Spain

The Euro 2008 champions – who face Holland in the final to be played at Soccer City in Johannesburg – have come under fire in the tournament and have not always been at their thrilling best. Now, Casillas readily admits that the pressure of being one of the favourites has affected them.

“We’ve felt a bit anxious all the way through the tournament, even the early matches,” said the Real Madrid keeper.

“This is a very important match – the most important of our careers – and we do feel nervous.”

La Roja began the tournament as one of the favourites but lost their first group match 1-0 to Switzerland before recovering with victories over Honduras and Chile to qualify for the knock out rounds.

They have continued to progress through the finals with single goal victories over Portugal, Paraguay and Germany but have struggled to reach the heights that have seen them lose only three times in 50 games.

In contrast, the Dutch, who have been accused of being pragmatic, have been involved in a number of high scoring games.

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque heads into the match with a number of selection dilemmas, with the main issue being whether Liverpool striker Fernando Torres starts up front with David Villa switching to the wing.

Torres (7/4 to score in the final) was dropped for the semi in favour of Barcelona wide man Pedro who impressed. However, the veteran coach was reluctant to reveal what his starting line-up will be but said he was confident in whatever side he settles on and wasn’t afraid to change tactics if he needed to.

“We’ve got a team filled with many possibilities – Plan A, plan B and other distinct solutions,” said the former Real Madrid coach.

Del Bosque also revealed that he hadn’t made any specific plays to counter the threat of Holland playmaker Wesley Sneijder, who has scored five goals in the tournament so far and has been described by team mate Arjen Robben as “the best player in the world over the last 12 months.”

However del Bosque insists that he’s not making any special plans to take care of the Inter player and was confident his midfielders would be able to deal with the threat the Dutchman poses.

“An anti-Sneijder plan? No,” said del Bosque. “Teams nearly always have a player like this that drifts between the lines and that is difficult to mark. We have midfield players who are used to marking these types of players.”

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Los Rojiblancos hold a slight advantage from last week’s first leg thanks to an early strike from Diego Forlan at the Vicente Calderon.

Liverpool appeared heavy-legged off the back of a gruelling trip to get the Spanish capital, caused by complications arising from the volcanic ash in Iceland, and struggled to get a foothold in a match that never really caught fire.

However, 23-year-old midfielder Raul Garcia expects Quique Sanchez Flores’ side will come under heavy pressure on Merseyside.

“Going to Anfield in a relaxed mood would be a huge mistake,” he said. “We know they are going to put us under a lot of pressure, a lot more than they did here. When they play at home they are a completely different side.”

One potential bonus for the La Liga side is that they will not have to contend with former Atletico hero Fernando Torres.

The Spain international will miss the rest of the season because of knee surgery and former Osasuna star Raul Garcia believes Liverpool will be weakened by his absence.

“When he is not there, his absence is felt throughout the team,” he said.

Atletico are bidding for a first major European title since they won the 1961/62 Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup (5/6 Atletico Madrid – To Qualify) and teenage goalkeeper David de Gea is convinced they can cause an upset.

The 19-year-old does not subscribe to the theory that Los Rojiblancos could suffer from stage fright on such an important night and has predicted they will relish the occasion.

“People talk very positively about the fans and the ground, so we have to enjoy it, but everyone from Atletico must give their maximum there to qualify for the next round,” he told uefa.com.

“Our fans are very excited. That is normal; we are in a semi-final. But we are taking it step by step. We have to fight for them, for the fans, to win a title after so many years.”

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