Portugal vs Germany Quarterfinal- Euro, 2008 [R]

[TheGrimSweeper]

The soccer in Poland and in Germany are too different worlds. Tell me what post-communistic country the size of Poland have had any real success in soccer history?

Czech Republic hasn't done too bad

[PileD]

The soccer in Poland and in Germany are too different worlds. Tell me what post-communistic country the size of Poland have had any real success in soccer history?

I can't.

[Johannes]

The soccer in Poland and in Germany are too different worlds. Tell me what post-communistic country the size of Poland have had any real success in soccer history?

Ukraine? QF at WC '06, knocked out by the later Worldchampion, that's not bad, is it ?

[Chess_Panther]

Did anyone noticed that the 1st and third goal of Germany come from great goal opportunities from Moutinho and Pepe respectively?...wonder what would happen if they scored. A curious note.

Call me a sore loser but Steiger shouldn't even play that game due to reasons we all know. I'm not troubled though, stubborn as Scolari is our defense would show its weaknesses sometime later...

Scolari was outclassed tactically because of set pieces and exploring our left wing...it was so agonizing simple that he should of seen it coming no matter what. F. Meira instead of Petit for the physical aspect and the left defender was for a long time an issue...P. Ferreira was never fit to it...god, i would have preferred a quick CB there.
It'll be curious to know Chelsea fans views because he can certainly create union out of nowhere...but lacks the Mourinho factor. He won't succeed there in my opinion and somewhat I'm glad he's gone...merit in team spirit and consistent performances but fails tactically in decisive moments.

Congrats to Germany.

Not a believer that any team will win the final from group A or B...

[catenaccio_L'pool]

Scolari was outclassed tactically because of set pieces and exploring our left wing...it was so agonizing simple that he should of seen it coming no matter what. F. Meira instead of Petit for the physical aspect and the left defender was for a long time an issue...P. Ferreira was never fit to it...god, i would have preferred a quick CB there.
I
Agree about set pieces - that 2nd goal was some sad defending - why did they play it one-on-one in their box - 4 Germans vs 4 Portuguese - defenders needed numerical advantage and in such a situation you let your offensive player cover the best German?! Dubious coaching decision.
And you just take away the speed and trickery of Ronaldo by playing him as a striker.
Also agree on Petit 100%.
By the way, Portugal are too good a side to have Nuno Gomez as their sole attacking option - he's not that dangerous and was very lucky to score today.
Just saw that 1st German goal again - simply perfect...

[squidward123]

Did anyone noticed that the 1st and third goal of Germany come from great goal opportunities from Moutinho and Pepe respectively?...wonder what would happen if they scored. A curious note.

I just watched that part of the game and the 3rd didn't come right after pepe's miss. It came about 2 minutes later. Before Pepe's miss, hitzlsperger had schweinsteiger open 5 metres to his right with literally half of the penalty box free on that side and instead shot himself and missed.


Call me a sore loser but Steiger shouldn't even play that game due to reasons we all know. I'm not troubled though, stubborn as Scolari is our defense would show its weaknesses sometime later...

pig got a 1 match ban..what more do you want for what was only a push to the chest?

portugal's defence was gaping open for 2 of the goals but remember, portugal's first goal came from mertesacker's really bad positioning to have such a gap between he and c.ronaldo, and the second when the game was petering out and without full concentration on the match.


And it always helps a lot to watch the match for a second time to properly analyse the flow of play and what really happened.

[pippomo]

A funnny match. Awful defending from portugal on set pieces. Embarassing ( and known since years ) lack of a centre forward worth that name from Portugal. And of a goalkeeper too. Ronaldo can't win matches alone, and he propbably had a supporting cast tha best Portugal will ahve for many years to come.
Germany with a solid match. Good "pressing", no frill defense, good plays by the wingers. A solid mifield which combined great physical qualities with more than sufficient ball controlling skills.
A deserved victory. Good refereeing save the foul on the third germans' goal, but the defender was so soft... You can't go "soft£ ike that in the box... You have to go for the ball when you have that advantage on the attacker, you have to attack the ball. Amateuresque play by the defender, he couldn't even fall down to make the foul evident. At first I culdn't see it. I needed slo-mo...

[wadie_7]

yeah you right germany will win

[Neuwerld]

Whew, horrendous set-piece defending by Portugal. Third goal could have easily been caught by Ricardo if he had stayed on his line. I would have loved to see that happen, because a penalty shoot-out between Germany and Portugal would've been awesome. Instead, Portugal gives up two soft goals and loses in 90. Weak.

[footyfan1]

Glad to have to come here and admit I was wrong to have doubted the German team.

In my opinion, they did to Portugal exactly what Croatia did to them.

Got in their faces for 90 minutes and didn't back down.

After the first four minutes, I told my friends, "Damnit, I made the wrong pick. Germany is going to win this match as the Portugese aren't strong enough to take control and Germany will keep the match at this pace for 90 minutes."

As I went to bar to have dinner and watch the match with some friends and co-workers here in Garmisch, I couldn't post during the match and I was too drunk afterwards to do so.

Many of my non-German buddies complained about the Ballack push, but I told them it's not cheating unless you get caught. I told them that Ronaldo acting job was the epitome cheating.

Germany simply beat Portugal. No "what-ifs", "shoulds", "coulds" or "buts" about it.

[Gaboo]

Wow, what an improvement of the German play! They were really fighting and didn´t let the Portugese play their game. In the end, Portugal desperately tried to score via long-distance-shots...no chance against Lehmann yesterday!
We couldn´t complain, if the Ballack goal was called off because of his pushing, but if you watched the whole game, the referees really didn´t make calls in favour of the German team!
After two poor games, Germany played pretty strong again and deserved the win!
Auf geht´s, weiter so, Jungs!

By the way, I was even more impressed by Podolski´s shot than by any of the goals...that would have been an awesome goal and it was really tight!

[Khaloisha]

Terrific game! That's the first match, aside Italy, that got me hook to the TV. Back and forth from both teams, a lot of actions, no hard tackles, little to zero tactics fouls. Well done to Germany, they were the best team yesterday and they rightfully won. Schweinsteiger man of the match. :)

[squidward123]

Glad to have to come here and admit I was wrong to have doubted the German team.

You shudda listened to me ;)


In my opinion, they did to Portugal exactly what Croatia did to them.

Got in their faces for 90 minutes and didn't back down.

Yes but the game was more open than that game and both teams played better quality attacking football than in the croatia game. Especially the first 26 minutes from Germany which was a class apart from anything else in the match.


After the first four minutes, I told my friends, "Damnit, I made the wrong pick. Germany is going to win this match as the Portugese aren't strong enough to take control and Germany will keep the match at this pace for 90 minutes."

That's what I thought too.


Many of my non-German buddies complained about the Ballack push, but I told them it's not cheating unless you get caught. I told them that Ronaldo acting job was the epitome cheating.

Pushes are missed often in the box. I wonder how many are by the goalscorer right before he heads the ball though. I think that even if he didn't nudge him though, Ferreira was going to be not close enough to distract ballack enough to stop a goal.


Germany simply beat Portugal. No "what-ifs", "shoulds", "coulds" or "buts" about it.

I thought that the first portuguese goal could be put down to awful positioning from mertesacker and the second because the match was petering out and nobody in defence was concentrating as hard as before. Just to counter the "ifs" that are thrown the other way.

[aloisius]

The soccer in Poland and in Germany are too different worlds. Tell me what post-communistic country the size of Poland have had any real success in soccer history?

don't know about poland's size, how about those 4 to 10 times smaller?

[The Jitty Slitter]

Portugal badly let down by their defence having done more than enough in midfield and offensively to win.

Goal 1: Classic German Goal. But why is the defender doing letting pig in like that? But yeah. Happens.

Goal 2: Appalling. WTF? At least track your man and compete FFS!

Goal 3: Again appalling. Yes it was a foul. But we also know there is always rough and tumble/shirt pulling etc, and PFs job is to do what he can to stop Ballack scoring. So WTF is he doing wandering in front of Ballack? LMAO!

[footyfan1]

Pushes are missed often in the box. I wonder how many are by the goalscorer right before he heads the ball though. I think that even if he didn't nudge him though, Ferreira was going to be not close enough to distract ballack enough to stop a goal.

I think you're dead wrong. If Ferreira wasn't close enough to distract Ballack, he wouldn't have been close enough for Ballack to shove out of the play.

If Ballack doesn't push Ferreira on the play, Ferreira does enough to prevent the header. He was all in Ballack's kitchen. Ballack didn't just shove him once. He pushed Ferreira at least twice on that play.

That final push opened the door for the header.

And as I said at another thread, the fact that Ballack did it and didn't get caught makes it good football in my opinion.



I thought that the first portuguese goal could be put down to awful positioning from mertesacker and the second because the match was petering out and nobody in defence was concentrating as hard as before. Just to counter the "ifs" that are thrown the other way.

As I said in my original message, "Germany simply beat Portugal. No "what-ifs", "shoulds", "coulds" or "buts" about it.

[The Jitty Slitter]

I think you're dead wrong. If Ferreira wasn't close enough to distract Ballack, he wouldn't have been close enough for Ballack to shove out of the play.

If Ballack doesn't push Ferreira on the play, Ferreira does enough to prevent the header. He was all in Ballack's kitchen. Ballack didn't just shove him once. He pushed Ferreira at least twice on that play.

That final push opened the door for the header.

And as I said at another thread, the fact that Ballack did it and didn't get caught makes it good football in my opinion.


That is why it is an awful mistake from Ferreira. You need to stay goal side and get physically set so you can compete

What is he doing wandering out in front of ballack

[glennaldo_sf]

I wanted Portugal to win this one really badly because I like seeing new teams win as opposed to the traditional Germany, Italy, France posse. With that said, no bitterness with the officiating here. Yes, he called a push on the box at the end of the match against Portugal and not against Ballack on the goal.. and yes that foul that led to Germany's third goal was a carbon copy of a foul that had gone unpunished moments earlier against the Germans.... however, this stuff happens in football. Portugal had their fair share of officiating fortune in the last world and euro cup so it all evens out in the end.

I kind of have this love/hate thing withMichael Ballack. He is the kind of player you love to have playing for you but hate to be playing against. His antics leave a lot to be desired but he knows exactly what he can and can't get away with and always does everything he can to win the game. As the previous poster said, knowing how to bend the rules and get away with it is all part of the game.

[footyfan1]

That is why it is an awful mistake from Ferreira. You need to stay goal side and get physically set so you can compete

What is he doing wandering out in front of ballack

That was simple to me. He thought he could get to any cross before Ballack and would have had he not been pushed.

Very clever on Ballack's part. Can't do anything but applaud him for it.

[squidward123]

I think you're dead wrong. If Ferreira wasn't close enough to distract Ballack, he wouldn't have been close enough for Ballack to shove out of the play.

If Ballack doesn't push Ferreira on the play, Ferreira does enough to prevent the header. He was all in Ballack's kitchen. Ballack didn't just shove him once. He pushed Ferreira at least twice on that play.

That final push opened the door for the header.

And as I said at another thread, the fact that Ballack did it and didn't get caught makes it good football in my opinion.

On the replay it seems like ferreira was out of position in two dimensions. So I thought even if he was pushed to the side in one, he was still behind the space where ballack headed the ball. Anyway, I could be wrong.