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Tuesday, 15 May 2012 07:02 |
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I see a lot of negativity out there regarding the squad and I think it's important to once again practice the art of "expectation management". In other words, what shoud Portugal realistically expect to do at this tournament (again, keeping in mind we are in the group of death).
At this point, as much as I love Portugal and want us to win it all, I would say that realistically we should be pretty happy to make it out of our group. Having said that, if we do make it out of the group, we'll play a weaker team from Group A and should be able to make it into the semifinals. For me, I think this squad realistically gives us a shot at the semifinals.
Now, in fantasy land, I would say that we get out of our group in first place, play Poland/Russia in the quarterfinals, beat Englad in the semis and win the final against Spain. The reason I believe this is still a fantasy at this point is purely because of squad depth. I think yellow cards/injuries will wreak havoc on a squad such as this. I do think Lopes is a good defensive backup, which we desperately needed, but the likes of Quaresma, Varela, and Almeida provide little in the way of firepower should any of our starting attackers find themselves incapacitated.
All things considered, this squad is about as good as it gets at the moment and I think people should adjust their expectations accordingly. We honestly don't know what we're going to get next month in part because we don't know how well Holland, Germany, and the Danes will end up playing. In a group like this, at least one team is bound to come out completely flat, and one team is bound to come out on fire. Whether we will be on top, on bottom, or in the middle is too difficult to say at this point but if you try really hard to be unbiased I think a 2nd place finish in our group is probably our most realistic hope.
The only open criticism I'll make of this squad is the omission of Fernandes, which I think is a travesty. I like Ruben Micael, but he doesn't hold a candle to Fernandes in my opinion. Custodio makes a decent defensive sub for Veloso, but we need a forward-going midfielder to act as a sub for Moutinho/Meireles (who will both be at risk for suspension at some point this tournament, guaranteed), and that player was Fernandes. Of all the players that he could have left out, it shouldn't have been him. Having watched Besiktas play a ton this season, I would have left both Almeida and Quaresma at home just to include Fernandes in the squad. To be completely honest, I would probably have included Vaz Te over Almeida too, because at least in this point in his career, Almeida couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. He missed more point blank sitters/one-on-ones with the keeper this season with Besiktas than I've ever seen in my life. I'll support him because he made the team, but let's just say that Postiga is indisputably the starting striker for this team in my opinion. Speaking of Postiga, he scored some truly cracking goals this year for both club and country, but the only wonder goal I can ever think of Almeida scoring was in a meaningless friendly against Luxembourg.
Overall, I support this team heart and soul, no matter what, whether they finish last in their group, or win it all.
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