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| Friday, 07 October 2011 22:52 |
Portugal 5-3 IcelandGoalfest at the Dragao After an injury-hit build-up, goals from Nani and Postiga looked to have set Portugal up for a comfortable evening's work, as Paulo Bento's men cruised to a 3-0 half time lead over Iceland. However, two lapses in concentration allowed Hallgrimur Jonasson to strike twice in twenty minutes, setting up a finale that was as tense as it was unlikely. Thankfully for the Seleccao, Joao Moutinho and a rocket from Eliseu restored a measure of control, with Sigurdsson's penalty concluding an entertaining (if somewhat worrisome from a Portuguese perspective) evening at the Dragao.
With a host of players unavailable, the only real selection quandry for Paulo Bento was at left back, with Elizeu given the nod over Miguel Veloso and Ricardo Costa. Bento clearly expected his men to be able to out-press Iceland, but it was the away side who began the game brightly, with Rui Patricio forced into a smart save from Jonsson's goalbound effort early on. However, the crowd's nerves were settled after 13 minutes, when Portugal took the lead. A Moutinho short corner found its way to Eliseu, who had remained slightly outside of the penalty box. Unmarked, the Malaga man had ample time to whip a ball in, which was directed by Nani beyond Magnusson with a deftness that one perhaps would not have expected from the livewire winger. Nani was undoubtedly the outstanding performer during the first half, and just eight minutes later the Manchester United man doubled his tally and Portugal's lead, latching onto a woefully miscalculated (not to mention under-hit) back pass from Jonsson. Magnusson was perhaps at fault for not smothering the danger earlier, but even so, Nani deserves credit for being on the alert and tucking home from close range.  At this point, it seemed as if Portugal would run away with the points, despite Iceland occasionally looking dangerous on the break. Paulo Bento's men were pressing their opponents superbly, forcing them into errors and manufacturing a number of openings - Ronaldo ought to have taken advantage just after the half an hour mark, but was unable to find the target. A third goal was both inevitable and deserved, with Helder Postiga meeting Bruno Alves' pinpoint cross in the six yard box. The former Sporting man's effort was somewhat scruffy, but the ball bounced off the ground, onto the underside of the bar and in. The second half almost began in spectacular fashion for the home side, as Ronaldo crashed an undulating strike off the crossbar, having left his markers tying their legs in knots as he bore down on goal. Magnusson could only watch with relief as the ball fizzed off the woodwork, and his delight was increased moments later when Iceland pulled a goal back. From a Portuguese standpoint, it was a worryingly simple goal. A long ball in was met by Jonsson, who beat Rolando in the air with ease to knock the ball down for Jonasson, who nodded beyond Patricio. Neither Rolando nor Meireles covered themselves in glory for Iceland's opener, though the former almost made instant amends, but his shot following a goalmouth scramble was blocked. Ronaldo, Alves and Martins were all denied as Portugal looked to put the game beyond doubt, but on 68 minutes the Seleccao were undone for a second time. Rolando was beaten in the air by Jonsson once again, this time from a Sigurdsson corner, and Jonasson made no mistake, sticking a leg out to divert the ball in at the near post.  The tension was beginning to rise around the Dragao, with images of the campaign's earlier 4-4 draw with Cyprus no doubt filtering through the minds of many. Thankfully, calm was restored by one of their own with nine minutes remaining. Elizeu burst beyond his tiring marker, reached the byline, and his cut-back was met by Moutinho, who side-footed under Magnusson's legs and into the net. It was just Moutinho's second goal for his country, and his first since Euro 2008, and it could not have arrived at a better time. The game concluded in typically breathless fashion. Three minutes before full time, Eliseu capped a strong showing on his return to the national side with an impeccably struck right-footed effort, which curled beguilingly beyond Magnusson. The former Belenenses man generally plys his trade on the right wing, but performed well as an auxiliary left back throughout last night. 5-2 would have been a satisfactory scoreline, despite the defensive lapses, but Sigurdsson's last minute penalty left a sour taste in the mouth. Rolando capped a miserable outing when he brought down Bjarnason with a challenge that was more clumsy than malicious. Sigurdsson made no mistake from the spot, and ensured that Paulo Bento and co. will not forget Iceland in a hurry. The result, combined with Denmark's comfortable 4-1 win in Cyprus, leaves Portugal top of Group H on sixteen points, with their opponents on Tuesday evening in second place, also on sixteen points. Norway (who sit on thirteen points) are all but eliminated, and would require a nine-goal swing in their favour to push Portugal out of the playoff spot should they overcome Cyprus at home on Tuesday. Paulo Bento's men require a point in Copenhagen to secure an automatic berth in next summer's European Championships. Goals [1-0] Nani, 13' [2-0] Nani, 21' [3-0] Helder Postiga, 44' [3-1] Jonasson, 48' [3-2] Jonasson, 68' [4-2] Moutinho, 81' [5-2] Eliseu, 87' [5-3] Sigurdsson (P), 90' Portugal: Rui Patricio; Joao Pereira, Bruno Alves, Rolando, Eliseu; Raul Meireles (Miguel Veloso, 60'), Carlos Martins (Ruben Micael, 72'), Joao Moutinho; Nani, Helder Postiga (Nuno Gomes, 88'), Cristiano Ronaldo. Ben Shave |
He's just not worth the time.
When he's able to make any reasonable or factual comment about his own team Braga, then maybe he could be a bother.
Otherwise. no.
Yes he was great in the world cup, but he is way too prone to frangos to start for the seleccao. He is more experienced and tougher than Patricio, but his handling, positioning, and over aggressive style lead to tons of problems. Patricio is very young and he could still improve with set pieces, but he is a brilliant shot stopper and he will only get better with experience. He was Manchester United's backup plan to De Gea, so he definitely has the potential to be a world class keeper.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdzi6wufw5I
LOL. If it wasnt for the 3 questionable penalties that the ref Duarte Gomes ( a known Benfica socio) gave to Benfica (in a record of 10 minutes... unbelievable) I doubt you would be saying the same thing you are now.
How can you say Artur is better than Eduardo just because Eduardo made some frangos in Italy. Artur played in Roma too and did shit. Actually he did worse then Eduardo and he was on a better team. Benficas best player is Duarte Gomes not Artur.
but i guarantee if jorge jesus puts eduardo in goal and he makes a frango you will be the first one saying jorge jesus is a horrible coach lol thank you jorge jesus for giving artur his chance and he has proved why he is the number 1 keeper for Benfica FORCA ARTUR
All the best for the Seleccao!Forca Portugal!
Andre/Uk, don't forget that it was also the Eduardo blunder that gave the 1-0 victory to Norway. Eduardo developed a tendency to make bad decisions in which he comes out of his area and loses his bearings in relation to the net behind him. There is no denying that Eduardo was excellent at the world cup, but his form deteriorated when he moved to Italy. That being said, why would any international team coach want to put in a goaltender who is not playing for his club team? Anyways, I know we all have our favourites and sometimes our judgment gets clouded.
Mario/Canada
Cyprus' 4 goals from that game came from break away's and tap-ins.. how could anyone blame Eduardo for that?
Bosingwa was not on the WC 2006 roster..
@John/Canada
You're like one of those stubborn people who refuse any help when they need it. "Mr. knowitall" Bento's identical.
We need 1 point to qualify.. its possible using our shittiest players.. we'll still qualify. But is that a big deal? We've qualified for how many consecutive tournaments?
The real aim is to win Euro 2012 and thats a definite possibility but we'll need our best players. Carvalho's leadership, experience, positioning, cool-headedness, and technique.. come on it doesnt take an idiot to understand he's better than Rolando, Alves, or even Pepe.
Why not build a team comprised of our best players for each position instead of choosing ones who you think will be just enough to get the job done because of personal grudges?
Like someone mentioned its why we'll never win anything under Bento.
People quickly forget how it was Scolari who got the Portuguese public/nation behind its Seleccao. Remember how he told everyone to drape a flag on their windows.
He had as much to do with the whole nation cheering for teh Seleccao has anyone.
I'm still sick over the loss to Greece, but to say it was Ricardos fault, you just didn't watch the match.
I do agree that the game vs Iceland was never in doubt. Frankly if not for the penalty right before the final whistle it was a 5-2 win. The problem was that it was a very underwhelming win. The team really didn't play well the whole match. The defensive lapse is even more glaring due to what has gone on with the players.
Let me add that I agree that Carvalho shouldn't come back. I still say it was Bentos stupidity that caused the whole ordeal, but you just can't walk away.
Both Cristiano and Bento have now mentioned how we are going to Denmark to win. Frankly, by the way they played verse Iceland, they will need goals in Denmark.
Cristiano Ronaldo
(Portugal captain ahead of Denmark clash)
And that's why I decided to learn portuguese as my 4th language!
He had a poor season for Genoa last season, but he should never have joined an average Serie A team like them in the first place. Would have been better to stay with Braga, whom he almost single-handedly drove to a serious Liga title challenge with an unbelievable number of clean sheets during the 2009/10 season. At WC 2010 he conceded a single (offside) goal against 3 of the best attacks in world football. I say it again amigo, we can forget all about winning the Euros without Carvalho and Eduardo back in the team. But of course let's take one step at a time and just get there first...with hopefully a much improved performance tomorrow night. I still believe we will do it!!!
On another note he took over a team who got beaten by the USA and Korea when they were one of the favourites for the world cup so it not as though he took on a team with a wiining mentallity and he has won a world cup with Brasil find it strange that you would criticise him for one perceived mistake
on a side note how can you say we lost the final because of Ricardo Greece had one shot on goal and scored period and they defended with their lives. Ricardo also helped win the Penalty shoot out between England.
Another point that you seemed to have missed is that most of the people you called dumb are not actually saying that Bento is the worst manager. I personally think hes OK and has done a decent job. But thats not the point. I'm saying that i can't see us winning a tournament.
Cesar Did you know Portugal is ranked 5th in the world ranking so we should be looking at a semi finals appearance at the Euros and nothing less. Do you REALLY think we will make the semi finals and Bento and if you do think so please explain how our midfield and defence with cope with teams such as Germany, Spain and the Netherlands and i dont mean the 4-1 friendly that doesn't mean anything its a friendly. (although was great to beat the Spanish)
Anyways lets hope and pray we beat the Danes tomorrow i think it will be tough but call it blind faith but i believe we will win
Força Portugal :)
If Carvalho comes back Bento is gone, it will never happen, and I don't want it to happen. It would undermine any future Portuguese coach. Do you remember that Portugal tied with Cyprus at home and allowed 4 goals. Who was playing defense that day? Let me refresh your memories, the defense was comprised of Fabio Coentrao, Bruno Alves, Miguel and Ricardo Carvalho. And by the way the keeper was Eduardo, guess what he allowed 4 goals in one game ,at home, more than he did in all the games he played in the world cup.
Who was Portugal's worst defender in the 2006 world cup? None other than Bosingwa. During that world cup he had many opportunities to clear his area but would not leave the ground to head the ball clear. Has he improved since then? Too early to tell, although I have to admit that I was shocked when I recently watched a Chelsea game and saw him leave the ground to head the ball clear.
Steve Australia, I watched Nani play pre-season against Barcelona and he played almost every position on the pitch. He is capable of playing a central midfield role. Nani in many ways is technically more gifted than Ronaldo. Ronaldo is a more direct player who can read the game more quickly than anyone on the Portuguese team. If you watch him play for Madrid you will see that his game is one touch football, unfortunately he can't play that way for Portugal because most of the individuals on this team for some reason like to make those extra two or three touches.
In order to beat Denmark, Ronaldo and Nani will have to track back often and our midfield will have to be more aggressive.
Seriously!?
Denmark are a good team, but that's it. We're a great team. Its almost like people here seem to get off on the idea of being fearful.
We work on the backline and sort out defensive mistake and BAM we're in our 7th straight tournament. Just remmeber that we're one of the best teams in the world, capable of beating anyone.
Let's just be over worrying like England because then it does affects the players as they seem to play with negativety around them.
I agree with Voice of Reason too on a number of points. Firstly the goals we gave away to Iceland were from awful defending. But anyone who saw the full match knows that 5-3 wasn't a reflection of what happened...the result implies that Iceland were in the match...they never really were, they only scored once we were 3-0 up and took the foot off the gas...and we could easily have scored another 3 goals...despite not playing anywhere near our best.
Secondly i agree, people shouldn't be worrying so heavily about Denmark. True they'll be much better than Iceland and will be at home...but we have a much better group of players than them, even without the players out injured. If people are very worried about Rommedahl on the wing, there's something seriously wrong here! It will be tough on tuesday i'm sure, but Denmark have more to do, they need a win, we just need a draw. We just have to sort out the defending from set-pieces over the next few days, and I'm still confident we will get the result we need..
it wouldn't be a problem if we were facing selection difficulties on the basis of 'problem of plenty' ... but its quite the other way around here ....
i think, that even before and during the World Cup, their was a similar problem ...
for a country with the pedigree and reputation of Portugal in football, its worrisome to see the present condition, especially when you compare this to other powerhouses ....
and as much as we all might love and admire Cristiano Ronaldo for his brilliance and talent, it has to be admitted that he cannot carry the national team by himself ... because right now, apart from him and Nani, i don't see many game-changers ...
and finally, i think that without Carvalho this team isn't going to repeat what it did in the WC in the Euros ... namely concede just once in four matches against top teams ...
I think Rolando had as bad a game as i've seen him play for a long time and made the Carvalho situation all the more important. High balls should be bread and butter for any central defenders, but Rolando was badly exposed. He's lucky Patricio pulled of a couple of top drawer saves.
On another note I think alot of fans attitude towards Postiga is a bit harsh. OK, he is not the most consistent striker but he has come up with important goals; against England in the memorable Euro 2004 quarter final, a brilliant strike against Belgium to gain a vital victory in a tight Euro 2008 qualifier and most recently against Norway in June to bolster Portugal's campaign fo next year. He's also scored against Germany and Spain. So whilst he is no Eusebio he certainly has made important contributions to the Seleccao, and as such should be shown a bit of respect - after all 17 goals in 41 appearances is a pretty decent record.
As for Bento he may have won 5 in a row (as per comment below) but seriously who cares. Untill we qualify then we can't judge anything good or bad. i'm not saying that i don't like him heck he is so much better than quieroz but then again anyone half decent is better. Quieroz is a great coach but not a manager but hey thats just my opinion.
The best manager we have had is Scolari under him we actually looked like we could win tournaments instead of the current state of affairs which is that we are fighting it out with decent teams like denmark (ranked 17) for a place at the Euro. The point is all the best teams and contenders have already qualified, Germany, Spain, Holland, Italy etc.
I hate to say it and i hope i'm wrong but i just can't see us winning any tournaments under Bento. i think everyone here can agree with this point that we won't be winning any tournament with our defence. Thats why i say Bento was wrong and reacted poorly by saying that RC won't play under him again. Plain and simple its stupid because he made it a personal battle between him and RC.
A world class manager ie Mourinho, Scolari (maybe Vilas Boas, and even Paciencia unproven) would have realised that we can't win or compete for major tournaments without RC in the squad as we dont have good back up defenders. Bento obviously thinks we do
The lineup had to adjust to a couple of new faces - Rolando and Eliseu (who I thought played well...especially for playing out of position), as well as Ronaldo not being 100% fit, made it a bit more challenging than we would have expected or liked it to have been.
The goals we gave up weren't great - they were a result of some miscues, but seriously, it could have been 8-3 and we wouldn't be complaining. There were some missed opportunities and a couple of good saves that kept the game close.
They were missing three very important players...that would be hard for any team to overcome.
Did they play their best? No
Could they have played better in their own end? Yes
But it is what it is - you take the three points, learn from your mistakes and move on. Sometimes, you win ugly - the important thing is to get the win.
To read these comments - you would think Denmark is the world's number one team. Denmark goes into this game with a puncher's chance, talent wise, they have no business being on the field with us - despite what Nathan said about their wingers.
We will get it all straightened out on Tuesday - keep the faith
Bottom line is that was Iceland's last game and they were playing like there was no tomorrow, which for them, there wasn't.
So naturally that also meant that none of their players were nervous. Obviously Rolando was.
Either way I think people need to stop giving Bento stick. Yes he might not select the team that YOU want, but that doesn't mean he can't bring us the European Championships. Once he fails. then we can all debate about whether or not he made some huge mistakes, but as of right now I actually think he is a very good coach.
Now on other business Portugal got what they needed and no doubt that they deserved whether playing bad or good. No one on the pitch was overly impressive. I know C. Martins usually has not been particularly great, but against Iceland he showed creativity and had good link up play( which the team has been lacking). I thought that Martins was better than both Mereiles and Moutinho.
---Patricio---
--Bosingwa, Pepe, RC (bruno alves if ever necessary),Coentrao--
--Raul Meireles, Moutinho (Quaresma), Danny--
--Nani, Cristiano Ronaldo, Postiga (Almeidi/Nuno Gomes)
line-up turn out to be...
We have to consider ourselves lucky to be up 3 at the half. Great goal by nani off of a poor cross (against the run of play), piece of luck on his 2nd with the terrible decision on the backpass, and postiga's was completely mis- hit. That said, it's great to have luck on our side for once. But there's no excuse for the lack of concentration in the 2nd half.
I'm not sure what alves ever did to convince bento that he was more deserving of being first choice than carvalho....he's a decent player who plays in an average league. While you have to fault rc for his reaction, he never would have been put in that position if not for bento's odd choice.
That's left us in a real predicament with an poor pair of cbs and bento has to share some of the blame. Look at what happened with Bosingwa - who is much, much better than periera going forward and no worse on d. It can't be a coincidence that two of our best players are out of the team due to issues with the manager. Neither of these guys had behavior issues in the past and bento had more than his fair share of problems with players at scp.
We have to give bento the benfit of the doubt as he's won 5 straight, but im concerned that he's weakened our team in the process.
Needless to say, we'll have to play much better in denmark to take the point that we need. Based on this performance, i don't give us much chance of taking all 3.
The good news is we got 3 points. Ultimately I don't care how.
Where to begin.
Patricio: Good reflexes, but doesn't have the poise or respect to set up defense or let them have it.
Backline: Alves was barely ok. Rolando is not the answer. Eliseu is not a left back. Pereira wasn't a factor.
Midfield: Everyone looked bad. Meireles needs to be freed up. Better as a box to box mid that supports attacking mid. Being wasted as an out right defensive mid. Moutinho looks good when everything is clicking around him, otherwise he's poor. Martins doesn't belong on the squad period, never mind starting.
Nani and CR7 were fine. When Cristiano gets a ton of attention, always, he frees up others. Since it was mentioned, NO Nani is not a central playmaker.
Postiga is much worse than Almeida. His goal went off his knee and only the backspin of the ball made it roll in. I do agree with Nathan when he said "Postiga scores when you least expect, and Almeida misses when he should score". I prefer the player that has more chances to score and works better with rest of squad. That's Almeida.
Nuno used as a wasting time sub. He deserved better.
Our squad should be:
----------------- Patricio ---------------------
- Boswinga - Carvalho - Alves - Coentrao -
-------------- Pepe ---------------------------
------------------------ Meireles ------------
- Nani ---------- Danny ----------- CR7 ---
----------------- Almeida --------------------
But that's impossible.
It's crazy but we actually need to try new players at very important positions at a very important match.
Sereno has to get a look at center back instead of Rolando.
How wasn't Machado on the bench?
Veloso should slot as defensive mid with Meireles sitting beside him pushing forward. Put Moutinho or attacking mid just in front of them with Nani and Cristiano out wide.
Start Postiga and bring on Nuno at the 65th.
This is all on the asumption that the players that are out injured will remain out.
I know we are all experts and know everything. And yes I am over bearing and a know it all. Sorry.
Yes that was in jest, somewhat.
I'm not on the training ground watching them prepare.
The fact is that it just shouldn't have been this hard.
And looking at stats, it's not going to get easier.
Bento swallow your pride and bring back Carvalho and we increase our chances of leaving Denmark with at least a draw.... coming in second may force us into a playoff against a stronger opponent than the likes in our group....
that said, anything less than CR in top form and Nani not repeating yesterday's performance will spell gloom for Portugal....
and to those with all that bravado talk please stop because your only making fools of yourselves....
So I'm thinking Moutinho, Meireles, Coentrao as our mids. If you paid attention CR was drifting inside and playing as a central attacker like he does for Real Madrid. Keep him and Nani on the wing and they can roam into the middle when given opportunity then Coentrao, Bos/Pereira will overlap on the wing.
Postiga can start but Nuno is a better finisher. Coaches need to put more faith in him. Give him atleast 20 mins to perform.
I really hoped our second-string defence would do better than that...Rolando was very poor, on his home turf too...even Bruno Alves looked shakey...i mean there is no excuse for Carvalho walking out of the team, but you still have to ask why was Bento intending to leave him out of the starting line-up against Cyprus in favour of Alves? There is simply no comparisson between the two. I hope Bento now sheds his stubborness and recalls Carvalho and Bosingwa, because that's obviously in the best interest of the national team, and it was very clear last night that we don't have huge strength in depth defensively.
As for Patricio, who will still tell me now that he's a better keeper than Eduardo? He's quite a good shot-stopper, but looks totally shakey with crosses and set-pieces and is not in full command of his penalty area. I think he could've prevented both of the first 2 Iceland goals with better and more commanding positioning. With him in goal, anyone will feel they score us from set-pieces., and this is surely what Denmark will try to do on tuesday, and that is worrying. In my view there isn't even any argument as to who the best Portuguese keeper is. Patricio conceded 3 times the number of goals in 45 minutes against Iceland than Eduardo did in 4 matches at the WC...nuff said!!
I also think Bento is getting the midfield wrong. Meireles is not as effective as a defensive midfielder and is better further forward. When Bento brought on Veloso, he should've taken Martins off rather than Meireles. All in all, the way we relaxed and became sloppy after going 3-0 up is worrying indeed, they have to maintain focus the whole match, regardless of the score...and if we don't do that in Denmark, we could be in trouble.
There were positives too though, we really could've scored 8 goals last night with a little more luck...and could've been 5-0 up by the time Iceland scored their first goal. 5-3 doesn't really reflect the match. But i say it again we were playing part-timers...Denmark will be a different proposition altogether. I still think we should be able to secure the draw we need, but the defense, particularly at set-pieces, will have to improve dramatically, and the midfield will have to keep possession of the ball a lot better. It's gonna be nervous times in Copenhagen, but i still believe we will do it. A lot of work to be done on the training pitch first though, and we will have to remain focused for the full 90 minutes, if we are to get the result we need...
be reduced. The FPF will force Bento's hand. The boys need to practise set pieces (defensively). Of late, less skilled teams (i.e.: Greece, Demark, Iceland, etc.) have been giving skilled teams a hard time.
1.Patricio (just needs a bit more cover from his defense)
2.Bosingwa (more flare and height than Pereira)
3.Pepe (perhaps the best CB in the world)
4.Alves (good with Pepe; otherwise nowhere near Carvalho)
5.Eliseu (defensive side questionable; great going forward)
6.Meireles (as cover for defense; nice passing range)
7.Moutinho (best NT midfielder, needs more support)
8.Coentrao (he has shown at Madrid his capability to slot in as a midfielder; can cover for Eliseu)
9.Nani (one of the best wingers, specially on current form)
10.Postiga (for lack of a better man)
11.Cristiano Ronaldo (best in the world)
i think Eliseu's performance will allow Coentrao to move into midfiels ... he is needed there too ... Martins, Micael and Veloso are just not good enough ....
the front three are often left frustrated by the lack of service ... i think this line-up and formation will solve that ....
the main worry though, is about finding the no.9 ... postiga and almeida are just not the world - class strikers that a top team like Portugal needs ....
maybe Ronaldo should slot into that position, with varela or quaresma coming in as wingers ... though i know ronaldo does not like that and anyway it would call for a complete over-haul, for which we do not have the time ...
any suggestions, anybody?
And the worst part is if Iceland manage to score three goals against us than Denmark can easily double that and the top teams (Holland, Germany, Spain) can triple or even quadruple that.
And there is also the midfield, we have no creativity there what so ever. How many times did we use English style football e.g. long balls from a defender to a forward player? How many times did a player foolishly tried to shoot at the goal from a long range? How many times did our defenders and midfielder pass the ball to other defenders having no clue what to do with it. These are all symptoms for a problem and Bento hasn't even come close to solving it after a year.
Eliseu did great offensively, but he showed why he isn't a defender tonight and on Tuesday he is really going to have a hard time containing either Dennis Rommedahl or Christian Eriksen, both of whom are quality wingers. His two assists and a goal are worthy of mention though and overall I'm happy with what he brought to the team in Coentrao's absence.
Gino is right, Rolando had a horror show on defense and Alves didn't look comfortable either. We really missed Carvalho in this game and I'm really mad at him for reacting the way he did last month. In the end, no matter what you think of Bento, Carvalho was unprofessional and now the Seleccao are suffering because of it.
Ronaldo was good tonight even though he didn't get many touches. He very nearly had a goal on several occasions and worked really hard throughout. He'll be important in the game against Denmark where I don't think they'll mark him quite as closely as Iceland did. I say that because they have enough quality on defense to pay attention to the whole field and not just Ronaldo. Iceland had about 3 guys on him nearly every time he touched the ball.
Nani did well to score twice but other than that struggled to get the ball as well. Again, our midfield was just poor. That's the same reason why Postiga was only noticed for about the first time in the game when he scored at the end of the first half. Classic Postiga though, to pop up out of nowhere like that and score after having barely even touched the ball for most of the game. For me, that's why he gets the nod over Almeida.....because he has that ability to score when you don't expect him to. Almeida does the opposite: he creates many opportunities but doesn't score when you expect him to.
Moutinho did the best of any of our midfielders (as usual) but he's all by himself in the center of the pitch. He needs help and I don't know who its going to be but at least one other midfielder needs to step up and learn how to pass/handle the ball.
Patricio made some fine saves and wasn't at fault for the goals. Without him, we would've been down 1-0 during the first ten minutes of the game. They had that long throw in that was turned on goal and he somehow kept it out. I feel sorry for him because our defense was poor and didn't give him any support.
So, we got the result we needed but will we get it done in Denmark? Not playing like that we won't. If you had told me before the Iceland game that they would score 3 goals, I would've still reserved hope that we could win. That doesn't hold true against Denmark. If we allow even 2 goals, we won't be able to win. Their defense is good enough to keep us at bay and I don't think we'll score any more than twice against them, probably just once if we're lucky. In short, everybody take their heart medication before the game........
Forca Portugal!
The defense will not be the same, Eliseu isn't a left back so good things will be back as soon as Coentrao/Silvio come back!Conceding 3 goals frustrated me but I don't care since we're 1 point away from makin' it to Poland/Ukraine though we still have a lot to do in the back part of the squad!Next game will be an open one, a draw is what I expect!
And Forca Portugal!
Was not a pleasant match for me to see, that's for sure.
Hopefully this isn't going to be as grave an issue in the match against Denmark, or this wont go well.
lets see whats in strore now
The midfield and front 3 lacked the quick skillful Portuguese style passing I love to watch.Ronaldo wasn't fully fit and that was obvious from the start. Nani scored a brilliant header and was at the right place at the right time to capitalize on a stupid error, but other than that, he saw very little of the ball.
The defense was a total mess without Pepe, Carvalho, and Coentrao, and while Patricio is a brilliant shot stopper, he still hasn't developed the leadership qualities needed to organize the defense. Our defense was absolutely terrible with set pieces and Patricio looked clueless with every corner.
You know things didn't go as planned when an emergency-makeshift leftback is the man of the match. Eliseu wasn't the best defensively, but he was excellent going forward.
Hopefully they'll be much, much sharper against Denmark. If we are at our free-flowing Portuguese best, we are arguably the most talented and entertaining national team in the world. Even with all the injuries, this seleccao at it's best should kick Denmark's ass on Tuesday, and that's what I expect from this team.
Its funny that Nani and a few others think Eliseu deserves Man of the match.. he obviously forgot he was playing LB and Pereira is too short to be defending aerial attacks.
Raul Meireles is not worth a mention.
Carlos Martins did play some nice through balls but still wasting opportunites.. poor decision making. Moutinho played well.
As usual CR didnt get enough service.. I dont know if its because he is always man marked or what? But Nani stepped up and played a good game. My Man of the Match with 2 goals and 1 assist. I saw Postiga twice. In the 44' minute and when he was getting subbed off.
Patricio did make some big saves.. it could have been a draw.
Even Gilberto Madail wants to reduce Carvalho's ban but our coach is being the same old unforgiving douche.
His substitutions questionable.. Martins is still better than Micael and he made a mockery of Nuno Gomes. Bringing him on for the last 2 min.. poor guy didnt even touch the ball. Slick move.. Bento.
The last goal should not have counted as the additional time had expired way before but if we let in 3 goals to Iceland.. imagine how many Denmark could put past us? We should qualify but alot of things need to be fixed.