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| Saturday, 02 June 2012 21:03 |
Portugal 1-3 TurkeySelecção undone by errors at the Luz Portugal’s preparations for the European Championships concluded this evening at the Estádio da Luz with a 3-1 loss to Turkey. At times the Selecção were promising, at times they were infuriating. A trio of defensive errors handed Umut Bulut a brace and Pepe an unwanted own goal, whilst Nani’s clinical finish was a rare bright spot on a night when Cristiano Ronaldo also missed a penalty.
After last weekend’s insipid display against Macedonia, and in front of a full house at the Estádio da Luz, Paulo Bento fielded a far less experimental starting eleven, making six changes in total.  Only debutant Miguel Lopes could reasonably be described as a surprise selection, with the Porto-owned utility man coming in for João Pereira at right back. Elsewhere, Hugo Almeida started ahead of Hélder Postiga in the central front three role, after a profligate performance from the Zaragoza forward in Leiria. Almeida almost put Portugal ahead after less than a minute. Ronaldo found himself some space out wide directly from the kick off and produced a fine cross, but the burly centre forward could only direct his header over the bar. It was an early signal of intent from the home side, who covered more ground in the opening quarter of an hour than during the entire contest with Macedonia – or so it seemed. Ronaldo tested Demirel with a free kick shortly after Almeida’s chance, as Portugal set about their task with a purpose and dynamism that had been entirely absent last weekend.  However, this commitment to pressing forward almost cost them early on. Veloso and Coentrão failed to fill the gap left by Pepe, who had strode forward only to concede possession, and Yilmaz found himself bearing down on Patrício. Fortunately, his effort was bereft of pace, and the Portugal goalkeeper gathered with ease. Undeterred by his early miss, Almeida was causing Turkey all manner of problems with some incisive movement. A gorgeous one-two with Meireles almost set up the opener, but Demirel managed to intercept the Chelsea midfielder’s cross just as Almeida had leapt to meet it. Meireles was then teed up by Ronaldo, who bamboozled four markers before squaring on the edge of the box; but his shot lacked the necessary pep to trouble the busy Demirel. As the mid-point of the opening half came and went, Turkey finally looked to have settled, and managed to conjure up a spell of possession. Yet Portugal managed to soak up the pressure and counter with ease, as they sought an opening goal.  With half an hour gone, it almost arrived. A João Moutinho corner fizzed directly into the Turkish six-yard box, and Pepe’s flick-on was met by Almeida, who saw his header crash off the crossbar and away from danger. It was an agonising miss for the Besiktas man, who made a real case for his inclusion ahead of Postiga against Germany during the opening 45 minutes. A crisp drive from Hamit Altintop struck the inside of Patrício’s post moments later, but although Turkey had settled, it was Portugal who continued to set the tone of the encounter. But with 36 minutes gone, their concentration deserted them. Sarare outpaced Lopes to deliver a ball across the six-yard box, and a complete lack of communication between Patrício and Coentrão allowed Umut Bulut to steal in and tap home from close range.  The goal shocked the previously raucous crowd into silence, as the Selecção looked to gather themselves before half time. Almeida and Coentrão somehow contrived to squander a presentable opening with Turkey’s defence taking a leaf from Portugal’s book – their fudged attempt providing a neat microcosm of the half. The interval arrived in similarly wince-inducing fashion, as Ronaldo saw his goalbound effort diverted behind by Demirel after Moutinho’s through ball had set him free, seconds before the whistle sounded. Despite the scoreline Portugal were much improved – but nevertheless they began the second half behind. Another defensive calamity saw their arrears doubled soon after the restart. Veloso was once again involved, producing a lamentable square pass for Bruno Alves, with Bulut lurking. Both defenders deserved a share of the blame, though the Turkish forward also did well to rifle beyond Patrício.  As platforms go, this was far from ideal. Portugal’s apparent inability to maintain concentration at the back does not augur well for the forthcoming meetings with Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark; but their bullish response to falling further behind did at least display the spirit of the team. Five minutes after Bulut’s strike, Nani pulled one back with a low drive from a narrow angle; after a rapid counter-attack had caught Turkey cold. The goal roused the crowd, who had allowed themselves to lapse into disgruntled silence. Portugal continued to press relentlessly (some would say recklessly) for an equaliser, and looked to have got their reward on 65 minutes, when Emre’s ungainly challenge on Miguel Lopes inside the penalty area yielded a spot-kick. Yet Cristiano Ronaldo, the man who scored fourteen penalties in the white of Real Madrid last season, failed to convert, with his effort too close to the outstanding Demirel.  With the game slipping away, and his team looking increasingly deflated, a pensive-looking Paulo Bento initiated a series of changes that disrupted the flow of a contest that had previously ebbed and flowed. Ronaldo continued to persevere, and Ricardo Costa might have levelled the scores but for Demirel’s fingertips late on, but it was not to be Portugal’s night. Turkey added a third late on, in excruciatingly memorable fashion. Substitute Eduardo was unable to gather a low ball in, and Ricardo Costa’s goal-line clearance cannoned off the unfortunately positioned Pepe, trickling over the line to add salt to an already open wound. Portugal’s European Championship campaign commences next Saturday, against Germany, at 19:45 Lisbon time. Goals [0-1] Umut Bulut 36’ [0-2] Umut Bulut 52’ [1-2] Nani 57’ [1-3] Pepe (OG) 88’ Portugal: Rui Patrício (Eduardo 71’); Miguel Lopes (Quaresma 88’), Pepe, Bruno Alves (Ricardo Costa 69’), Coentrão; Miguel Veloso (Custódio 69’), Raul Meireles (Hélder Postiga 88’), João Moutinho; Nani, Hugo Almeida (Nélson Oliveira 72’), Cristiano Ronaldo. Ben Shave |
----------------------------patricio------------------------
perreira--------pepe-------------costa--------coentrao
----------veloso--------moutinho-----custodio------
----------------------------meireles-------------------
---------------------------------------------------------ronaldo
---------------------------oliveira----------------------------
How did you guess? Good job, I hear Inspector Gadget is hiring a protege, you should submit your resume.
Tom or Ben or the moderator, please confirm that I am OrlandopMac by confirming that my & OrlandoMac's messages are coming from the same IP address, & when you do we can give VOR a pound of bacalhau for being the smartest private eye since the pink panther.
BTW I am not sure you have seen Ricardo Costa play this year especially when Valencia played RM at easter weekend, he was solid, the best defencman of that game, the game ended up a tie, like i said he plays vs better competition & Bruno plays in a league equivilent to the pub league here in Toronto.
As for the Germany game, they will dominate posession, and that will be good for us. Germany have uncertainty at CB and don't have another good fullback besides Lahm. If we play on the counter-attack like we love to do and Ronaldo too, we can score a goal or two and get at least a point going into the Denmark game.
Here is the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3h-I4txWuY
Then yes I was harsh, honestly too harsh on Bruno Alves the other day. Yes he had a poor game, but as some one pointed out he is very strong and great in the air which will be key vs the Germans. Frankly Bruno Alves is a good center back. Not great, but he's still good. I hope he brushes it off and once he is completely focused and gives 110% in the Euro which I fully expect all the players will do, I think our defense will be solid and strong again.
We really really outplayed Turkey that game. Like totally dominated the proceedings and if Postiga or Nelson had been striking I'm sure they would have scored some of those chances. So I think and hope that Paulo Bento knows this and establishes this pecking order in the strikers of Postiga 1st, Nelson Oliveira 2nd, and Almeida 3rd. Once that happens I'll be happy and believe we can take many of our chances and get back to our great scoring ways from qualification (averaging 3 goals per game)!
Bento gets the team to play with confidence and impose their game on the field and I think the team will be fully driven and motivated to give their ALL from day 1 in Euro! Once those two things happen, I still believe that this team can do great things! This is a strong team! Forca Portugal!!!
I don't think anyone knows better than the squad that losing 3-1 to Turkey is disappointing, but I have faith that their performance at the tournament will not disappoint the fans. Friendlies are entertaining, but should really be thought of as practice, and not a reflection of how the team is going to play (easier said than done, especially for those who bought tickets to watch it at the Luz)
Anyways, win loose or draw, I'll support the squad all the way. I won't go over my tactical analysis of the game, since that has been covered extensively in the previous 60+ posts on the site. Suffice to say I agree with NJ/USA/SLB (as I often do) that the result is troublesome. However, that is no reason for any of the fans here to be negative.
This tournament is going to be great! Bring on the group of death!
Forca Portugal.
Will they flip the switch and become like the 2004 incarnation? Only to those without any juiz na cabeca.
Ronaldo missed a penalty but he was our best offensive player. He created 5 or 6 good chances with his dribbling and skill. Plus he assisted on the Nani goal.
Almeida, as far as I'm concerned was the flop of the match. I counted at least 5 good chances he missed. He is done for me as a first-choice striker. Postiga is at least more consistent.
Bento should have played Nelson more in these friendlies. He could be wasteful too but at least he has more upside. Plus, how is he going to develop if he comes off the bench with 5 minutes to play. It's time we look into Wilson Eduardo, Rui Fonte, Agra, Pizzi or someone else to nurture and develop.
I won't say much, except that I still want to enjoy cheering them on next week while they do battle in the Ukraine with some of the best in world football. The friendlies were disappointing, but maybe, just maybe, the Seleccao will still pull of something special this tournament.
Holland lost to Bulgaria 2-1 at home not more than a week ago. I don't think anyone is counting them out because of that. Neither will I count out Portugal. Whether they lose all three games or go all the way, I just want to be content that they have qualified and will be competing. I know that is something special in and of itself. Forca Portugal.
Eliminated: Play-off for Final Tournament
As has been said - we`ll all have our jersey`s on this coming Saturday, let`s hope we have better things to talk about then...I for one am keeping the faith.
As for Jonieeeoooo or whatever Orlando Mac is calling himself these days...you have made your point over and over...you don`t like Alves, Gotcha, but come this Saturday, he is our starting CB, as much as you would love to see him fail (so you can pat yourself on the back) try to be objective ok.
the first goal is all on Patricio - god, he looked like Ricardo standing there frozen watching the ball go by him.
whatever JonieeeORLANDO
too bad you never made it to Euro. I guess that game was your tournament ...
Enjoy the moment the real games start next week
FORCA PORTUGAL!
Eduardo was the best goalie in the tournament without question. He had to make 19 saves in 4 games (many of them top quality saves). For comparison, Netherlands and Spain (who each played 7 games and met in the Finals) allowed only 21 shots and 17 shots respectively.
Last 3 friendlys suddenly the Mundo is coming to an end. Portugal played better than turkey and the score line should've been the other way around. Was a much better performance then then Macedonia game for sure. Even if Portugal goes 0 0 3 in the group life goes on and the real Portuguese fans will continue to support. To all those losers who like glory hunting national teams go support the likes of Spain, Germany, and brazil
We actually did play some beautiful futebol at times, and on a better night we could have scored at least 4 or 5 goals. We learned that while Almeida's physicality can cause defenses problems, he is an absolutely terrible finisher. How many chances did he miss? His decision making was poor, he was slow on and off the ball, and he always seemed to be offside.
Helder Postiga may not be as strong physically, but I think that his strengths better suit our style of play. Plus, he consistently scores clutch goals for Portugal.
In the midfield, Miguel Veloso looked terrible. As a defensive midfielder, he should be focusing on making simple and safe passes. It's ok if he wants to play some long balls to spread the play, but there is no reason for him to play extremely dangerous passes in the most congested areas of the midfield. How many times did he misplace passes in our own half of the field? Custodio only played towards the end of the game, but I thought that he was a huge improvement over Veloso. He played some excellent long balls, and his decision making was very mature. He is also much better than Veloso defensively, and he is a big aerial threat. He should start against Germany.
Raul Meireles was a little sloppy, and at times wasteful in front of goal, but overall, I think he had a decent game. Joao Moutinho on the other hand was excellent. He is definitely our best midfielder, his passing was quick and decisive and he created numerous scoring chances. Hopefully he'll stay fit in the euros.
As for the defense, all 3 goals were extremely avoidable. It was like watching little kids play. Where was the communication? Bruno Alves should have easily dealt with the cross on the first goal, and his lack of communication with Veloso caused the second. He and Veloso were way to careless with their passing. Pepe and Coentrao weren't great, but I'll put most the blame on Alves. Miguel Lopes, however, was very impressive. He may not have Joao Pereira's quickness in attack, but he is definitely more dependable defensively. He's a great back-up for Coentrao, and he's just as good as Pereira.
Lets just hope that Bento and the players learned from their mistakes. Almeida's too wasteful, Veloso's too careless in possession, and the defense gave up 3 really avoidable goals.
My starting 11 vs Germany
----------------------------Postiga----------------------------------
Ronaldo----------------------------------------------Nani
---------------Moutinho----------------Meireles---------------------
----------------------------------Custodio------------------------------------
Coentrao-------Alves------------------Pepe---------------------Lopes
------------------------------------Patricio--------------------------------
Alves' terrible performance worries me, but I still have faith in him. Rolando and Ricardo Costa just aren't good enough to start against the Germans.
That being said, a couple of thoughts on what I saw and comments.
Patricio will be the starter. Eduardo barely played, and Rui hasn't been bad.
Some people said Lopes looked good others said bad except for a couple of moments. Regardless, Perreira will start. As for Alves, I've never been a fan. Yes he's an imposing figure at the back, but keep in mind that he didn't even start for Zenit towards the end of the campaign. He should have cleared the first goal, and for a guy that barrels through everything he soft touches Veloso's ill fated pass instead of punting it away. He got there first. Costa has proven not to be the answer, and Rolando had a poor season. Why Paul Jorge didn't get a look after his campaign we'll never know.
I think we're fine out wide. As it was pointed out Cristiano created plenty of chances that teammates squandered away.
Our weakness continues to be the spine of the squad. Almeida is shot. How he passed that ball instead of shooting it shows how he's at an all time low. Moutinho once again wasn't good enough. Meireles had a bad campaign and by all accounts, he still looks poor.
I wasn't going to be too concerned about the scoreline, except the mental lapses are very troublesome. They just shouldn't be taking place.
For those who are worried, I'm sure that everyone on this site will put on their jersey and root their hardest for the Seleccao. Just because we are livid at their current state doesn't mean we won't be behind the team.
We are a very pridefull nation, and demand a good showing. Winning this Euro might have always been out of reach, but we coud and should do better tan we've shown.
Forca Portugal.
these guys just finished long season at their clubs
they are not going to go 100%
against a bunch of turkey's
This team will at very least make the semi-finals
then anything can happen.
forca PORTUGAL!!!!!!!!!!
Portugal 2 Turkey 0
Euro 2009
Portugal 2 Turkey 0
HAHAHAHA
Temos o prazer ...
As for the poster eho asked does Portugal produce defensive players? Are you serious? Yo do realize atthe last WC, they paid the south american champs, the Europe champs, The best African team, and North Korea and only allowed one goal!
Secondly, Cristiano Ronaldo was brilliant apart from the penalty miss because -
1) One minute into the game, Ronaldo takes the ball to the corner area and whips in a delightful cross despite 3 players marking him - only for that idiot Almeida to head over the bar from 8 yards out ...
2) Six minutes gone and he forces a smart save from the Turkish keeper from a 30 yard free kick ...
3) Twenty minutes gone and he dribbles at high speed and bamboozles 4 players and sets up Meireles whose shot is weak and straight at the keeper ...
4) Thirty minutes gone and beats his marker and drives a low cross which is parried away by the keeper. Almeida should have done more cause for some reason he ran to the far post instead of the near one ...
5) Forty minutes gone and he produces a sensational Elastico - but is rather selfish as he tries to curl the ball into the net instead of squaring it off (maybe because he knew that Almeida / Meireles / Moutinho would scuff their shot anyway) ...
6) Forty Five minutes gone - comes agonisingly close as he's unlucky that his placed shot is deflected by the goalies legs (unintentionally) ...
7) Forty Seven minutes - sets Almeida through on goal but he's offside (idiot) ...
8) Fifty Six minutes - provides the assist for Nani's goal ...
9) Sixty minutes - combines well with Coentrao and delivers a dangerous cross ...
10) Seventy Five minutes - his cross finds Meireles who shoots over ...
In all fairness, that penalty miss and the three needless shots were the only negatives in an otherwise sensational performance ... He does in one game, what most players do in 10 !
Finland 1-1 Portugal
Poland 2-1 Portugal
ARMENIA 1-1 Portugal
Poland 2-2 Portugal
Finland 0-0 Portugal
These were games where the result mattered and they couldn't even muster up a victory to qualify for a major tournament. Oh and CARVALHO was playing these matches obviously, so those calling for him to return and turn the defense around need a reality check. Also hes had minimal minutes for Real this season and is an injury liability.
Stop blaming the coach: So many people criticize Bento then go on to list several players who didn't perform well or missed chances. What is Bento supposed to do about some or all of the issues raised here? The players are good enough to pass the ball well and finish chances. When they don't it isn't on the coaches shoulders.
So much pessimism and disgust. I respect the ability to criticize your team, but from what is being said here I expect many to be wearing the Orange of the Dutch come next Saturday. Wishing defeat on your nation, writing them off before the tournament even beings, saying they are a joke, embarrassment, etc. Yes it is frustrating but they're human. They can crush Spain 4-0 and yet not even manage a goal vs Macedonia....that's the way things go. Get over it and give them your support.
Hopefully everyone is a bit grounded heading into the tournament.
This happens next week, no chance! Better hope they have got rid of all these mistakes now....including Ronaldo with that shitty penalty attempt.
my 11:
___________________patricio__________________
perreira_______pepe______costa_______coentrao
_____________veloso_______custodio________
__nani_______________moutinho_________ronaldo
__________________oliveira________________
Despite "learning" from our mistakes in this match, I wouldnt be happy with the confidence level this team is running with.
We all saw what happened. Almeida is a total bum.. always hits the crossbar or post he's so miserable and half the time cant even get his ass onside and I don't know what game most of you were watching because Miguel Lopes was POOR. He got beat for pace on the first goal and usually gave the ball away. Only redeeming himself by winning the penalty.
Alves had a horrible game and I always knew he sucked. He's a wasted talent playing in the russian league who only cares about money. Of course you give Ricardo "liability" Costa 10 minutes and he still finds a way to screw it up. Our defence is our downfall plain and simple and Bento has no plan B. He's riding on a lineup who played one great game and expects it to carry throughout the euros. What a moron.
This team is on the shoulders of Ronaldo and Nani seriously and will only go as far as they can carry them plus we cant keep a clean sheet so we are pretty much finished. I'm sorry sooner or later we'll start throwing parties just for qualifying.
In regards to the game, everyone played fairly well. Ronaldo, Nani, Moutinho had solid games without losing too much of the ball. Coentrao was great as was Lopes who I feel can really come in handy. On the other hand, Almeida was below-par. To a point I really feel sorry for him. His confidence is obviously low and this is evident when he opted to pass the ball to Coentrao when he clearly had a great chance to score in front of goal. Would I have liked to have seen Nelson play more? Yes! He definitely didn't get enough time on the pitch to prove himself. Now the defense was sloppy. Unlike problems with a clinical striker, this problem can be easily fixed, yet it has been troubling us. (e.g. today's game and also against Bosnia, etc.) Things definitely have to be tightened up at the back but I feel with constant pressure on the defense against Germany, Netherlands, Denmark that the defense will be a lot more attentive, where as today a quick counter attack or offensive play was our downfall, not allowing the defense to adjust and communicate well. I was very pleased with the player's reactions after the game, especially Bento, He's really grown on me and I feel he's a real professional, a no excuse coach.
All we can do is wait and see what happens. Complaining and whining won't help. Seriously guys, real lovers of the Selecao would not react like this. Portugal is full of brutes who have no real understanding of the pressure heaped on these players, who in earnest, are fighting to win a trophy, realistically, out of their reach. All I know is that I'll be supporting my country through thick and thin and I'll be waving my flag no matter what!
FORCA PORTUGAL!
They are a disgrace to the jersey and when they lose the next three games will shame Portugal.
I would rather see younger players play with passion and pride and lose than these guys go out and no doubt claim bad luck and failure not to take chances.
They have a chance to redeem themselves against Germany. Lets see if they have the balls to man up and earn the support of their fans.
I say play Oliviera at Stricker. Almeida is scared to shoot and Postiga is too small.
Does the Portuguese Soccer Federation know how to develop defensive players?
So what does that leave us with only 2 real goal threats in CR and NAni. ronaldo gets killed and that penalty miss no doubt is on him didn't get enough power on that. but other than that he went thru 4 defenders set up Meirless beautifully only for RAul to not even get a shot off. CR sent in crosses to Almeida and we all know how wasteful he is. a other play where ROnaldo is tripled marked and he lays it off to moutinho who fumbles first touch and his shot is blocked. CR makes the passes set up others but his tewmmates are wasteful. the pass from CR to ALmeida when almeida gathered and passed a one on one and tried passing to COentao, awful awful. Yet ROnaldo is selfish how come he can't carry this team. Give me a break besides getting grief for the penalty miss and he should he played well. It is up to him and NAni for the team to have any chance of success. He passdw hen he needed to and after watching wastefulness after wastefulness of course he is going to try taking things in his own hands. but he gets killed for that too. face it he is playing with lesser players and even when he creates oppurtunities for them they still can't take advantage.
dEfending was bleak way way too many back passes and Veloso with his that inexcusable. like others Carvalho absencevhurts but come n not even the special one thought he was in form enough to play with Madrid. Carvalho after his Nt fallout only featured like twice for Madrid so maybe Carvalho was deteriating more than we knew who knows.
I don't think this team is worst in 20 yrs but yes besides 2 thoroughbreds in NAni and ROnaldo its is 9 so so horses(players). let us pray the futebol gods are with us and we have luck and can somehow win 2 of 3 in group stage. at the very least not make so many mental errers and play with discipline, organization and fluid play.
They are all excellent players from Portugal. Im sure this is killing them as much as it is the us the fans.
Paulo- make sure they play there strength and focus, focus, focus.
We want the Euro, we want to win this tournament, enough is enough!!!
I know these guys can do it .... Feel the anger ...hear the whistles now give the MOB want.
We want a show
We want victory
We want Honour
And most of all, we want to see some good football dam it!
In summary:
1) I have said it before and even if they won tonite, this is the worse Portugal team in 20 years.
2) Some players like M Lopes showed some promise and Nani had a decent performance.
3) Finishing is always a problem but this is the worse in 20 years. I'll take the overrated Pauleta who only scored against weak teams and Nuno Gomes who showed up in big tournaments over the strikers we have. By default Helder P looks like the best of a bad bunch (Hugo A has shown nothing, Nelson O has no final ball and poor vision -- I don't want to hear he is young - a player is a player despite his age).
4) Midfield as lamented many times no creative element. Miereless has been a consistent force over the years but had a bad season with Chelsea -- don't like the trend. Veloso will get over run by physical teams.
5) My take is that CR is not effective playing for Portugal as with RM he is more in a finisher/goal poaching role (how many goals does he score with runs to goal for tap ins?). With Portugoal with the exception of Nani he has no one to feed him easy goals. CR is asked to be a creator from the wings with Portugal and he has proven with all his talent he makes poor decisions (passes when he should shoot and shoots when he should pass - example in game today that is evident), has poor vision, and does not make the simple play. This is why he continues to be ineffective .... look at performance and assited goals for the past few years.
6) This team does not play fluid and cohesive futebol, they don't do the simple things and make poor decisions (reference my CR comments).
7) The high pressure game can be effective but we may not have the central defense that is suited for this play as witnessed by some breakdowns today.
8) Despite the negatives if we win two games we can get out of the first round with a realistic change to get to the final 4.
Depending on draws and how a team plays despite being the worse team in 20 years they can progress far in the tournament.
I'll be cheering despite my frustrations and critical analysis of this team.
Portugal did dominate the game. But the same thing... we can't score.... Almeida should have had at least 2 goals in the first half, Ronaldo missed the penalty. I can't understand why Ricardo Costa is called up to these tournaments. He was awful in wc 2010, and today again.. totaly useless. Paulo Bento needs to take all the blame, he called these guys. Oh well, when the plane lands in the UKRAINE, keep the engines running.
Or else we'll be bottom of the group.
You are going to get your asses kicked!!!
The positive thing about these two poor results are that we will go in to the tournament with our backs against the wall now, firmly as underdogs in the group and tournament as a whole...and often this is when the Seleccao performs at it's best. We just can't ever handle the pressure of being favourites, and it showed against both Macedonia and Turkey. Now even many of our own fans are expecting us to fail, so perhaps we will finally perform when it really matters.
But I have to say, conceding 3 times against the Turks confirms what I've felt for a long time now: our defence is simply not strong enough to go all the way in this tournament. I don't trust either Rui Patricio or Bruno Alves. Bento had a long time to make his peace with the best centre-back we have ever produced, Carvalho, and how he must be regretting now that he didn't! Still we must all get behind the team regardless, and this result hasn't changed my opinion that we can still qualify from the group of death...Forca sempre!!!
Bruno Alves and Hugo Almeida should have never been called and the same goes to Ricardo Costa. They don't deserve a place near the team. We should have taken Vaz Te instead of that juggernaut Almeida wasting all those chances. Bruno Alves was totally lost tonight. The worst game I have seen of him. As much as a liable Postiga is, I would pick him over Almeida any day.
At the end of the day this game means nothing, the real business starts next week!
Bruno Alves + Raul Meireles are truly horrible. No use talking about these two as they are worthless.
Almeida tries hard but he cant score, sorry he cant. Postiga was more threatening in his 10 minutes than Almeida all game. WTF was that idiotic pass to Coentrao?? YOU ARE A STRIKER, SHOOT THE F-IN BALL!!!
The only players worth a damn today were Moutinho, Fabio, Lopes (a sub outplayed the starters), Nani and Ronaldo, although Ronaldo was frustrated by the 2nd half and looked to be just throwing shots from everywhere, and his terrible penalty was way too non chalant.
There is a serious problem at center back (Alves), and a serious transition issue between back line and strikers. IF the ball isnt moved up by Pep or Fabio, its not getting to the wing. Avoid Meireles as all cost as, apparently, he cant shoot, pass or defend. He is only good at scoring against Portuguese teams.
Sorry for the ranting but this isnt the 1st week of qualifying, this is 7 days from the Euro, what we saw today is what we are getting next week and its just completely demoralizing.....
I was hoping to make it out of the group, NOW, after the last 3 games i am hoping they can at least win 1 and not look horrible against Germany and Holland. Going for a strong drink.....
we were weak in attack. we should not blame the defence alone but we were desorganised up there. Meireles should be ask to get back and moutinho be ahead of him no need of veloso. we dont need all those diffensive mid.
we played with three diffensive mid. and still we have no control even in the first half. moutinho is diffensive mid too. we did not have strenght up there. Meireles most often played in front of Moutinho if am not wrong. our attack was very poor .we did not notice it, because we played at home and we were pressed by our supporters to go on them but even with that we were still very poor and disorganise in attack.
I see no need for Veloso, meireles has to get back, moutinho in front of him and Nani be a link in the mid to attack. Nani can diffend well too. Quaresma in Nani`s place.. we need Ronaldo, nani and quaresma together in this team.
The positives I see from this game is Lopes, that guy surprised me on how he did and I look forward to seeing more of him, just a shame he hasn't had many opportunities to train with the team. Also our team was very aggressive in the first half going after balls and that pressure forced the Turks to make some horrible passes. We need to bring that attacking force and aggression to the Euros.
I wish Nelson got more then just over 10mins to play for once. At this point it's a big risk starting him in the Euro since Bento hasn't properly tested how he could do with the team. So that will leave us with Postiga as our starter.
Nani continues to show that this could be the tournament he breaks out for Portugal and becomes one of our great players. I'm just freaking out if his injury that took him out of the game at the end is serious or if he will be good for the Euros.
At the end of the day these loses can help bring egos down to earth and force the team to go into their group stage games with a hardwork mentality. Some bad luck, but hopefully some important lessons learnt before the Euro.
Does anyone want to bet with me? Three games = 3 loses. The talent is there, but I have said from the start, Bento has no clue what he is doing.
Alves was horrendous. An unbelievable liability for this team.
I'm glad Lopes had a decent 2nd half, because his first half was scary. Rack it up to nerves?
Ronaldo, well what can you say. He actually played well, but made a couple of bad decisions (Selfish ones). He's has to step it up and make it when it counts. Awful PK.
Costa...WTF?
Almeida...I don't know.
The rest of the lads were decent.
Everyone's been talking about Portugal's lack of goal scoring, but the problem isn't upfront, its obviously in the back. This is where they really miss one of the better defenders in the world...you know who I'm talking about Bento!
Germany 4 - Portugal 1
Holland 3 - Portugal 0
Denmark 3 - Portugal 2
Who wants to bet?
Charles Dawn
Negatives: The way I see it is there were only 3 big negatives.
1: Hugo Almeida: This guy missed SO many opportunities. The worse one was when he was 1 v 1 with the goalkeeper and he passes horribly to Meireles. He also has no knowledge on how not to be offside. No way should he start above Postiga. So for a positive we know Postiga will get the nod and I believe he is our Podulski!
2: Defense Plunders: Bruno Alves: He had the worst game I have ever seen with a Portuguese shirt on. I hope this was just a bad day, as I believe that was the case. It was primarily his fault the first goal went in. His head was completely out of it tonight. Costa: that clearance was pointless as he wasn’t even under pressure. No words to describe that, except to say Rolando will be in front of him on the list.
3: Ronaldo missing the penalty: Ronaldo played a good game I believe. But missing that penalty completely killed any chance of returning into the game. That’s 3 penalties in a row missed by Ronnie. He CANNOT take them for us, as every easy goal must go in. I would give the duty to Nani or Postiga.
Positives:
1: Midfield: Besides for Velosa’s stupid pass for Turkey to create the 2nd goal. Our midfield was fantastic. Meireles/Moutinho played a fantastic game; their passes were creating many chances. They were untouchable and kept Turkey out of the game.
2: Miguel Lopes: WOW, this boy came into this match flying. He flew down the wing creating chances, and even got us a penalty, not to mention countless fouls against him which gave us free kicks in dangerous areas throughout the 90 minutes. This really makes the decision hard for who should start at RB.
3: Nani: He didn’t start the game great, but when the going got tough, Nani got going. He became a danger on the wing, even playing in the middle. Beautiful goal he had. Let’s pray he is not injured as he will be our hero if we shall make t out of the “Group of Death”.
Forca Portugal!!! Keep your spirits high and lets support our countrymen!
surely now all good luck in the tournament?
Let hope this servers as a lesson as we the fans deserve more than this !
A poor result but a good work out for the team . Moutinho was outstanding in midfield , Lopes looked good going forward and the Ronaldo\ Coentrao combination looks good on the right .
The real business starts a week today !
If the other teams look at this result
And I do hope Germany and Holland keep the scoreline low.