Portugal denied in Copenhagen
Denmark 1-1 Portugal
  Portugal drew 1-1 with Denmark in Copenhagen tonight to leave their World Cup hopes hanging by a thread. The Seleccao dominated the match from start to finish, racking up more than 30 shots over the 90 minutes.
However, Bendtner's fine strike in the 41st minute gave the hosts the lead. Portugal's intense pressure was rewarded by substitute Liedson's late equaliser, but to make it to the play-offs Portugal are now relying on Sweden to drop points.
Denmark 1-1 Portugal
Things are looking grim for Portugal. As has so often happened this campaign the final whistle goes and one is left asking: "How did Portugal not win that game?" It's impossible to criticize the players' attitude after this match. Wave after wave of attack deserved better. But what matters is putting the ball in the back of the net, and over thirty shots yielded a solitary goal for Portugal.
94' The final whistle goes.
92' Liedson traps the ball in the box, spins and brings out a fine diving save from Andersen. Sweden win in Hungary.
90' Four minutes of stoppage time. Bruno Alves is playing as a forward.
89' Portugal continue to pour forward. The indefatigable Bosingwa plays in another dangerous cross, which is snuffed out with difficulty. Liedson then turns well but is crowded out.
85'  GOAL!!!!!!!!!! Liedson heads in a corner in instoppable fashion.
82' It's all out attack now. Nuno Gomes is on for Meireles. Another series of shots rain in on goal, with Nani's effort deflected wide.
79' Dangerous free-kick for Portugal on the edge of the box. Deco somehow persuades Ronaldo to let him take it and fires the ball over the bar.
76' Make that 25. Ronaldo powers towards goal, the ball breaks to Deco, and in a perfect position to score the midfielder lifts his effort high over the bar.
75' A telling statistic is that Portugal, in 75 minutes, have had 24 efforts on goal. Twenty-four attempts and not a goal to show for it.
74' Ronaldo wins a free kick 30 metres out in the centre of the field. No prizes for guessing who takes it. Ronaldo's effort goes over.
70' Liedson fires an effort wide. Simao is taken off and Nani comes on.
67' Nani warms up. Portugal have a little over 20 minutes to score two goals.
62' Incredible let-off for Denmark! Meireles fires in a cross-shot, keeper spills it and both Liedson and Ronaldo fail to knock it into the net from 2 metres out. Credit to the Denmark defender and keeper, but that has to go down as a bad miss.
60' Ronaldo drives his effort into the wall with his right foot, and his follow-up effort with his left foot is easily gathered by Andersen.
59'  Ronaldo turns sharply and is taken out by Kjaer, who is shown a yellow card. Free kick in a dangerous position...
57' Denmark almost double their lead. Bendtner chests down for Rommedahl who fires a dangerous shot inches wide.
52' Dangerous free kick won by Pepe. Duda's effort is deflected wide by a defender but the referee infuriates Portugal's players by giving a goal kick.
49' Denmark close to doubling their lead. Bendtner crosses and Bosingwa makes a decisive interception at the second post.
48' Liedson's first contribution is to pick up a yellow card for a poor challenge from behind.
46' Liedson comes on for his debut. Is the script set up for the Sporting striker?
We've been here before haven't we? Portugal dominate, create chance after chance, only to be thwarted by the opposition goalkeeper, poor finishing, the referee. The opposition have two chances and score one goal. Forty-five minutes to save Portugal's World Cup campaign.
45' Half-time whistle goes.
44' Portugal miss a wonderful chance to equalise immediately. Duda plays in a perfect low cross to Simao's feet, who crashes a shot over the bar when he surely should have hit the target.
42' GOAL!!!!!!!!!! After being under intense pressure for 15 minutes Denmark score. Bendtner controls the ball wonderfully in the box and fires an unstoppable shot into the top corner.
40' Huge penalty appeal as a Ronaldo cross appears to be cut out by an arm. Immediately Simao fires a shot just over the bar.
39' Denmark at last breathe a sigh of relief as they get the ball in the Portugal half - briefly.
35' Corner for Portugal. Bruno Alves fails by a whisker to get on the end of it. Intense pressure from Portugal.
34' Spectacular save by Andersen! Duda fires in a fierce angled shot that the keeper tips over the bar with a flying stop.
32' Great move by Portugal. Tiago and Ronaldo combine beautifully to set up a shooting chance for Deco. The Chelsea midfielder hits his effort well but goalkeeper Andersen gets down well to save.
29' Portugal play a series of short passes on the edge of the Denmark box. The ball is played into Ronaldo's feet who tries his luck again, but the ball clears the bar.
26' Ronaldo bursts through one-on-one against Andersen and... is flagged for offside. Replays suggest the decision was right by all of 1 or 2 centimetres...
24' Both Portugal's full-backs Duda and Bosingwa are providing good support to the attack.
22' Great chance goes begging for Portugal! Duda swings in a cross, Simao controls perfectly and finds himself with space 10 metres out but hits his shot too close to Andersen who makes a diving save.
20' A long passing move ends with Bosignwa being brought unceremoniously down the earth. The referee waves away then gives a decision Portugal's way for what didn't look like a foul on Ronaldo. Ronaldo fires towards goal but the keeper saves easily.
15' Denmark almost take the lead. A low cross from Bendtner takes a couple of ricochets and lands at the feet of Jorgensen. From point-blank range, thankfully the striker snatches at the chance and the ball is skied high over the bar.
14' Credit to Denmark who are not sitting back in defence, which is making for an open game so far.
11' Portugal come close to opening the scoring! Deco plays in Ronaldo on the right flank who advances towards goal and hits a firm low shot that Andersen saves with his legs.
9' Driving rain in the Danish capital. The Danes are not sitting back and Pepe makes a good interception to snuff out danger in the Portugal box.
7' Good period of possession by Portugal deep in the Denmark half. Suddenly Ronaldo bursts into life. Duda plays in the Real Madrid winger who skips past his marker at high speed and fires an angled shot narrowly over the bar.
5' Cagey start by both teams. Meanwhile news filters through that in the other group game being played simultaneously in Group One Sweden take an early lead in Hungary.
2' First half-chance for Portugal. Simao sends a teasing low cross into the box and Meireles almost gets on the end of it.
1' Denmark are first on the attack. Good run by Rommedahl leads to an early cross into the box, Tomasson handles and the danger is over.
0' - The talking is over. The teams walk out to a packed Parken Stadium in Copenhagen. The big news from Portugal's point of view is that Liedson will not be starting the match, as Carlos Queiroz opts for a classic 4-4-2 formation, without any recognised out-and-out striker. Simao and Ronaldo are the front men. May the action begin.
Starting line-ups
Denmark:
Andersen, Silberbauer, Kjaer, Christensen, Jacobsen, J. Poulsen, C. Poulsen, Rommedahl, M. Jorgensen, Tomasson, Bendtner
Portugal:
Eduardo, Bosingwa, Duda, Carvalho, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Meireles, Tiago, Deco, Simao, Ronaldo
GOAL!!!!!!!!!!
Yellow Card
 Red Card
|
carlos is totally to blame in this situation. his fking tactics are useless. Im thinking that the players arent saying anything becuase no one wants to be outed or left out if we do make it.
I really hope we do make it, but if we do come second, we're in a difficult playoff situation. At present the team selections and tactics are rubbish.
we have NOT won a home game and we would need to step up considerably.
Yeah I know about Denmark beating Sweden in Sweden... but you're wrong about one thing: Sweden have 12 points right now and if they win all three of their remaining matches, they will finish with 21 points, 2 ahead of Portugal. This is why Portugal need the Danes to either tie or beat Sweden to have a chance. It will be much easier if the Danes just beat Sweden (which is entirely possible) because then all Portugal have to do is win their last 3 games and goal differential won't come into play.
Have faith everyone, if Portugal turn out this kind of performance against Hungary, they will score multiple goals.
Duda is a great winger who possess some amazing crosses, but he is a small winger who can not play as a defender. I also agree with the lack of a consistent winger other than ronaldo. We have so many fantastic wingers, much more than any other country in the world. However when it comes to the seleccao Simao and Nani are either excellent or terrible. In my opinion Simao is much better with desicion making and has a better technique, but Nani is faster and has a better shot.
I think Liedson and ronaldo are the keys to beating hungary along with their important unsung hero Bosingwa.
This team has been sliding since WC 2006 and the 4-5 key positions needed to turn this team around have not been corrected. We still lack a striker, an effective winger besides CR, midfield not settled, left back a disaster, and GK --could be worse but could be better.
First yesterday's game, I not a professional soccer coach but I could see a lack of balance in this team. As has been commented, 3 defensive midsfielders. I have no problem with Pepe at def midfield because he is physical, athletic and can cover space and you have Alves/Carvalho behind him. Get your best 3 defensive players on the field.
The issue is Meireles who is a average defensive player and average offensive player which = 0 (nothing). This guy has no room on the national team. How can you have this guy behind a front line that is already challenged. As bad as Simao is, he is better playing behind the forwards where he can pass the ball and shoot from distance. Tiago has been in form recently and was a good choice.
Simao starting in the front was a huge mistake, he has never scored a goal in any qualifying game against a decent team. He is not explosive, creative, and strong enough to play out front. He is better suited to play behind the forwards. Liedson or even Nani would have been a better choice.
The Duda experiment caught up to us, he is like Ferriera on the left back position, touch him and he goes down. Miguel would have been a better choice. I could care if a guy is a bit out of position, play your best and most physical players.
I'm not convinced we are headed back to the ages where we couldn't qualify for tournaments but we are depend on our younger players developing like Nani, Fernandez, Veloso, Carrico, etc. We must turn over this team from players like Meireles, Simao, Duda, these players are a sign of a team that is lacking and it is time for the young players to replace these hapless players who will never give us the results we need. How long can we go back to these dry wells?
FORCA PORTUGAL!!!
Fire the idiot coach for not starting a striker in the 1st half in a must win match. Drop selfish Ronaldo, he will never be a FIGO or Eusebio !!..
In the youth academys, train them scoring skills, rather than diving skills...
This could be a long drought.... Portugal went 10 years after
WC1986 without being in a major tournament, I can see this happening again.
With a win in hungary and a win in lisbon in october, we should get the play off spot. It's not impossible, if we qualify, which we will, it will be a spectacular comeback in our international history, surely this will give us some momentum for South Africa.
If you dont get off to a good start to the campaign then you will slip up. Poor results at home, poor defending away.
Dont get me wrong we play beautiful football but we need an out and out striker period.
Scolari......
Prepare ur Bags
Time is closing head back to home........
I've been saying it for years that this kid should be called up as soon as he receives his Portugal passport. He is a consistent striker and ALMOST had two goals today. Ronaldo did nothing and others tried hard but it was our newest member Liedson who did something in a matter of minutes.
Now I don't think mathematically we can qualify but we should have called up Liedson months ago.
Ronaldo played very well and simao and deco were dangerous with their dribbling and passing, but coudn't score.
If we win the next 3 games we should qualify, but we could still have to play against teams like france. We all need to hope and pray that the seleccao can play to their potential.
1. why did queiroz start 4 pleyrs out od posiittion? (Deco, Ronaldo, Pepe, Duda)
2. why did queiroz play the 1st half with no forwards? or centre forward>?
3. why did he start Tiago(at CM the most important position)? who barely plays for Juve.
4. nani, veloso, moutinho have all been if very good form, why are they not playing?
5. we needed to win the game why did queiroz start the game with 3 defensive midfielders? (pepe, meireles, tiago)
6. where is Maniche? he might not play his best at club football, but he has always been a beast in the heart of the seleccao midfield.
7. how in the world does queiroz still have a job? hes never proved he can coach at the senior level, how did we ever hire tihs guy for the sleeccao?
8. why does queiroz give the cry baby ronaldo the C? i think Bruno Alves or Carvalho should be wearing it. he should look at the replays of him wining all the time, its embarassing.
this will be the second time Carlos Q has failed to take us to WC
*****************ITS TIME TO BE SACKED******************
Seems like THIS team were trying. Just doesn't seem they were trying to tackle the Danes.
Tiago, Meireles, Deco, Duda and Ronaldo should not start this next game.
Maniche, Nuno Gome,. Miguel, Liedson Nani should be given a chance.
Mehh, I mean, I want to "hope" and everything...but its pretty obvious we're not going anywhere.
Also, Ronaldo once again was SELFISH until around the 75th minute.
"EU!? EU!? EU!? EU!?"...Yes, Ronaldo. You.
It must be nice to know that you can import good players if you have none yourselves, Portugal has a great advantage there.
* Ronaldo's first touches as usual were poor. He's out of place as a striker, sorry but we don't have a player like Rooney to make him look good and we need to face that reality. He's a natural winger and was much more effective out on the flanks.
* Duda was a joke all game, not once did he put in a challenge. He gave the Dane's too much time and respect on the ball. He was also afraid to take on defenders. There were several instances in the game were he could have pushed through the defense but instead cut the ball back.
* Simao is not a striker, why does Queiroz persist playing him upfront. The guy can't shoot plain and simple. Liedson was much more effective and would have made a bigger impact on the game if he had started. Simao should have replaced Miereless in midfield.
* What sane minded coach starts 5 midfielders and no strikers in a crucial qualifier. Let's face it Queiroz is absent something between the ears. Sure he's good with the players, coordinating training, and pouring their drinks but a coach he is not. No more excuses for him, his track record is appalling. We have arguably one of our most talented squads ever but have managed step backwards as a team and whats most sad about this is that the writing has been on the wall for at least the last couple of years. The administration has sat on it hands and done nothing.
Perhaps now we can finally accept that the Querioz hiring was a mistake and move on. It's hard to fault the effort of the players today, but starting without a striker was a huge mistake. He could have put Gomes in there for all I care, but without a target man, there was no one to take advantage of the service from bosingwa and duda. And then taking out Tiago (who was playing well) instead of Simao or Meireles at the half made no sense at all. I'd like to see him fired immediately instead of waiting until the end of qualification.
This team needs to be broken down and built back up. Deco has to go as does Simao. These guys are not getting any younger and will not be able to help us in 2012.
When healthy, Almeida needs to be the choice as striker as there is no better option (Liedson is not the answer). Give Moutinho and Veloso spots in the lineup. Meireles has never recreated his FCP form in the seleccao so let's get him out of there. Let's let the young kids like Orlanda Sa and Djalo try and earn some time as well. Let's try and build a team that can realistically contend in 2012 and 2014 instead of trotting out the same guys from 06/08.
Pray..........
Pary
And
Pray Again Before the Next match day.
Sweden have to drop point against Danish Otherwise.
dream about Euro 2012.
Carlos Q should have brought in Nani and Gomes in earlier especially Nani for Simao. I have said this for years as long as Simao is starting Portugoal is at a disavantage. He does nothing on the big stage and gets taken off the ball. Meireles is another guy who has no place on the starting team. He does nothing on the big stage and offers very little.
If we can make the minor adjustments for the next game (Simao out, Meireles out), we might be able to pull in off.
To the ground? Lol last time I checked that's a foul....uncalled handballs
three by bendtner alone and penalty deco was fouled in the box and how
Many uncalled obstructions?Swiss referee? HMmmmmmmmmm
forca portugal
forca portugal
forca portugal
catch it on the net - http://www.myp2p.eu/