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| Friday, 22 June 2012 14:48 |
European press react to Portugal winFind out what European rivals made of quarter-final victory Portugal were the first team to book their place in the semi-finals of Euro 2012 last night, with a hard-fought 1-0 win over the Czech Republic. PortuGOAL takes a look at how their victory was seen by their rivals for the European crown.
Here is our whirlwind review of the newspaper press from around Europe. Click here for Sportsbook reviews. A Bola, Portugal“Portugal are already among the four best teams in Europe. They are the first team to qualify for the semi-finals, without any doubt as to their merit. Once again the Portuguese people had to suffer. It shouldn’t have been so; such was the amount of attacking pressure, the number of chances to score and the obvious difference in both individual and collective strengths.
Of course it could have been easier but the important thing was the win, the result and the pragmatic quality of a consistent and mature performance. Now, anything is possible, but the memory of this as an enjoyable tournament is already assured, where the national team went back to the best expression of Portuguese football.” Blesk, Czech Republic“The most pleasantly surprising thing about the Czech team was their fight. Losing in the quarter-finals to a strong opponent is not a disaster. Fans can once again be proud to - as they say - leave everything on the pitch.
The Czech Republic do not have enough for top quality teams like Portugal, it is plain fact. But we should not be ashamed of it. On the contrary - let's be proud of the fact that despite the opening defeat the Czechs got through the group. They tried but it did not work out. Never mind. Let us give thanks and applaud the players for their performances, they deserve it.” L'Equipe, France“Could we be about to see another showdown between France and Portugal? It is possible. Laurent Blanc’s players just have to overcome Spain on Saturday – easier said than done – to reach the semi-final against the Selecção in Donetsk.
Disappointing against the Germans before giving another poor showing against Denmark, Ronaldo had a wonderful revival against the Netherlands. And this time he was again brilliant. Fortunately so, because without him Portugal would probably not still be here.” El País, Spain“Having torn apart the Netherlands, Cristiano Ronaldo finished off the gritty and resilient Czech Republic. The Portuguese is not one for exercises of romanticism, but he plays a brand of football that is fierce, heartbreaking and wonderfully untamed. He was eager to make his mark on the tournament, and after easing the pressure on himself with the two goals that he hit past Stekelenburg he suddenly has a foot like a cannon and a head like a hammer.
He has passed his confidence onto the team, and now Portugal have a very promising position in Poland. They have a ticket to the semi-finals, well-deserved by virtue of their passage through the group as well as their victory last night.” The Telegraph, England“Here in Warsaw, 50,000 fans witnessed the latest episode of the Cristiano Ronaldo show. Not since 1986 when Diego Maradona carried Argentina to the World Cup has one man threatened to control the destiny of a tournament single-handedly. In a stadium largely occupied by neutrals, it was his presence that was most noted: all eyes were trained on Portugal’s captain.
When a convertible cross finally arrived Ronaldo was poised and ready. That is why Portugal are progressing to the semi final. And that is why they believe they have in their number the best player in the world: he works tirelessly to deliver when it matters.” Die Welt, Germany“By the end even the one they call “the man who never smiles” in Portugal was grinning. A Cristiano Ronaldo goal gave Paulo Bento’s team a quarter-final victory against a bravely resolute Czech Republic side that will give him every reason for satisfaction.
After superstar Ronaldo arrived 180 minutes late at this tournament against the Netherlands he also weighed in against the Czechs. It was clear that his team's hopes were once again his sole responsibility, but the €94m man from Real Madrid sprinted, found space, called for every ball and caused no end of problems for Petr Cech. Cech was however powerless against the forceful header from Ronaldo which squeezed itself under the crossbar. His celebration was full of relief that was clear for all to see.” by Tom Clee |
If Portugal do press, I know they're not Ireland, but Spain will make the killer pass. If we contain, I think we can frustrate Spain and the hit them on the flanks which is their weakness. Which ever way we play, let's hope for a Portugal victory!
Força Portugal
BTW the 5-0 Barca win against Real if I remember was nearly over 2 years ago. Lots has changed. Barca Tiki Taka style works best having a world class striker like Messi. We have seen this Euro that without David V, spains fabregas and Torres are useless. Spain only dominates possession but has not been a threat near the Goal. Infact Spain was lucky with Italy and Croatia.
Against Netherland and Czech Republic we pressed and had a positive game. Against Germany we pressed last 15 minutes and we all saw how well we played.
Also CR& is on fire and the whole seleção with confidence. Del Bosque will definitely be breaking his head to find a strategy to tame him.
Also Portugal vs Spain is a lot about traditional rivalry with truck loads of pride! The game is going to be a cracker. Forca Portugal!!!!!
Ireland doesn't have the quality anywhere near Portugals. Real didn't press, they attacked.
What successful teams verse Barca/Spain have been able to do is press them high up the pitch. Make them make the long pass instead of the short quick ones.
Although I think Almeida will be a worry for Spain center backs, due to his size, I worry he won't be able to chase as well as Postiga.
Veloso will need to be huge in this one.
The Spanish were forced into making mistakes leaving them very vulnerable to Portugal's counter attacks. In the end, Portugal created the much better chances and deserved their 4-0 win.
With Nani and Varela on the wings. Now THAT'S an attacking and defensively compact team.
Forget Postiga and Almeida. We all know they are virtually useless. They have their moments but this isn't the time to gamble, it's the time to WIN!
Postiga is a very very clever player and he rarely misses. We need him back to 100%, he creates loads of room for Nani and Ronaldo with his non stop running and pulling defenders our of position.
I'm not a fan, but Postiga has been praised for his chasing, Veloso for his covering and Pepe for his all around play. Coentrao has been praised by everyone for his all around work.
The fact is that we need Cristiano and his magic. His goal verse the Czech's came from him working very hard. In the last two matches he's been all over the field and put himself in great positions to score or tee up a teammate. We just need to convert better.
Whether its Spain or France, they will both roll coverage too Cristianos side. He's really going to have to work hard, but teammates should find plenty of space opening up for them. I actually think that Almeidas size will cause Spain to have to stick with him in the middle. He won't chase as well as Postiga, but on the counter both center backs will have to be leery of his presence on crosses.
Getting ahead of myself.
In any case, Portugal is all about Cristiano, and that's not a bad thing. We are talking about debatably the best player in the world being Portuguese. Be proud of that on its own. We all know that it will take a team effort to win it all. It sure was a team effort verse Germany and Denmark, but verse the Dutch and Czech's it was Cristiano that got us through. I don't want to say magic, since what I saw was a ton of effort.
And by the way, for all the people that get mad at his expressions and anger on the field, maybe it's because he demands more. Right at the beginning of the Czech match he showed his displeasure of Moutinho failing to get the ball to him. He was right, Moutinho had a late bad touch which caused a lunge pass that went out of bounds. He expects more and better, as should we.
back then he was the world's best player and still he showed immaturity playing mostly for himself and without any good outcome!! while if we directly compare that performance to that of Holland for example we can clearly see a 100% much better Ronaldo!!!
It's ironic that he got that much better yet this time he is not indisputably the best player in the world like he used to be, but I'm proud of our captain's progress.
Forca Portugal.
How can you say that about postiga are you blind he always produces something for portugal and I'm upset he is not playing. I think Nelson can make an impact but his passing choices sometimes are yet to be desired and slightly selfish at times. Nelson on then Varela if nothing happens. Almeida had his chance before and when he came on for postiga he fluffed a couple of headers which even i could get on target.
Which ever way Forca Portugal 4 Life
So it's either Spain or France next and as everyone knows we have always lost the close ones against France who could forget that penalty for a ridiculous hand ball on Abel Xavier that lead to Zidanes golden goal and then of course loosing at the semi's again in the world cup but also way before my time another loose this time 3:2 in extra time in yet another semi final. Surely it is our time to beat France.
Spain will be tough but we have beaten them on a number of occasions. The key to beating Spain is to score first and early. If we do that then they might have to take more risks which leaves them open to our counter attacks but if we don't then they will just pass it around and deny us the ball.
It is amazing to see the amount of respect being given to Ronaldo and the team itself. Whatever happens in the semi-final, this team has galvanized behind Ronaldo.
This tournament will be a defining moment for Ronaldo and the Seleccao - a campaign like this, puts us in very good stead for WC qualifying and in 2014.
As a Nike Poster of Luis Figo said years ago - "the best is yet to come".
While I’m very happy Ronaldo is once again performing for us, I hope people don’t forget that it’s 11 men on the field fighting for our country.