Agreed. Expect them to try RVP on the left and then occasionally push sniedjer left like they did midway through the 2nd half against Germany. That seemed to be their best lineup offensively so far. Our lineup will be unchanged. I expect a very tough game. I fear that the probability of us -not- conceeding is low so we'll really need to be ready to exploit Dutch weakness on defense. One matchup that Dutch fans don't like is Nani versus their LB Willhems. That's going to be massively important. Ronaldo should have a lot more time on the ball tomorrow too. I expect him to break his duck tomorrow at last but we might need 2 - 3 goals. Can he (and the rest of the team) be clinical in the final 3rd like the Germans? The defensive midfield will have to play smart. Unlike the 1st two games, they will have to deal with attackers who will take them on the dribble and we need to make sure we don't just gift them FKs in dangerous positions or, worse, let them by. Expect Robben and Sneiner and Van der vaart try to cut inside and beat Veloso on the dribble. How will he respond? He's had 2 good games so far but does he have the bottle for this kind of game? It's going to be physical and intense. He can't allow himself to be bullied. Which reminds me: Rui Patricio has not been busy the 1st two games but tomorrow he might get quite a workload - I expect Holland to test him early and often with mid-long range shots. We need a massive game from him. Holland are a little lucky that the 2 losses didn't eliminate them. That might motivate them. A very tricky game for us. Not a game for wusses. We will have to play like warriors, equal part heart and brains. I don't know what to expect - except that if you have a heart condition go for a walk in the countryside for 90 minutes tomorrow afternoon... It's going to be intense. Forca Portugal!!
Hopefully when Robben gets the ball he just shoots it out of bounds as a result of trying to score like he did constantly in his last two games. I'd rather have him take the shot instead of passing, it seems to be less of a threat as of late.
Greece beat Russia. Congrats Fernando Santos. Wow! Russia was my dark horse team and they lost. If we do move on, We'd face Czech Rep. Sounds good to me.
It's a free ticket to the semi-finals if we get through the group-phase today. No doubt in my mind that this team can beat the Czech's, after that it will most likely be Spain. The Spaniards just don't seem the same, they're aging. Who knows, Spain could very well not even make it that far since anything can happen in this game. I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but if we are to be successful today in our task, we have big potential to go all the way.
Calm down. Czech Republic would be anything but an easy opponent. We are not that good to consider ourselves capable of beating anyone so easily. I consider the Czechs to be almost as good as the Danes. Moreover, today's match will be different. We will face an opponent who likes to play the ball on the ground, hence, they will put our DM to the test. This worries me, since I know Veloso is slow. Being knocked out of Euro today is a real possibility.
Ronaldo doesn't need to be "massive", he needs to play smart, calm and finish normal chances. What I really don't want is to see him try to take on the world by himself. If he plays like he has been playing but finishes the chances he has been having then we will be through.
If you are going to say that you consider the Czech Republic to be almost as good as the Dane's (Who we beat) then you are basically agreeing with me about how we would most likely beat them. Will it be easy? Probably not since its a QuarterFinal, but i think we have what it takes since we managed to perform well so far in this group of death. It's just common logic. But that's just me getting way too ahead of myself, i shouldn't even be looking forward to stuff like that due to the 50/50 chance we have of making it through the group-phase today.
it will probably be this: -------------stekelenburg------------ v.d.wiel-heitinga-mathijsen-willems ---------v.d.vaart*-de jong*------- robben-------v.persie---------sneijder --------------huntelaar---------------- * or v.Bommel, v.Marwijk's son-in-law Good luck and may the best team reach the quarter finals.
Excellent post (sorry I didn't quote the whole thing, just saving space). I will only add 2 things: we need to attack Willems like the Germans did and expose his inexperience and if we're flying down the wings, we need to cut in and have a got at the CBs as I think this is a soft spot. This could even be more exposed if Van Bommel and De Jong don't play. AND....we have to capitalize on our chances. FORCA PORTUGAL! Countdown: 6 hours and counting.
So the Dutch will definitely play one holding/defensive midfiedld? That would make sense, while they need 2 goals they can't let the back be totally exposed so they play either Bommer or DeJong. I go with Bommel, since he family.
I really dont need a game like this on fathers day. I don't want my kids to see in cardiac arrest over this damn game.
I can't say definitely, but you can count on it. We played our best games with one real defensive midfielder. vdVaart brings creativity to the midfield and learned to defend in England. I'm reading in this topic that Willems is our weak spot in defense, well the weak points are in fact the two morons in the center of defense. Since Ooijer retired at 37 and Heitinga took his place, our defense is shaky. I think that vMarwijk's tactic will be 'attack full force so that the other team can't attack'. On the counter you can do us harm I guess.
I agree. But would it be a full out attack, or maybe not as hardcore since you can always step it up in the 2nd half if you still need a goal. This way you don't expose yourself totally to the counter and control the game. I personally think that Holland has the ability to beat us by 2 goals. But the fact that they HAVE to win by 2 adds more pressure. And I find it hard to believe that Holland will lose 3 in a row. A draw may be in the cards. So, as I stated before the tournament, it all comes down to Denmark. They did us a huge favor by beating Holland...and now we need another by losing to Germany. Countdown, T minus 3 hours and counting.
Not surprising. I think everyone chants this against Ronaldo. If this still bothers him, then he'll be hopeless. I think he's gonna have a huge game.
Deco still has it http://www.maisfutebol.iol.pt/notic...sileirao-brasil-maisfutebol/1355759-1192.html
Ok, line ups are out. Portugal, surprise surprise...no changes. For Holland, Bommer is out with VVaart in and Huntelaar in for Afellay (I think). Heitinga out, Vlaar in. So definitely more attacking and more closely resembling their qualifiying formation. Overall no surprises.
No changes for Portugal, would have loved to see Varela in there. Holland playing a 4-1-3-2. Very offensive, defense needs there A game and Coentrão better not leave that left side open like he did the whole 2nd half against Denmark. Força Portugal!
Looks like Germany is fielding full strength. I hope that game gets settled quickly...I don't need heart attacks from 2 different games.