Portugal 1-0 Czech Republic: Ronaldo a constant threat and eventually gets the winner
The first half line-ups, though Ronaldo drifted around and Nani spent some time on the left
Cristiano Ronaldo was a greater goalscoring threat than the Czech side put together, as Portugal narrowly won a game that should have been safe much earlier.
Paulo Bento named an unchanged side again – he’s played this XI in Portugal’s last six competitive games, four at the Euros, two in the play-offs against Bosnia.
Michael Bilek was without Tomas Rosicky again, and used Vladimir Darida rather than Daniel Kolar in Rosicky’s attacking midfield role.
This was a one-sided game, with Portugal superior all over the pitch.
Shapes and overloads
The game settled down into a fairly predictable pattern and shape, with a 4-3-3 against a 4-2-3-1. Each midfielder had a specific opponent to track and the battles on the wings were clear 1 v 1s. The slight exceptions involved each side’s deepest midfielder occasionally becoming overloaded. Veloso played slightly left-of-centre and became distracted by Petr Jiracek’s drifts in from the flank, which forced him to leave Darida a couple of times. Darida is clearly an intelligent player and his positioning and movement caused Veloso some difficulties, but the youngsters didn’t have the necessary skill on the ball to influence the game.
At the other end, Tomas Hubschman played right-of-centre, trying to guard the zone Ronaldo was moving into. That meant he was concerned with a wide player rather than an opposition midfielder, and Portugal’s midfield runners could move into that zone unchecked.
Battle down the flank
The expected battle was down the Ronaldo flank, where Theodor Gebre-Selassie should have been braver with his positioning. He was (understandably but frustratingly) cautious with his positioning, only moving in advance of Ronaldo a couple of times. He focused much more on his defensive duties than in his previous three games. Further up, Jiracek marked Fabio Coentrao well.
Ronaldo had actually spent much of the first 20 minutes in more central positions, with Nani popping up on the left, though Portugal didn’t look particularly good with this system, and it coincided with their weakest spell of the game. When they moved to a natural 4-3-3, they were the better side by far.
A major feature of the first half was how tightly the Czech full-backs tried to stick to the Portuguese wingers when Portugal moved forward with the ball. Gebre-Selassie ended up in central positions a couple of times, practically in front of his centre-backs. Jiracek made sure Coentrao didn’t exploit the space too readily. On the other wing, Nani moved into deeper positions on the right, with David Limbersky moving up the pitch. Joao Pereira didn’t overlap particularly impressively.
The Portuguese midfield has changed from the opening game of the tournament. Here, Raul Meireles was to the left, Joao Moutinho to the right. See the change from the opening game against Germany:
This didn’t have a particularly big influence on the game – it meant the two midfield creators, Plasil and Moutinho, were against each other, and that Meireles had space ahead of him to break into, although his decision-making was often poor.
The Czechs struggled at attacking transitions – their creative players simply couldn’t get the ball because of some aimless balls down the pitch. One clearance from Limbersy, a flick-up-and-volley to absolutely no-one, summed it up.
Helder Postiga went off injured, with Hugo Almeida replacing him. This meant a more static central striker upfront for Portugal, though Almedia did reasonably well by occupying both centre-backs and creating space for others.
Midfield runners
Little changed after half-time, but Portugal made more of an effort to get midfielders forward into the final third. Whether it was by design or accident, their first chance of the second half demonstrated where the Czechs were logically going to be vulnerable. With the full-backs sticking tight to the Portuguese wingers, Portugal could get extra players into space in those wide zones. That’s what Meireles did straight away, moving to the left wingas Gebre-Selassie moved inside with Ronaldo, and Meireles crossed for a good near post chance for Almeida, who headed over. Portugal needed more of this thrust from midfield.
Bilek realised that Darida was struggling to get involved in the game, so withdrew him and pushed Jiracek inside, introducing Jan Rezek on the right. This didn’t really help – it was a slightly more direct approach, and more suited to counter-attacking, but aside from one Pilar solo run, the Czech Republic created little.
Ronaldo
The game became increasingly about Ronaldo. He’d hit the post with a brilliant turn and shot late in the first half, then hit the post from a long-range free-kick after the break. He largely abandoned his movements into central playmaking positions, choosing either to get the ball on the wing, or move directly into the box for crosses. This encouraged the midfield players forward, and both Meireles and Moutinho had shots from just outside the box, with the latter more impressive than the former.
Ronaldo’s winner had been coming. Portugal were spreading the ball wide to Nani, who had a couple of opportunities to cross in the minutes leading up to the goal. Sure enough, it was Moutinho storming forward from midfield unchecked into a wide zone – just like Meireles at the start of the second half – that resulted in the breakthrough, and Ronaldo’s excellent run across the face of Gebre-Selassie was the other key component. The expected team won, and the expected player scored the crucial goal.
Conclusion
This was a very unimpressive performance from Bilek’s side – they didn’t defend well, counter effectively or hold onto the ball for long periods. Their gameplan was unclear. Realistically, they’re simply not a good side. They overachieved by making it through Group A, so Bilek can be satisfied with his side’s performance, but further progression was unlikely.
This was probably Portugal’s best display of the competition, as their first clean sheet was combined with constant chance creation. They need better decision-making in the final third, and the midfield triangle will have to be more efficient against their semi-final opponents, but if Ronaldo is this visible in future matches, they have a realistic chance of winning the competition.
I don’t understand how a team can start so well (for 25 minutes) and finish so badly. Took a while for Portugal to get going but was really impressed in the second half.
Their midfield 5 is almost as good as any in the tournament.
Fantastic display by Portugal and I think they might have the best balanced team in the tournament right now. They have the best back four I believe, including the best leftback in the tournament in Coentrao and the midfield is doing a surprisingly great job of protecting the defence as well. Their ability to counter at speed or when dominating, sending accurate crosses for the forwards is very impressive. They are a very physically powerful team that I see giving the winner of the Spain/France match a fantastic duel in which I expect them to come out on top. I think Ronaldo can smell the Balon d’Or and he might just get it if he leads Portugal to winning the tournament.
The only missing ingredient is a quality striker, wasn’t that impressed with Almeida when he came on. There were a few good chances with his head that you would expect a striker to put on target (although he did bury that offside chance). For those of you who are familiar with him, was this a case of nerves or rustiness?
Almeida has a powerful presence, but he’s slow, not a good finisher and poor on aerial ability considering his height. Postiga is technically better, but physically weak and definitely not a striker. Nelson Oliveira might be a good player in the future, but he’s still too young and inexperienced (he played no more than 12 games for his team this year and coming on as a substitute). Liedson could be the striker that Portugal needed, but he’s almost 35 and probably lost some of the pace and agility that made him a lethal finisher (and Paulo Bento is not keen on selecting nationalized players). Yes, far worse than the lack of a creative midfielder (Moutinho is actually starting to make a decent job) is the lack of at least one decent striker.
‘(and Paulo Bento is not keen on selecting nationalized players)’
Pepe is a born and bred Brazilian.
I think this is a problem for Portugal for ages,always great team overall but mediocree strikers.Solution would be to move Ronaldo in a central striker position and put Varela on the wing.That would be also a better defensive solution because Ronaldo simply doesn’t play without the ball.Ferguson did it frequently and Mourinho also in few ocasions.
If i remember it right,Mourinho said in a old interview that he doesn’t want to consider ronaldo in striker position except extreme cases.
I agree they look complete and they are a very well drilled team. They also have character as shown in the Denmark game. Bento has also managed to unleash Ronaldo and minimize the need for him to defend by having Veloso covering. I also thought that despite Almeida’s wastefulness he is a better fit than Postiga because he stays in the area and occupies the defenders. That creates space outside the area and Portugal always had spare men there, kept the ball and eventually the Chechs became very tired (Spain like, with less quality on the ball but more directness). Whoever plays against them in the semis will need to use a natural winger on the right to occupy Coentrao (Spain – Navas, France – ?).
I especially liked the fact Portugal seems able to create chances with any possible way. Very impressive performance and the Chech Republic is a better team than they seem.
They are not balanced. They have no true playmaker or number 9.
They have a balanced team, just not the perfect team
Solid defense, hard working midfield, an attack that has scored goals in all matches except against Germany (but still created plenty of chances to score in ALL matches).
Plus, for a team that plays in counter attack and has a player that doesn’t like to defend (Ronaldo – he doesn’t have Xabi to scream at him to defend lol), don’t think that a playmaker would be a good option. Think that this system with 3 hard working midfielders and with Meireles and Moutinho taking turns to go forward is a better option.
Yep Ronaldo was excellent in a Portugal shirt after quite a while. And although all the headlines will be about him, tonight also showed how good Moutinho can be when given the freedom to roam forward. The trio in Portugal’s midfield always seems to be just a bunch of defensive mids with no creativity but i think tonight has shown that if Bento can learn from matches, Moutinho can sort of fill the hole which has been Portugals need for a creative mid.
Moutinho can fill the spot of creative mid, since there isn’t any other good option. He used to play nº 10 on U19/21. But as he was growing he started to get deeper and changed to be as he is now.
A bunch of defensive mids with no creativity? That’s a little harsh considering the trio consists of Meireles, Moutinho, and Veloso. Meireles and Moutinho are not defensive players – just look at the positions they took when Portugal had the ball – , and even Veloso has a splendid range of passing.
For me, Meireles is more of a box to box/engine player. Not much creativity to his game but like a stereotypical English central midfielder to some extent, makes good runs and likes to shoot as well as chips in defensively well and a fine work rate indeed. Veloso is a pivot player, he distributes the ball well from the holding position and has a good eye for a long pass but creativity? Again, not much. The ‘pivot’ kind of passing is not the most creative.
They are bound to take advanced positions when the Czech sit back as they deep as they did with little intention of attacking.
Actually just what is creativity?
If by going your description xavi,pirlo,scholes are just pivotal midfielders that have long range passing.
The pivot description is variable and flexible in my view. Xavi does not play deep like a Xabi, Busquets or Veloso. He is not a pivot player nor does he rely heavily on long passing. Scholes, only in the last few seasons, has he been operating this deep and before that, he showed goalscoring and more direct creativity. Pirlo plays deep but he is creative from deep. Those three are a different kind of deep playmakers/pivot players from the likes of Xabi, Busquets and Veloso. Veloso is what one.
I said ‘the ‘pivot’ kind of passing is not the most creative’, I didn’t say the ‘pivot kind of player’ is not the most creative. There is a difference, one mentions a kind of passing and the other mentions a kind of player. The likes of Busquets, Xabi and Veloso do the ‘pivot kind of passing’, whereas the likes of Scholes, Pirlo and Xavi have a variety of passing skills, hence them being somewhat more creative. Before applying my description, at least please understand it first.
I thought Portugal’s right side was pretty woeful tonight. Nani had a few good spells but was largely wasteful and careless on the ball and Jao Perreira was poor defensively.
Yes – Same thoughts here – The week link that stronger teams may use in SF.. They got to be more efficient in attack (Nani) and effective in defence (Perreira) especially on ther right side.
Seemingly Nani had the ball for the same amount of time as Ronaldo (5 mins).
Almeida’s introduction was crucial for Portugal today. He kept the two central defenders busy with his aerial threat, which helped Portugese players find space in the box for crosses.
Portugal’s crosses without (1/12) and with (7/24) Almeida, via statszone: http://fourfourtwo.com/statszone/share.aspx?i=09HMz
Another way of looking at it is that Portugal played more offensifely in second half. They were cautious in First half. In the second half knowing Czech is not going to bring bodies forward, they attacked with both Moutinho & Mierles participating more in attack/ alternatively joining Nani in right flank. That could explain more crosses in second half. I am not sure about the aerial threat Almeida brings. Postiga is far better striker and hence rightly the first choice for Portugal. I am sure Olievra (I am not sure if spelled correct) will play ahead of Almeida if Postiga is not fit to start next match.
I think Veloso did a decent job of dealing with the, admittedly limited, threat of Darida in the hole, but with the ball he was very sloppy and needs to offer more to his side when they have possession, especially as he was often the midfielder with the most time and space.
Meireles worked hard and created some decent chances but I think it was only Moutinho who played near where he is capable of. He is the main source of creativity in the midfield and adds a touch of class to Portugal’s midfield.
For the Czechs, Darida offered little in the hole and Baros again looked ridiculously isolated up top. I’ve enjoyed watching Pilar but he was kept relatively quiet by Pereira but as the Portuguese pushed forward and left space in behind, there were a few occasions when he was able to show some flashes of what he is capable of.
If anyone fancies another read: http://tttfootball.wordpress.com/2012/06/21/czech-republic-0-portugal-1-21st-june-2012/
What’s the best way of countering Ronaldo then? Seems if you can stop him, you can theorethcially stop Portugal nearly entirely as he is the driving force of the whole team. Perhaps his runs are so linear and direct that it is difficult to man mark him as your team will just be stretched apart and your defence will lose its organisation, opening up chances for other players, but a good marking job on Ronaldo would put the onus on Nani, a guy who doesnt often astonish or excel when called upon, as well as Meireles who is punching above his weight given the important role he has in this side, and Moutinho who looks more suited.
I totally agree with this in regards to Ronaldo. If a team can shut him down/slow him down (a big if) do they have the depth to be a tournament winning team? I don’t know if they do.
The Czechs had a good run and overshot what I expected for them. Nothing to be ashamed of for them. Today’s game was a bit unfortunate for them as they didn’t really test Portugal, but a credible showing for them in the Euro nonetheless.
I see some changes in Ronaldo’s playing style – believe mostly bcos of his time with Mou. If you shut him down going forward, which most of teams tend to do with the available technical ability in their teams, he gets a little deep & central and brings either the running Coentrao or Velaso/ Moutinho in play. I am seeing him play more side/ back passes when put on pressure rather than taking on the defenders and losing the ball – at times drawing a foul. Nowadays, he passes the ball and then starts moving again off the ball as play builds in the other wing or central areas – This has been a key change I observed in him.. So if his head is right on the night he cannot be stopped – even by shutting him up when he gets the ball – There is no question about his technical ability anyways – It is just the head that matters now!!
Completely shutting down the threat of Ronaldo has been done before, most notably via Barcelona with Puyol constantly on Ronaldo and the occasional help from Pique and Alves.
The only problem is that these players are all top class. Not a very accessible commodity for teams like the Czech national team.
He’s more mature now then he was at that time, his good performances in club and internatinal level show that. You’d have to keep 2 players on him, which would mean free space for Moutinio/Meireles and, more notably, Coentrao.
You’d be eliminating one threat but opening up your defence to many others. Plus he’d still be an aerial threat, much like today.
If Spain beat France as expected, the task of stopping Ronaldo will fall on the shoulders of Arbeloa, supported by Ramos. That’s the kind of match up I always find interesting at international tournaments: the prospect of seeing how club team mates perform when pitted against one another. In theory, the familiarity should help the defender minimise Ronaldo’s influence, but by the same token, Ronaldo will be well aware of Arbeloa’s weaknesses and how to exploit them. I suppose the best chance of Spain stopping Ronaldo is to follow the Barcelona vs Madrid strategy that usually works (for Barca and for Spain): keep possession and deprive him of the ball, limiting him to few chances and trusting Arbeloa to stay close to him in dangerous areas.
Portugal were the braver side here and got the result they wanted. They pushed their fullbacks and midfielders forward while the Czech’s allowed themselves to be dominated, with Gebre-Selassie summing up their approach.
Portugal’s fullbacks were very impressive, tackling well and getting forward into dangerous positions, as well as always providing an outball for Portugal when the Czech’s pressed the midfield. At the start, Portugal’s midfield didn’t pass very well, with Veloso in particular very sloppy, but they improved as the game went on and Moutinho too charge in the second half, allowed Portugal to build sustained pressure. He had been underused in previous games but had his best game yet. Meireles’s movement was pretty good going forward, but he lacked that quality and creativity to really kill the game off given the possession and domination Portugal were allowed. The wingers were the real threat however, with Nani perhaps not as prevalent as past games but still playing a decent game, while Ronaldo was excellent all game, with his movement and acceleration in particular excellent. The goal involved Portugal’s two best players and was a real quality move. If they do come up against Spain they face a big test, they won’t see much of the ball and have actually been quite wasteful with chances this tournament, something they will have to improve.
The Czech Republic have had a good tournament, surprising me by getting out of the group stages. But they played a poor game today which lacked courage really. They gave up their best attributes – Gebre-Selassie getting forward, midfield creativity – to try and stop Portugal and it backfired. The Czech team have looked poor when trying to be reactive at this tournament (today, against Russia) and actually looked much better when they have taken the game to their opponents (Greece and Poland). It’s a shame they didn’t do this today.
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doh!
Ha, looks like I got this one right, thoughts on the game tonight? Gotta be Germany surely, Greece just don’t have enough threat for me.
Going for the underdog (always do) but a pity that that one Greek player is out … he reminds me of Munitis (key player on the team I support) … short, strong, captain, incredibly emotional and pretty decent actually.
But yeah, the Germans will win without breaking a sweat … I have Müller, Samaras (don’t ask, hehe) and Makos (couldn’t get a replacement so had to play him) on my fantasy team.
I think Greece v Portugal would have made for a more interesting game. Will be reading the latest issue of ADVERT ALERT The Blizzard ADVERT ALERT as I keep one eye on the game. 
As for the game itself, no mysteries really … figure it’ll be a boring one if you’re a neutral (like me). What’ll liven the game up is an early Greek goal (penalty or FK) and then watching the Germans get frustrated as the Greeks “suffer” a lot of fouls.
I have the Germans down for a win (3-1 I think) but I hope I’m wrong.
Oh, I don’t bet for money, when I say “down” I mean in the fantasy league I play in, you also have to guess the results.
oh … thankfully Baros retired from international football, don’t know what happened in Turkey with him.
He sure didn’t have one magic moment left in him as hoped, almost every tough was bad and he was constantly late for the crosses/passes etc.
The Czechs now have a chance to throw on some 18 year old kid, surely someone like that can’t do worse … although the #9 who came on actually was …
I think FourFourTwo has to check their graphic, Im pretty sure Ronaldo had a one on one against Cech early on which was blocked
it was (wrongly) given as a foul on the defender cos Ronaldo just mopped up him up with his strength that sent the guy flying on the floor and Webb bought it. So it was a free kick and the shot is ignored
Czech Rep couldn’t launch good build up at attacking wise, Game should be decided far earlier if Portugal can finish final shoots, It was one sided game. Ronaldo worked very hard to got into scoring position at every chances and it paid off.
Czechs needed Rosicky. It happens…
Just me that thought it should have been a penalty on Ronaldo in the latter stages too?
If the scores were 0-0, I think Howard would have given it.
Coentrao was exceptional in this match. His willingness to run at defenders with the ball from deep positions made up for the often static play of the other Portuguese players.
If I were to pick one concern for the semi finals I would say it is Portugal’s tedious build up play. The players didn’t move around enough off the ball and the passing was so slow that the forwards were all easily marked out of the play. They had even more problems to this effect than Spain, who are at least built specifically for that style of play. Portugal need to be more assertive about attacking with fast passing and fewer long balls. If they can play Ronaldo in at speed then marking him out of the game should be nearly impossible.
Hopefully Almeida starts in the semi final. He may have been wayward but his presence in the goal area created the space for Ronaldo’s run for the header. It gives Portugal 2 aerial targets in open play and 4 from corners, and along with more attacking play from Moutinho looks to make Portugal a very balanced side. Only Germany looks comparatively balanced to this point.
TECHNICAL ABILITY
The one nil score line doesn’t do justice to how one-sided this match was, and I can’t see another quarter final being this one-sided. This may have given strength to the argument that adding an additional eight teams to the tournament may be a bad idea.
http://noeasyfootballblogsatthislevel.blogspot.co.uk/
“I can’t see another quarter final being this one-sided”
Maybe you will reconsider your thought after tonight’s game!!
And yes – no way another 8 teams could have added anything to the tournament – except for the number of games of course
The number of games would be good but then again with the regular season getting harder on the athletes all the time will they just be boring matches.With tonight’s game Germany will have all the ball but it is in Greece’s nature to allow this if the Germans get an early goal then we could well see a one sided affair but it does include the favourites against the weakest of teams left in so a little bit more expected this time around
Due to the players that Portugal have in the squad, theyre better suited as being a counter attacking team then as a possession based team. A solid backline and midfield (which even tho the 3 in there arent world beaters theyre still better than most teams midfields) and then you have Ronaldo and Nani exceptional players on the counter. Whoever out of Spain or France they get in the semis, I think Portugal will fancy their chances as both Spain/France like to have the majority of possession and neither teams plays with a conventional CF and with the well drilled defence that Portugal have I can see them frustrated either teams and then break quickly against the high line defences.
Its will be interesting to see if Spain go thru and the tension that comes with a Spain/Portugal match and even more so with the antics that Pepe & Biscuits are known for during the Barca/Real clashes over the past 2-3 years and also the battle between teammates in Ramos & Ronaldo. And will VdB bring in Albiol to play as a CB and switch Ramos to RB to combat Ronaldo
Portugal now have a striker who is rarely going to fall deep and will remain higher up the pitch due his pace(…or lack of it). the advantage that Ronaldo and Nani provide Portugal is just not down the flanks. their pace and trickery will pull away the central midfielders of the opposition towards them, and this will leave either one of Moutinho and Meireles with loads of space to feed in Almeida. this was done by Moutinho only on one accassion where the goal was disallowed.
against Spain, Busquets is going to be covering Arbeloa throughout the game and Iniesta will also track back with Nani. Even though Portugal will be playing mostly on the counter, Moutinho has a huge job as he will be the one with all the space, as ALonso is no lonnger that fit to cover the youngster alone.
All this provided Benzema and co. dont upset the champions first
your observation does makes sense theoretically but then the team that you are talking about is spain who deny space to the opposition .
lets consider a scenario where ronaldo is guarded by arbeloa and busquestus . since he is not messi he needs to passs the ball . now the portuguese middle line plays behind the opposition middle they dont try too much to venture forward even so lets consider he will pass to somebody but then the spaniards close down so early that it is very difficult to pass the ball unless and untill you can win one on one against them ( seen modric against them ) and neither of the portuguese midfielders are that good . so even though nani and ronaldo might attract 2 players from the opposition team . the other ones are not good enough to support them . the spaniards use little niggling fouls to slow your game they try to get ball out of bounce since that helps them to press better or the opposition has to go back which allows them to get themselves in order so all and all the portuguese middle line is not that equipped to handle the spainards challenge . more ever against spain i wonder if bento will allow them to come forward .
most importantly spaniards dont defend with 8 or nine players but the whole team does there part on defense and that is why they are very hard to open .
there is way be sure to read that in the preview in the spain vs france match i will write not long balls but on floor .
Ronaldo was the key player.If it hadn’t been for him,Portugal would not have won the match.You can’t see much tactics in such games.It’s a one man show.
Two substitutions made by the two coaches happened to favour portugal . first of all postiga getting injured being replaced by almeida who was a threat for me in the box since he kept the back 2 occupied and they couldnt move or go to help the full backs for cover . second one is darida who was substituted ( find of the tournament has a good eye for a pass ) who must had been getting tired because of his work rate and most importantly portugal had changed their approach on the offense .
i defer with your observation that the czecks struggled on their offense .the czecks offensive strategy was correct . they moved the ball through wings avoiding the direct confrontation in midfield where they were outnumbered 3 -2 these because hubschman stayed deep and if he was to get involved then either space was to be left behind or ball had to passed back which would had slowed the game and that would had allowed portugal to settle . the czecks were definitely going to struggle but still guys like darida starred in the loss . they played with a decent tempo when coming forward and baros too worked very well running in channels and bringing others in play but then they were going to struggle since they didnt had a player of rosicki’s style who would like to combine with the forward and go beyond him
i dont what sort of ideas did bento had about his teams offense . he moved ronaldo in the middle with view that he could better pass the ball and can combine with other players and more importantly he would get the space and that his shot from distance was another factor . but when postiga went off and almeida came on he went back to his normal position . although i may had like him to be there when almeida came on . in the second half they again changed their approach almeida and other started playing with back to the game and stated taking position in the hole and played 1-2 with the midfielders who looked to get beyond the strikers . another thing was that with almeida they started crossing ball more in the box since they had somebody big to get at the end of it and on such one cross came portugal’s winner .
i never could understand as to why a coach take his best performing players from the field and replace it with someone who was not half as good . giracek is a wide player not a central midfield player who is hard working but hasnt got that acumen or discpline to read the game or to have an eye for pass most importantly he is not that patient enough and tries to go on closing others which leaves space behind .
still it looks like the stage is set for ronaldo to stamp his mark but depends on how much his support cast can back him .
player’s to look out for :- pilar and darida . both should go on and fullfill their potential.
I was so disappointed in the Czech’s in the end. For the first half hour, it was all them & then they just went into there shell. They showed way to much respect to a pretty average Portugal team in my opinion.
Portugal have been playing well against weaker/out of form teams, but let’s not forget how poor they looked against a Germany side playing in second gear. On paper, their counter attacking ability looks great, but it didn’t happen against Germany, and Spain, with their frantic pressing and fouling when they lose the ball will be even tougher to play against on the break.
I would love it if they could get a result (in my view they are well overdue a major championship), but I would not be optimistic if they came up against Spain.
Agreed completely.Portugal lack ideas when they are forced to create.
My thoughts exactly! I think Spain will fairly easily bypass Portugal (unless they have a complete off-day). France has been unpredictable / inconsistent, so it may go either way if their semi-final opponent turns out to be France.
I still think Germany and Spain will be in the Final, as predicted before the tournament. They are both simply outstanding, and playing like champions.
http://blog.oddslife.com/2012/06/england-vs-italy-quarter-final-4/
Can’t help but disagree that while Ronaldo is a threat,Portugal’s entire balance is thrown off by him.His teammates almost don’t expect him to pass when he has the ball.In fact,there were several occasions where the attack would’ve continued on had he chosen to involve his team.
When a top team finally finds the right balance to counter him and the extra space made for other players,Ronaldo will inevitably want to do it on his own and there we will see the downfall of Portugal. Very much an above average side.
I almost note that Ronaldo’s performances for Portugal is entirely different to his for Real.I believe it’s due to the fact that internationally,the standard of cohesiveness is not as tight as it would be at club level,hence this sort of individual
-dominated style can flourish.He would never play this way in the Champions League,the standard is simply too good for him to indulge himself.
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