Portugal's Official Euro 2012 Squad

How can you be so sure ? We can beat Germany and lose to holland ... Let's wait and see what happens sometimes all it takes is a mistake or two, a
A moment of brilliance (ie from Ronaldo ) a call by the ref , to decide the outcome of a
Match .

At least in cr7 and to a lesser extent nani we have two starting players who are capable of magic. Even Germany doesn't really have that, they are just a solid all around strong side their most magical player is ozil who is not a big goal scorer and has poor stamina

He will only see 10 minutes in this tournament.

Can't say I disagree with what you've said. Germany's midfield worries me. We'll see what happens, and anything can happen (imagine Portugal and Denmark progessing?). Its the beauty of the game.

Whoever is pessimistic, in ANY regard, can please take it elsewhere. You think teams like Denmark and Greece won Euros thinking "We're gunna try our best! But our team is pretty poor...". No, they thought "We're gunna give it our f*cking all and MORE". Winning is roughly 70% what you're thinking and 30% skill, in all walks of life. Winning sports tournaments is no different. And let's look at the bigger picture here: Greece and Denmark won tournaments in the past with virtual no-names. We have by far the best player in the damn tournament, who is just coming off one of the most impressive seasons in history. If he so much is 80% on his game, any defense in the Euro is DONE. This isn't even mentioning that the rest of the team is damn solid. Being pessimistic, whether its worrying about the midfield, the bench or anything, is so counter-productive to a winning formula that it's not even funny. I pray that a single pessimistic thought does not enter into any of our players' heads and that they give it their all on that field.

At Euro 2000, we were drawn with two big teams (Germany and England) and another "weaker" team who, incidentally, qualified ahead of us for the Euro (Romania). Anyone see similarities?

We won the group with 9 points and Romania qualified behind us.

I remember, but I think that this year's Germany is better than 00's Gremany or England

Us at bigsoccer being pessimistic or questioning the midfield or whatever, has no impact on the game. Ronaldo doesnt come on here to get jacked up before games.

Galp's fantastic commercial CARTA A PORTUGAL

I hope he does. We'll need him and Moutinho to step it up a ton. I just don't see much coming from our strikers and Ronaldo and Nani are going to be covered like white on rice. This tournament could turn out to be a great one for us, but I'm guessing we struggle to get out of the group. I want to see how we react to Germany. Just to see if there is any hunger in our players to win this thing. I'm sure teams are concerned about facing us, but the good ones always seem to get the upper hand some how.

Give this man an award. Excellent post!

Sorry you missed the point of my post.

Great commercial. We forgot how our ancestors were badass mothertruckers and got shiz done. Ask Spain about their attempts to conquer us with their massive army

Time to show the portuguese heart in this tournament.

I get the point, but we aren't the players. If the players feel that way they don't belong anywhere near the squad or playing football professionally.

For Portugal to do well they need a few things to happen;

1- Our key players to perform (Ronaldo, Nani, Pepe, Moutinho, Coentrao, Meireles, Vianna)

To do well let alone win a tournament you key players need to perform. My point is that at the very highest level games are won on small details, Portugal are fortunate to have Ronaldo who is for me the best player at this tournament by some margin. I can guarantee you right now that our opponents in the group stage are extremely concerned about Ronaldo and that their game plan will greatly revolve around nullifying the threat he causes. The key to stopping Ronaldo is not how you play him but how much pressure is applied to the centre of the park and the fullbacks in behind. If Ronaldo gets the ball early with space your pretty much F##ked because he is now 1 v 1 with your fullback and he is going to get a shot away or your going to have to give a free kick away to stop him which a coach really doesn't encourage due to the obvious set piece threat Portugal brings. So Moutinho and Meireles jobs are important, but for me Vianna needs to start because of his range of passing and his ability to find Ronaldo and Nani early, then of course we need to take the chances. Just my opinion.

2- Our second tier players hold their own (Alves, Veloso, Pareira, Almeida, Postiga)
These players are important because they are usually the ones who make those fatal mistakes which can cost you a game. I mean Abel Xavier 2000, Paulo Ferreira 2008, 2006, 2004 the day he was born, Ricardo Costa 2010. They need to be solid without being spectacular. Postiga and Almeida need to show some quality as i think that their future selections depend on this tournament with others pushing for selection.

3- Players to have a breakout tournament (Oliveira, Patricio, Lopes, Micael)
Oliveira has alot of ability regardless of what some of you believe, he was brilliant in big games at the world cup and if he can be given an opportunity to show his ability i think he will shine. Patricio has turned out to be an excellent keeper and if portugal are to do well alot will depend on his shot stopping abilities. I know alot of you dont like Ruben Micael but i actually believe he has alot of quality and can be quite an important player for this side.

4- Luck needs to be with us
When winning matches and even tournaments you need luck, dont care what anyone says decisions need to go your way. Just look at spains goals against us in the last world cup, so we need the gods to smile on us at some stage.

you guys should check out the "continente" ads for the selacao. talk about inciting anger! they go into germany, holland and Denmark and burn those countries with clutch goals scored by infamous portuguese over the years

Yes, they went too far. hahaha

Here is the video:
http://creativity-online.com/work/continente-portugal-beats-germany/27791

Meireles, a judge? Everything seems so clear now!..

Good god. What is this - the Village People?! And what the hell is Veloso supposed to be? 25-year-old slob still living with his parents?

It's not just about big soccer...if we do it here you can imagine the millions of Portuguese around the globe doing the same thing. IE: The jeering after the tie against macedonia. A little less negativity can go a long way.

Well, again, I don't disagree. Fans at the game jeering a friendly 2 weeks before a huge tournament really needed to reevaluate themselves. Tying Macedonia while fringe players like Q (who ruined the game and really screwed Joao Perreira, who otherwise would have had a great game) are trying to make a case to be 1 of 3 out the bench, isn't the worst thing in the world.

My questioning of the midfield, or my thinking that Germany will be a daunting task, should not be mistaken as negative. Over the next month, what I want most is Portugal to win the Euro. I come here to talk to fellow footballistas with common similarities, not to bitch and moan.

This video speaks for itself. Viva Portugal!!!!

LMAO wow, that continente video is HILARIOUS!! They got the actual guy who scored the goal in the commercial hahahaha.

And jec1, awesome video also, but not sure why they'd show us losing to the Germans lol.

I think it's more about redemption... Germany beat us, now it's time to beat them. Anything can happen if you work hard and put out a good strategy.

Absolutely we can beat them. Nuno Gomes & Helder Postiga the goal scorers in that game, and we all hate both of them haha. Still angry at Ballack's no-call push off on Paulo Ferriera on the 3rd goal.

06 - Unwarranted penalty vs. France
08 - 3rd goal should have been a foul on Ballack
'10 - Villa offside

Am I biased or are all 3 of those true? *Sigh*