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| Monday, 12 September 2011 14:45 |
PortuGOAL podcast 39: European fixtures preview, Carvalho-Bento bust-upLiga – FC Porto steam ahead and Sporting spring to life The latest PortuGOAL podcast brings you a heady mix of domestic, European and international football. After reviewing the latest round of Liga matches, we take a look at what promises to be an intriguing set of Champions League and Europa League fixtures for FC Porto, Benfica, Braga and Sporting. This week’s show ends with a look at the Seleccao’s Euro 2012 qualification situation and the bombshell which was Ricardo Carvalho’s shock departure from the national team set-up.
Part One:
Sporting came back from a seemingly hopeless situation to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 victory with three late goals at Pacos de Ferreira on Saturday night. Does Sporting’s season start here? FC Porto show little sign of being any weaker than last season, putting in an authoritative and at times thrilling display to dismiss Vitoria Setubal. Benfica and Braga stayed in touch with the Dragons with weekend wins, while it’s been a forgettable start to the season for Rio Ave and Nacional. We round up the situation after four rounds in the Liga ZON Sagres.
Part Two:
The Champions League is back! Two mouth-watering ties this week see Benfica host Manchester United and FC Porto facing off against Shakhtar Donetsk at the Estadio do Dragao. We look forward to these games as well as Sporting and Braga’s Europa League group phase kick-off against FC Zurich and Birmingham City respectively.
Part Three:
The Seleccao remain on course to qualify for Euro 2012, but in the last national team get-together the news was dominated by the acrimonious bust-up between the Real Madrid centre-back and Portugal coach Paulo Bento. Seventy-five caps later Ricardo Carvalho’s brilliant career in the Seleccao has come to a controversial end. The panel tries to make sense of it all.
To listen to the podcast click on the play button above. To download right-click on the link below and select “save link as” option. (Duration: 26m 47s)
We would be delighted to hear your feedback about the podcast. Please leave your comments using the form below.  Related: Bento says no way back for "deserter" Carvalho Related: Sporting come back from dead to beat Pacos, Benfica win Related: Ominous Porto overpower Vitoria Setubal Follow PortuGOAL on Twitter and Facebook |
I wouldnt care if the ban was one or five months but leaving him out of the Euro affects us tremendously especially if he keeps up the great form. Ok he walked out without talking to the coach but the coach didnt clear up specifically why he was left out. What did Alves/Pepe do to earn their spot over Carvalho? It makes no sense.
The Europa League spots could also get interesting, especially due to the inconsistency of the clubs.
Let me add that I have enjoyed Gil Vicente's form, and hopefulluy they will be able to continue to impress. Especially with some of their tough matches out of the way.
I agree with tropiano in his assessment.
Porto's road is a tough one, with all the traveling and possible bad weather.
Let me add that although Benfica may be favorite to advance, the newbies will be looking to make a name for themselves.
We all know that the "Big" names tend to advance in the CL, but that doesn't mean the road will be easy. There always seems to be a surprise team as well.
I do feel that Sporting and Braga would be better served with earning a CL qualifying spot for next season. It would guarantee more money in the coffers.
That being said, the qualifying/playoff stage for the CL has gotten harder through the years.
As for the Seleccao controversy, it's getting ridiculous. For the high road that Bento supposedly has taken, he still felt it necessary to throw the race card and tell Carvalho to apologize to the Portuguese people.
Ok, I get it, Carvalho let his pride/ego get in the way, but what exactly did he do in order to get demoted. Here is a guy that should have been named the Captain to begin with. This wasn't a friendly to see what others had to offer. And please remember that Cyprus actually drew with Portugal 4-4 in their first match. And it wasn't the defenses fault, if you go back and take a look.
It was either him or Pepe? Why? Alves was automatic? Really? Again, why?
Getting lost in all this is the fact that Bento made a horrible managerial decision, that will have reprecussions later on. The fact remainss that Portugal will be rolling out a lesser squad from this point forward.
If Bento was trying to show is grip on the squad, he picked the wrong guy. There are others he could have shown his machismo with.
The FPF has now suspended Carvalho for a year, for his actions. I understand their decision, and don't exactly condemn it. But I will add that these are the same guys that keep meddling in squad selection, and even starting players and tactics. The only reason that Bento was picked as the new manager was his plyability in taking direction and also came on the cheap.
As a Portuguese, I usually take a lot of grief, for not being a complete rah rah guy. I'm proud of what our Seleccao has accomplished and am gratefull for the strides they've taken in qualifying for the tourney's. I remember the "dead" years. Not all our players are world class, but we do have very good players to go along with our world class bunch. Just like other countries we have defficiencies on the field, but it's become clear that we also have plenty on the bench. Please don't let the recent wins cloud the fact that Bento hasn't really done much. All in all, the players have played better, and he does deserve credit for that, but tactically I don't see much difference.
Danny is still put out wide, for crying out loud.
The games between the 3 will be very tight I suspect, it's hard to see any of them running away with the group but I hope Porto can do so of course.
Benfica could have a chance against Man Utd. United have a huge game against Chelsea at the weekend and I can see Fergie resting some key players.
He could play his second string side in every group game and probably still win this weak group. Last season he fielded weakened sides in the CL group stage, even in the first game against Rangers. Even Bebe got a game in Bursaspor.
So Benfica could have a chance of causing an upset if Fergie rests many of his players. If its a full strength United side, then Benfica's best hope is a draw.
As for Sporting & Braga, the Europa League could be a distraction for them this season. They might be better off focusing on the league and making sure they finish 3rd and getting into the CL. Something which wasn't available last season to the 3rd best team.