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| Sunday, 08 November 2009 21:41 |
Carlos Queiroz calls up Cristiano Ronaldo for play-offsPortugal announce 23-man squad Cristiano Ronaldo has been included in Carlos Queiroz’s list of 23 players for the World Cup qualifiers with Bosnia on 14th and 18th of November.
The Fifa World Player of the Year’s fitness has been the source of mass debate in Portugal and Spain in recent weeks, with the player’s club, Real Madrid, insisting that Ronaldo is unfit to take part in the crucial double-header next week. However, Queiroz announced on Friday his intention to include Ronaldo in his squad and have the 24-year-old assessed by his own medical staff, with the hope that the former Manchester United man can play some part against Bosnia. The squad includes two new names, with Hilario (Chelsea) and Fabio Coentrao (Benfica) being rewarded with first-ever call-ups. Meanwhile, Hugo Almeida returns after injury ruled him out of recent qualifiers, while Ricardo Costa is back in the frame having enjoyed a good run in the heart of the Wolfsburg defence of late.
Hilário |
Carvalho - Back to his best, as seen in Sunday's match v/s Manchester United. Must play.
Ferreira - Dependable, but has not played much, so "game sharpness" might not be there.
Hilario - Dependable, but has played just 3-4 times this season & was injured the last time he played, so again "game sharpness" might not be there. But besides being a good keeper with a cool head, he is also a calm, cultured & loyal person, so really good to see him finally honoured by this call-up.
Deco - A mixed bag for Chelsea, mainly because English football is very rough, but should do better in continental games. Should play.
We need to be carefull with bosnia's goal scoring abilty - AWAY GOALS COUNT DOUBLE.
Not my line up - but i think Q will go like this -
----------------------Eduardo-----------------
Miguel----R.Carvalho---B.Alves-----Duda
------------------------Pepe-----------------------
---------R.Meireles-----------Tiago------
-------------------------Deco---------------------
------------------Simao-----Liedson------------------
They're going to try to score right from the beginning because they know if they don't then Portugal will wear them down and score several goals on the counterattack. See Bosnia v Spain where Spain won 5-2: Bosnia went all out trying to score at the beginning of the game and nearly scored several times but were unable to break through Spains defense. Because they failed to score, Spain punished them and went up 3-0 before the half and scored 2 more later before Bosnia finally scored 2 at the end of the game.
Miguel---Alves--Carvalho--Veloso
------------------Tiago--------------------
Coentrao------Deco----------Simao
----------Liedson----Almeida-------
CQ has to go, qualify or don't qualify. Richardo Costa was a total disaster in the EURO 2008 qualifiers, just because he plays with to 2 Bosnian's, does not mean he is worthy of a callup. Raúl Meireles is another one who has been totally useless (except for 1 pass to ALVES against Albania). I wonder how many passes he has completed or how many shots on goal he has.... constantly losing the ball..... Oh well... hope for the best, expect the worst.
But looking forward to the games - we will do well to not underestimate Dzeko's pace I reckon. I agree with someone about not having Bosingwa to counter that, a shame for sure.
A tidy home win first would be lovely, but it's going to be very hard...
I like the Coentrao call for CR cover (who should not play IMO as he's not fit and even if he is won't have match fitness). The Costa call up was clever as I'm sure he can provide a lot of info about Dzeko and Misimovic.
I like Almeida getting called up as he started today and is the best striker we have (and brings much needed size against a big team). I would have gone with Nuno or Makakula as well, but with Liedson and Edinho as cover, I like the squad.
Anyone still calling for RQ is out of there mind...he needs to get loaned out somewhere where he can play before he gets recalled. Not to mention his record for the NT is atrocious.
My line-up:
-----------------Eduardo----------------------
--Miguel--Carvalho--Alves---Veloso(Costa)
------------Pepe----------Tiago(Miereles)-----
-----Simao-------Deco--------Nani(Coentrao)-
----------------------Almeida(Liedson)-------
**() are substitutions made if things are working or use two strikers in a 4-4-2 and take off Pepe.
Once again I am left shaking my head after seeing the chices CQ made.
But now that I am re-thinking things...CQ is only going to use about 14 players of the said squad. So there isn't a point complaining about the calling up of Hilario(doesn't appear often for Chelsea, if at all), , Paulo Ferreira (really, I swear this guy is only called up for the throw ins) & Duda (now that Veloso has shown he can also play at left back, his spot should've been saved for someone like Viana).
But I doubt (and hope) all of those will play.
Queiroz calls up 23 men because he has to. as far as he knows he's only got about 14 players in the squad.
My starting XI right here:
Eduardo
Miguel - Alves - Pepe/Carvalho - Veloso
Moutinho
Deco --- Tiago
Simao --- Nani/Coentrao
Liedson.
Forca Portugal
------------Hilario--------------
Miguel---Carvalho--Alves---Veloso
-----------------Pepe----------------
Simao----Meireles--Deco---Nani
----------------Almeida--------
I like the call ups of coentrao and hilario, eduardo will most likely start, but hilario is better in my opinion.