starts, and leave it to the court to solve the suspense.