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Monday, 09 July 2012 16:27 |
Portugal exit Under-19 Euros
World Cup qualification provides silver lining
 After a promising start against Estonia, and a creditable 3-3 draw with tournament favourites Spain on Friday night, Portugal's Under-19 squad exited the European Championships with a 3-2 loss against Greece this afternoon. A disappointing tournament has nevertheless been enough to secure a spot at next year's Under-20 World Cup.
Portugal 3-3 Spain
 An injury time penalty from Sporting's João Mário snatched a point for Edgar Borges' side, who had looked set for defeat in a topsy-turvey, thrilling encounter. A hat-trick from Spain's Jesé Rodríguez was the highlight, but first-half goals from Sporting's Bruma and Benfica's André Gomes saw things level at the interval.
Rodríguez looked to have won it with a strike shortly after the interval, but after Sporting's Ricardo Esgaio was fouled moments before the end, captain Mário stepped up to convert from the penalty spot.
Portugal 2-3 Greece
That point left Portugal needing just a draw from Monday's final group stage match against Greece. Gianniotis and then André Gomes struck in quick succession just before the midpoint of the opening half, and as the interval approached, things were looking on course.
But a disastrous conclusion to the first half - a straight red card for Benfica's Daniel Martins was followed by a Katidis goal - left Portugal on the back foot, and a second for Katidis with 69 minutes gone put the outcome almost beyond doubt. Betinho's injury time consolation made no difference to the outcome.
World Cup qualification the silver lining
 With Estonia on zero points after a 2-0 loss against Spain, and Serbia (0) facing Croatia (1) in Group B, Portugal have managed to seal one of the six available spots for European teams at next summer's Under-20 World Cup, which will be staged in Turkey. His side may not compete in the latter stages of their continental Championships, but Edgar Borges has at least achieved one of his pre-tournament aims.
Ben Shave
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I saw the Spain game and missed the Greece game. From my sampling I would agree with lots of what posts 15 and 16 stated.
This team is loaded with speed, skill and swagger but could use a bit more discpline. The team seemed to give up the ball too easy and the back 4 was weak. The positioning, reading of the game,organization, and plus it appears lack of speed in Ferreria as a CB cost this team. There were moments of naive defending.
I am not expert on these players but this looked like it could be correct with replacing the weak spots (Ferreria) with stronger players (I think there were injuries and positiong as mentioned in one post). The coaching will need to improve and more discpline without taking out the aggressive play and swagger of the team.
I think the best is yet to come but not all of these players will live up to the billing as they get older --- lets hope we yield enough good players to replenish the senior team ranks,
Thanks for the added insight Nathan and Oscar.
Like I said, I didn't watch any of the matches, but I didn't think I was being too harsh. I actually expect the indiscipline that's been mentioned due to the youth of the players.
What I was trying to point out was that many had some of these guys already rated as future world class players that would see time with their clubs quickly. I know that they are rated highly even abroad, but people need to temper their expectations.
Having said that, not advancing has to be a huge let down. No excuses.
It is disappointing that our talented squad did not progress but again, playing against a strong Greek side for an hour with 10 men is asking a lot no matter who you put on the field. You have to remember how young they are and that kind of stuff happens sometimes in tournaments like this. Red cards change games, and in turn, the course of major tournaments and that's true no matter what level you're talking about.
Defensive frailties aside, I generally liked what I saw from the under-19s and the fact that they are now eligible to play in the under 20 WC is really encouraging. Once there, this squad willl have another opportunity to eliminate some of the mental errors and rash challenges that cost them in this tournament, and that experience is crucial to their development.
Having said all of that, I totally agree with you about tempering expectations for these young players. They are all still very much in the developmental phases of their careers and in my opinion should not be prematurely accelerated into the starting rotation for their respective clubs. In my estimation, they are all still at least 2 or 3 years away from being in that discussion, and I think that's how it should be.
Throwing young players out onto the field when they're not ready is a sure-fire way to break their confidence in a lot of cases. If given opportunities to go out on loan or play with the reserves for another couple of years, some of these guys (Bruma, Cavaleiro, Joao Mario, Betinho, etc...) could be really good.
I thought that they created enough chances to win against Spain but failed to keep Spain at bay and gave the game away more than a few times, having said this I thought that would have learned their lesson and count their lucky stars they ended the game in a tie.
And the game against Greece they proved to me they are an un-disciplined team and thats why they lost, and I blame the coach for this, not only for the red card but because of their style of play, all they had to do was be more tactfull and patient and use theuir brains cause they have the skill.........a very disapointing lost indeed cause with a better coach they would have listened to him and would have been a successful campaign.
-------------------Veloso-----------------
Esagio----Lliori--------Ie------Martins
-----------------Ca-----Mario------------
Cavaleiro---------Chaby------Bruma
--------------------Betinho----------------
Madeiros, To Ze, Bruno Andrade, Bocar Djumo, Tobias, Tomas, Mesca, Cancelo, Cafu
Granted I didn't see the matches, but have a couple of questions then.
How did the Greek team look?
They must have an outstanding squad. If our boys looked as good as everyone says, the Greeks could be looking at their very own world beaters in a few years. Especially since a federation known for defense, scored the most goals.
Since you say we played so well, can you clarify.
Who was our standout player, Betinho, Burma, Gomes, Martins, etc...?
In goals suffered;
Was Veloso the culprit?
Was it a particular defender getting torched?
Was it the back four?
Was it the lack of cohesiveness of our defense, including mids?
I'm not trying to be a smart ass, but maybe we should temper our expectations. Some people have mentioned these guys should be up with their clubs right away.
And it's not just Portuguese. Like I mentioned, this team was highly regarded by all, which makes the result even more disappointing.
If we played as well as everyone says, and we have the talent everyone says, this squad had no business getting knocked out. I'm definately disappointed and expected more.
There were some positives and negatives, but overall we were competitive and that's very important to see at this level. I do wish that we would've gone on into the semifinals against England though, just to give us another chance to play in a high pressure game against a quality opponent.
Winning a youth tournament is always nice and obviously a great sign, but these tournaments are mostly about getting our young players experience playing in higher profile matches on an international level. I think that was accomplished and hopefully some of the players involved will go on to the senior squad, where we can enjoy watching them play for years to come.
Frankly you have to start wondering if we are once again overvaluing our own. By all accounts they are highly regarded, even outside of Portugal, but this result is awful.
I know that at this age individual talent is even more important than team work. Granted, working within a team and tactics are part of that talent. But where was the standout that didn't get us through. If not his (?) fault, who failed miserably.
I didn't see any of the matches, but I have been left underwhelmed.
- U-21 After a tough start to qualifying for the European championships we are now in first place. Russia has one game to spare but looks positive.
- U-20 Lost to Brazil by the slimmest of margins at their world cup last summer. Mika, Nelson Oliveira, Danilo Pereira were standouts.
- U-19 Unfortunate result but the way people are talking about Betinho, Bruma, Joao Paulo, Joao Carlos and Agostinho Ca, it looks like we could expect alot of future success.
Combined with the success of the senior team last month it looks like a new golden generation is on the horizon.
As for other news, the U19 Women's team is in the final and also the U17 side competing in the Portuguese-speaking games beat Brazil....... 9-0. Yes, 9-0. All in all the future of Portuguese football looks great and I'm still waiting for Mourinho to take Portugal to the promised land.
Maybe it's a coaching error or maybe these young guys are really raw still and need more playing time.
Either way, hopefully they'll be prepared for next years U20 world cup.
The defense is a bit naive which is normal for a youth team. Combine the U-20 defense with this midfield and attack resulting in tons of potentail.
This group of players present an opportunity to replenish our national team in the future.
What is disappointing is that we seem to crash against Greece at any level. There is something about the Greek style that limits our attacking flair and capitilizes on defensive errors. The U-19 defense seemed to be a bit undiscplined and soft in defending in the back.
Overall, this is very promising for Portugal NT team.
I only managed to watch the first half of the Spain game, but from what I've watched, and read, this U-19 side is the exact opposite of the defense-oriented U-20 side of from last summer's world cup. The defense looked extremely shaky while our forwards/midfielders always looked capable of creating chances and scoring goals.
Ferreira, Ilori, and Martins are all promising defenders, but the defense, as a whole, looked very poor. The midfield consisting of Agostinho Ca, Andre Gomes, and Joao Mario looked very impressive with Joao Mario particularly looking like an extremely talented player.
This U-19 side is also packed with excellent forwards and wingers. Esgaio, Toze, Cavaleiro, and especially Bruma were also very impressive. Betinho and Cafu didn't due too much in this tournament, but they are also extremely talented players.
Hopefully this group of gifted prospects can continue to develop together at both club and international levels. I think that a few of these players (Joao Mario and Bruma in particular) could be elite players for the seleccao in just 3 or 4 years.