World Cup Betting: Adaptability always trumps the one-man team

Players Under The Microscope / Ben Lyttleton / 21 April 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

Down but not out: Fernando Torres should be fit for Spain's second match at the World Cup

Fernando Torres will miss the rest of the season for Liverpool but should be fit to represent Spain at the World Cup. Ben Lyttleton thinks they can adapt even without him but can some of the other teams survive without their key man?

"You would have thought the World Cup favourites' first-choice striker being
a doubt would cause major problems, but Spain, who have moved from 5.0]
to ([5.2]) for the tournament, are so good these days, very little can
disrupt them."

The news that Fernando Torres will miss the rest of the season for Liverpool and spend the next seven weeks trying to recover from his knee surgery to be ready for the World Cup was met with two very different responses.

In Liverpool, fans are worried that without Torres, the team will struggle to get past his former club Atletico Madrid in their Europa League semi-final ­ the Reds are ([1.55]) to reach the final. In Spain, though, the national team's sports director Fernado Hierro has assured Torres that his place in the squad is safe, though there is nothing like the worry that there is around Anfield at the moment.

You would have thought the World Cup favourites' first-choice striker being a doubt would cause major problems, but Spain, who have moved from ([5.0]) to ([5.2]) for the tournament, are so good these days, very little can disrupt them. They do have the advantage that they are the last team to play a first-round match, on June 16, so giving Torres an extra five days' recovery time, but more than that, they have a squad and tactical flexibility which must be the envy of other coaches.

That much was apparent when David Villa was forced off with an injury half an hour into Spain's Euro 2008 semi-final against Russia. With the game goalless, Cesc Fabregas came off the bench to replace him, and was the architect of a 3-0 win in which he set up two goals. Fabregas kept his place for the final in which Torres scored the winner against Germany. Mid-tournament, Spain had switched from a 4-4-2 to a 4-5-1 and they shrugged off the loss of a key forward who still ended up as tournament's top scorer.

Such is the embarrassment of riches that Spain have at their disposal that at the moment Fabregas is still a substitute and only likely to play in the event of an injury to Xavi, Andres Iniesta or one of the two strikers. Xabi Alonso and David Silva join the Barcelona pair as the current first-choice midfield but there are no shortage of options from the bench, including Sergio Busquets, Juan Mata and Jesus Navas.

Italy proved in 2006 that the squad plays a crucial role in the World Cup, as every outfield player in Marcello Lippi's squad made an appearance in Germany. That means every team needs a solution in case every player is out and that's where the problems stack up for some other contenders.

Just as Manchester United have struggled in the absence of Wayne Rooney, for example, so too might England, currently ([7.6]) to win it. Despite being the highest-scorers in qualifying and rebuilding morale so well following the reign of Steve McClaren, Capello has still not found an alternative to the Rooney-Heskey partnership that he is comfortable with. Crouch and Defoe are likely to be the other two strikers but Rooney remains a key player that England cannot afford to be without.

The same might go for Lionel Messi and Argentina, even though the affect of his absence would more likely be psychological. Coach Diego Maradona has struggled to bring out anything like Messi's Barcelona form for the national team and it is only since his four goals in the Champions League win over Arsenal that his country has accepted him as the best player in the world.

Now, though, the local media are suggesting that Maradona try to replicate the Barcelona system, playing Javier Mascherano, Esteban Cambiasso and Juan Veron as the midfield three (like Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta for Barcelona) behind a front line of Angel di Maria, Messi and Gonzalo Higuain. Argentina are (8.8]) for the tournament and though all eyes will be on Messi in South Africa, there is enough talent elsewhere in the squad for them to build a momentum and surprise a few people.

Portugal are the only other team with a marquee player who overshadows his team-mates. At Real Madrid, the team often play better without Cristiano Ronaldo than with him, as they are so reliant when he is available, and it is a similar situation for Portugal too. However, Ronaldo has shown glimpses of his best form in recent matches for Portugal as he stopped playing centre-forward and benefited from the inclusion of Liedson as the main front-man. Without Ronaldo, Portugal realise they cannot rely on a piece of individual brilliance to win the match.

Portugal's Round of 16 opponents could be Spain who, with or without Torres, will be the team to beat this summer. The only thing that could stop them would be if both Torres and Villa were injured: despite having Dani Guiza and Fernando Llorente as striker alternatives, they might just play Fabregas in attack to solve the problem.

Tags: best Spanish players, David Villa, Fernando Torres injury, World Cup betting, World Cup players