Portugal and Spain go head to head in World Cup race

Portugal and Spain will cast aside their historical rivalry tonight in Lisbon (TVE-1, 10pm), where the two sides meet in a friendly match with all the hallmarks of an exhibition to boost the joint Iberian candidacy for the 2018 World Cup. The last time the peninsular neighbors met on the field was at the 2010 World Cup when a single strike from David Villa settled the match and sent Spain on its way to eventual triumph.

While tonight's game pales in significance to that evening in Cape Town there is much at stake for the two coaches: Vicente del Bosque's last friendly outing was a 4-1 defeat to Argentina in Buenos Aires, while Paulo Bento has been in charge of Portugal for just two matches and will relish the opportunity to strengthen his position further by continuing his winning start with a victory over the world champion.

Neither will Cristiano Ronaldo pass up an opportunity to put one over on a Spain side filled with Barcelona players, while Villa, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Pedro will also have a chance to test the Real Madrid central defensive partnership of Pepe and Ricardo Carvalho, if he plays, in a dress rehearsal for one of the key battles in the Liga's upcoming clásico. The subject of some debate in Spain after making an audacious pass to club teammate Xabi Alonso in the recent Madrid derby, Ronaldo is in superlative form and will fancy his country's chances of beating Spain for the first time since the final group stage match of Euro 2004, which Portugal won 1-0 to eliminate Spain from the tournament.

"If it suits him, he can do whatever he likes with the ball except handle it," Del Bosque said of the Portugal captain. "I fooled around [as a player] and some people said it was art and others that it was for the circus. Portugal will put on its best show and hopefully we will too. Soccer teams are there to entertain, not just to win. Soccer is a game and entertainment for those who go to the stadiums."

Despite the armory Spain has at its disposal from the Barcelona team, it is Fernando Llorente who Portugal will remember least fondly from the previous encounter. With the match delicately poised and neither side in clear supremacy, Del Bosque's summoning of the burly Athletic forward from the bench altered the dynamic of the game.

Since Llorente's breakthrough display in South Africa, he has been Spain's most dangerous forward, scoring the only goal for the visitor in Buenos Aires, striking twice against Lithuania and saving his team from a Scottish revival in Glasgow by crashing home the winning goal in a 3-2 victory.

"He is a very complete player because of his physique," Spain captain Iker Casillas observed. "He has things other players do not. He can help out in tight matches; he fights for the ball in the opposition half and holds up play well." Llorente is also the top Spanish scorer in La Liga this season, with eight from 11 games. "He gets better every day," observed Del Bosque.

All of which leaves the Spain coach with quite a conundrum in the shape of Fernando Torres. The Liverpool striker made his debut against Portugal, in a 3-0 win in 2003. However, a series of injuries has limited Torres to fleeting periods of activity with club and country and the former Atlético forward has only found the net three time since August 2009 - and two of those were against Liechtenstein.

With Villa preferred as a lone striker and Llorente pushing for the first-choice back-up spot, Torres could use a decent showing against Portugal to remind Spain he exists.