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| Saturday, 09 June 2012 20:48 |
Selecção start Euro 2012 campaign with narrow defeatPortugal 0-1 Germany A second-half Mario Gomez header gave Germany victory over Portugal tonight in a tight game of few chances. Germany dominated possession for long periods but Paulo Bento’s men can justifiably point to being out of luck, with the ball hitting Manuel Neuer’s woodwork twice and Varela spurning a glaring chance late on. As expected, Paulo Bento picked was has become his settled starting XI - the exact same line-up that began Portugal’s last two competitive games, against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the playoff.
The very first attack of the game suggested the Selecção would be in for a long night. The ball was quickly moved out to Boateng on the right flank, whose early cross was met by Gomez’s head, forcing Patrício to dive full stretch to gather the ball. But Fábio Coentrão’s surging run past a host of Germans, winning a corner moments later, showed that Portugal were not prepared to be bossed in the same way they were when the two sides met four years ago in the Euro 2008 quarter-final. The game quickly settled into a pattern. Germany held on to the ball for long periods, but their slow build-up caused Portugal few problems. The Selecção looked focused and solid at the back, but struggled to make any headway at the other end of the pitch. Ronaldo was seeing very little of the ball. When the captain did at last get the ball at his feet in a promising position in the 17th minute he immediately caused danger, dancing to the byeline and whipping in a low cross that was scrambled away for a corner. Germany were crossing into the Portugal box at every opportunity. Podolski skied a presentable chance over the bar on the half hour mark, and Muller rifled an effort wide after a spell of pinball in the Portugal box. However, save the Gomez chance at the start of the match, Patrício was untroubled in the first half. Pepe so closeJust before the break Portugal were desperately unlucky not to take the lead. The German defence were unable to clear a Portugal corner and the ball fell at Pepe’s feet 15 yards out. The Real Madrid centre-back curled his effort past Neuer and the defender on the line but agonisingly for the Selecção, the ball crashed onto the underside of the bar and directly down onto the goal-line.
The second half started in a lively manner. First some slack concentration from Portugal could have proved costly, but Meireles was on hand to clear the danger, then Nani produced some sublime skill to beat Lahm all ends up but his cross was headed out for a corner before it reached Postiga. Both sides looked sharper than in the first period. Mario Gomez headed over from a dangerous German break after João Pereira had given the ball away cheaply, and a perfectly weighted throughball by Moutinho seemed to have set Ronaldo free, but Boateng’s brilliant last-ditch sliding tackle denied him. A finely balanced game swung Germany’s way on 72 minutes. An cross took a deflection to loop over Pepe. Mario Gomez got in front of João Pereira and timed his leap to perfection to send an unstoppable header into the corner of the net beyond the helpless Patrício. Tactical switchJust before the goal Paulo Bento had sent on young Benfica striker Nélson Oliveira for Hélder Postiga, and Varela would soon replace Meireles, with Nani moving into the no. 10 position, as Bento attempted to give Portugal a more threatening set-up.
Germany retreated to try and protect their lead, but Portugal’s new-look forward line caused real problems for Joachim Löw’s side in the final minutes. In the 81st minute Ronaldo cut inside and sent a fizzing low shot that a falling Neuer punched away with difficulty. A miss-hit Nani cross then had the German goalkeeper floundering as it cleared his head and bounced off the top of the bar. Minute 84, however, would be the moment when Portugal should have got a deserved equaliser. Nélson Oliveira did tremendously well to chase down what looked like a lost cause, turn and square across goal. The onrushing Varela looked odds on to score but from just 6 yards out he hit his shot straight at Neuer and the chance was gone. There was still time for two more near things, as an excellent run and cut-back by Ronaldo set up Nani, but the Manchester United winger’s effort hit Badstuber’s back and deflected for a corner, from which Bruno Alves headed just over. So Portugal start Euro 2012 with a defeat, but there are plenty of positives to draw from the match. Fábio Coentrão, Pepe, Bruno Alves and Miguel Veloso put in particularly eye-catching performances. Given the spirit, skill and defensive solidity Portugal showed against many people’s tournament favourites, they well feel they are not out of it, especially after Denmark’s surprise victory over Holland in the other Group B game. Portugal next play Denmark on Wednesday. by Tom Kundert
Portugal Rui Patrício, João Pereira, Pepe, Bruno Alves, Fábio Coentrão, Miguel Veloso, Raul Meireles (Varela, 80'), João Moutinho, Nani, Helder Postiga (Nelson Oliveira, 70’), Cristiano Ronaldo Germany: Neuer, Boateng, Hummels, Badstuber, Lahm, Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Özil (Kroos, 87’), Podolski, Müller (Bender, 90’), Mario Gómez (Klose, 80’) Goals: [0-1] Mario Gomez, 72' Yellow Cards: Helder Postiga (13’), Badstuber (43’), Fábio Coentrão (60’), Boateng (69’) |
The fact is we respected Germany too much and should've exposed their weakness in defence a lot more. While I was happy at how solid we looked defensively, it is obvious as others have already pointed out, that if we attacked like we did after conceding, for more of the match...that we would have got something from the game. We really should have, because i have been stating on this site that Germany's defence is nothing special, and I still believe it. Now against Denmark and Holland we just have to go for it and play our normal attacking game.
I was impressed with Veloso (who i'd been worried about), I thought he kept a cool head throughout and protected the back four well. Coentrao was great too, and he could be really effective getting forward in the next 2 matches. I was disappointed in Nani, and he must do better. We simply need to beat Denmark now and it would be best if Germany didn't beat Holland, as this would mean all 4 teams go into the last match still needing something. If that will be the case, I would be confident that we could go through....Let's see what happens!!
I think Portugal has a good chance to beat the other two teams and wish them luck.
Germany, I feel confident, will get markedly better during the tournement. So it was really bad luck for Portugal to be beaten by a German team still far from its peak form.
Get out and win the next two!
The goal also came off a deflection which hurt Pepes positioning, but he should have done better. He lost Gomez.
Our defense played well, but Podolski, who I never liked, was poor.
If think that we're a little bit naive to think we could have pressed as we did all match. Germany clearly sat back and defended to hold the lead and just tried to counter.
The substitutions were a huge surprise. Varela and Nelson, come on after not playing at all in friendlies. A sniff of the field doesn't count. I still don't know how Varela didn't score.
Please don't call for Quaresma. I actually thought that this would have been the prefect game for someone like Fernandes do come into late and make a difference. We don't have a difference maker in the center of the field.
The yellows are a concern. We need all our starters to be available.
The Dutch losing is huge, since if they lose verse Germany they're out. I'm not sure if they will play harder in that final match verse Portugal or pack it in. I'm thinking the youngsters will get a run, and they'll go all out.
No, I'm not dismissing Denmark. We all saw what they can accomplish should they score first.
A lot left to play.
If only we could have managed a draw we would be in the box seat right now. Facing a Denmark team who didn't play that well, and were pretty lucky to get the win, and would be overconfident. And then facing Holland who will probably be out of the tournament by the time we face them, and we could have finished first. Still a very encouraging display despite the loss, and I have real hope we can make it out of this group.
Forca Portugal
Postiga's time is surely up. I don't understand how Almedia did not get a start against what is the weakest german centre back paring in years. Verela & Oliveira looked good back lack experience, a more experienced player would have taken Verela's chance - why did he not take a touch inside, the goalie & defender were already committed.
Play to our strength and there is a chance, with goal difference in mind we need to beat Denmark by a couple of goals & hope Germany beat Holland and send them home.
I'm not happy with the result but it could have been much worse. Postiga committed an ugly foul and was lucky to escape with yellow. Veloso as expected getting beat for pace and tugged shirts.. lucky to not be carded.
We defended superbly and made quick transitions from D to the attack. Coentrao was flawless. Dazzling run through the mid.. blew my mind. Pepe hit the crossbar, and we took control when Nani moved to the mid and Varela came on.. nothing to be ashamed about. We could have won this match.
There is reason to be optimistic with the Dutch loss to Denmark. If you watched that game.. Netherlands dominated and screwed alot of chances. A small chance for Denmark and it puts their defence to the sword. What caught my attention was the ultra slow "counter-attack" of the Danes when they retrieved the ball. Based on that I'm not worried for Portugal.
If we win against Denmark and Germany defeat The Netherlands (both are very likely), we control our fate.
FORCA PORTUGAL
BTW I wouldn't be shocked at all if Bento started Oliveira over Postiga against Denmark. The kid did more noticeable things in 20mins, then Postiga did in 70! Also Varela did well coming off the bench as well. Really good to see the two bench players come on and do some good work for the limited amount of minutes they had.
Forca Portugal!
Let's hope and see!and let's concentrate now on bearting Denmark!We can do it!Força PORTUGAL!!!
FORCA.
FORCA.
(1) tactically, things went well. It was a gamble. We lost.
Why did Mountinho turn his back on the cross? Afraid of taking a ball in the face? Perhaps that's what separates us from Germany.
(2) Apart from the last 20 minutes, we played the same pathetic/defensive/Quiroz/unportugal type of football in WC 2010.
Can we go back to the quick, counter-attacking football
that we all love to watch? Not wait after conceding a goal. I and others are beginning to be turned off by this boring type of football. Interest in the NT is dwindling. There are other types of entertainment out there. Perhaps we should start spending our time and money elsewhere. Just a frustrated afterthought since WC 2010. Nothing has really changed.
Helder Postiga did work hard off the ball, but he saw very little of it. Nelson Oliveira was only on the field for 15 minutes or so, but he was much better than Postiga. He was fantastic in the build up to Varela's chance.
Nani and Ronaldo also played well without really seeing too much of the ball. Joao Moutinho, Raul Meireles, and Miguel Veloso were brilliant off the ball, and passed intelligently with it. Moutinho made a fantastic pass to Ronaldo, but Boateng made a brilliant tackle right before he was about to shoot.
Fabio Coentrao was, yet again, fantastic as he completely shut Muller out of the game. He was also brilliant going forward. Hopefully his yellow wont come back to haunt him..
Joao Pereira was definitely the worst of the defenders, but overall, he still had a decent game. Pepe and Bruno Alves were excellent, but Pepe probably should have done a better job dealing with Gomez' goal.
In the end, Portugal looked very disciplined defensively and intelligent on the ball. We made the Germans look very ordinary, and we had much better chances to score. A draw would have been the fair result, but in reality, we definitely could have won it.
After watching the Holland-Denmark game, I think that we are more than capable of beating both sides. The Dutch looked extremely vulnerable defensively and the Danish were quite lucky to keep the clean sheet.
If we can beat the Danes on Wednesday, and if Germany beats Holland, we'll have an excellent chance of qualifying.
Forca Portugal!!!
The passing could have been a bit better, I thought Raul M was dissapointing and frustrating to watch, glad he was subbed.
We can take the positives from this game to drive us for the next two as Denmark and Holland are beatable. Maybe time to play Nelson O up front as we lose nothing by playing him vs the other options. Overall, we have hope and if we can just score a few goals we will qualify.
DONT BE SCARED... !!!