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| Saturday, 09 October 2010 00:29 |
Sporting graduates shine brightlyPortugal versus Denmark player ratings A highly satisfactory night for Portugal saw a number of players put in excellent individual performances. Three ex-Sporting players were the best of a good bunch – Nani, Moutinho and Ronaldo.
Eduardo: 6.5/10Could not be faulted for the goal. Rarely called into action, but when he was he showed good handling and positioning, consigning the blunders in his poor performances in September to a distant memory.
Joao Pereira: 6.5/10Less adventurous than when in a Sporting shirt, Pereira put in a solid display. A healthy fight looks on the cards with Silvio to become Bosingwa’s understudy.
Fabio Coentrao: 7/10Another highly competent match from the Benfica star. Slightly less adventurous than usual, but linked up well with his team-mates, notably when going on one brilliant incursion deep into enemy territory and teeing up Ronaldo to crash a shot against the bar.
Ricardo Carvalho: 7/10Unfortunate to score an own goal, but another fine performance from the veteran defender. Showed no sign of any ill effects from his recent injury at Real Madrid. Does Carvalho know how to play badly?
Pepe: 7/10Reverting to his natural position at the heart of the defence, the big Brazilian born centre-back was a rock alongside his club colleague.
Raul Meireles: 7.5/10He may have landed in the eye of a storm by transferring to Liverpool, but Meireles continued where he left off in South Africa, putting in a highly polished performance. Bento appears to have earmarked a more defensive role for the former Porto midfielder, and judging by a number of timely interceptions and his neat distribution Meireles is the ideal man for the job.
Joao Moutinho: 8/10Undoubtedly Moutinho’s best game in a Portugal shirt. The mighty midget was everywhere, linking up with his team-mates, spraying accurate passes around the field, crossing dangerously, breaking up opposition moves and even having a pop at goal himself. His continued exclusion by Queiroz now looks a bad mistake.
Carlos Martins: 5.5/10Let his nerves get the better of him. Unable to produce any semblance of his exhilarating Benfica form. On the plus side never hid from the action and nearly got on the scoresheet as his follow-up effort from a fiery Ronaldo free-kick was well saved by Lindegaard, but Martins will need to show a marked improvement to earn a place in the side.
Ronaldo: 7.5/10Ronaldo’s best performance in a long while for Portugal. Showed better selection of when to shoot than has become the norm (i.e. always) and linked up well with his team-mates. Set up the opening goal, scored one, and could have had a hat-trick or more if it wasn’t for the woodwork and the brilliance of Danish substitute goalkeeper Lindegaard.
Nani: 8.5/10 – PortuGOAL man of the matchEver nearer the finished article, Nani paved the way for victory with an inspirational two-minute spell – first producing a calm and collected finish and then sending a screamer into the top corner. Throughout the match the Manchester United winger showed mature decision making. He did not try to beat his man every time, and often laid off the simple pass to keep the move going. Showed fight, skill and marvellous awareness to set up Ronaldo’s goal on a plate.
Almeida: 6/10The tall and well-built Scandinavians are perhaps not the ideal opposition for Almeida to showcase his attributes, but the Werder Bremen striker made a nuisance of himself in the Denmark area. Interestingly, his standing in the Portugal team was demonstrated by the fact that he was allowed to take a free-kick in a dangerous position on the edge of the box rather than three or four other dead-ball specialists, including a certain CR7.
Substitutes
Postiga: 4/10Came on for the final twenty minutes. Had one chance when played clean through by Ronaldo but blasted wastefully over.
Tiago: 4/10Fifteen-minute run-out. Made little impact.
Varela: -On for the dying minutes. Had time to fluff a good chance because of a heavy first touch.
The Coach
Paulo Bento: 8/0An impeccable start. Having Meireles sitting in front of the defence playing the role Pepe performed with such distinction in World Cup 2010 qualifying did nothing do diminish the defensive solidity of the team, but gave the side a better balance thanks to the Liverpool player’s superior range of passing. Bento had called for his men to play as a team. It was precisely therein that lied the difference between tonight and the opening two qualification games.
by Tom Kundert
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I also agree with Nathan on his thoughts.
Cristiano played great. I'm also glad he got his goal. Seeing the relief on his face, you could tell how much stress he has put on himself.
Moutinho really surprised me, and I would give him another run with either Danny (more offensive) or Micael.
Martins is what he is, and that means he shoudln't see the field unless we are desperate for a goal at the end of games. His ill advised shot, just might go in every once in a while, so we could get lucky. Otherwise, he will cost us, through a bad pass or/and tackle.
Pepe and Carvalho have to play alongside each other. The Defense was much better organized than in previous matches. Even more so than in the Worlkd Cup. There we had everyone back, while we held firm with just the defenders and Meirelles in this one.
How do I put this without coming across critical. I liked Bento's 4-5-1, since I feel it's the only realistic formation due to our lack of strikers. The only questions I have is, why Tiago and Postiga. Ok, Postiga was the only striker on the bench for this one, but Tiago? He isn't a good holding mid anymore. He's slow and is awful in tracking back.
Let's also not run Liedson out there. I would have prefered Edinho instead of those two options. Let's face it, Postiga and Liedson will be well passed it come Euro '12.
So overall Portugal played well as a team!
Forza Portugal
Im happy he went with my idea of dropping Alves and giving Pepe the chance to play with Carvalho i think the 2 defenders have earnt that right.
I also applaud Bento for putting meireles in a more defensive role, thats what ive been saying should happen from the start.
Lastly congratulations to Moutinho and Nani, Nani is such a great player he is carving up everyone he versus this year, he will be a great of the game.
I've had my doubts about Moutinho in the past, but based on this performance, I have to wonder what might have been if he would've had all of the experience of playing with the Seleccao consistently after Euro 08. He's still a good player though and will hopefully continue to improve and dominate the midfield for Portugal.
I definitely think Micael should be given a run-out against Iceland. If he sucks, sub him for Martins, or even Danny. However, I think him and Moutinho could link up well since they play together for Porto.
Nani was definitely great tonight, and his performance combined with Ronaldo's meant that Almeida didn't have to do much of anything but stretch out the defense, which he does quite well. I think Almeida is really improving even if he didn't do a whole lot this game. I watched him today and he worked hard, which is really all we can ask for in a striker.
Pereira looked good I thought.....maybe a little better than Silvio, but I still can't wait for Bosingwa to make his comeback. Adding him to the mix makes us a very formidable team indeed.
Didn't everyone love watching Ronaldo play today? I have to say it was good to see him in that kind of form, and I never mind him taking the kind of shots that he took tonight. They were strong, accurate, and gave the keeper problems (one of the rebounds should've been put away by Martins) Really, the whole team was very exciting to watch tonight. I just watched the highlights again and it was still exciting to watch them play.
I'm so proud and so happy that Portugal is finally playing like Portugal again!!!!