I quoted you because to this post: You replied with: So I interpreted you as anti-Ronaldo, happy that he wasn't needed for the victory which somehow could be construed as humiliation for him. Sorry if I misinterpreted what you said.
Oh, OK. I see now how you could have seen it that way. No problem. I was happy that Portugal could win, but was upset about his injury. My initial thought was that Portugal would have a really tough time winning without him. However, it's a testament to how good Portugal is, as a team, that they pulled out the win despite the injury to their best player.
What a ********ing game by Patricio Not really, Portugal conceded 5 goals against teams such as Hungary, Iceland and Poland. You can tell Italy's game relies on their defense, I would say Portugals game relies more on their midfield which was amazing and tireless throughout the tournament
Lets also add: Portugal vs Iceland Poland vs Switzerland Spain vs Czech Republic (Czechs were defending so well.) Overall great tournament, but some teams got way more than what they deserved while others tried hard and didn't get what they deserved.
I know the majority of fans are criticizing the 24 team format, but the 1994 World Cup used the same exact format and it averaged most goals per game of the last 8 World Cups. The 1986 and 1990 World Cups had the same format, but winners were only awarded 2 points, not 3. I feel Euro 2016 wasn't as dull as a lot of people think and if the powerhouses just had slightly better finishing against defensive minnows the average goals per game would've been -close to- normal for a major tournament. Instead of 24 teams for Euro 2020, maybe it should have 28 teams (7 groups of 4) so only 2 of 7 3rd place teams advance to KO stage? This might encourage attacking football. Btw this is not a slight on Portugal for advancing and winning as a 3rd place team because they attacked in all group games and should've won 2 of them. And although they weren't pretty in the knockouts they deserved to win and are worthy champions.
It was a gritty and gutsy win, especially when Ronaldo went down. They have always lacked top flight center forwards but this time a very unheralded one got it done for them. A moment of magic - shrugging off Koscielny like he was youth team player. Much like Spain took a while to break through and win a major - Portugal follows suit.
Yes and no. Portugal changed half of the lineup against Croatia and from then on it only suffered 1 goal against Poland. Vieirinha was miserable in the group stages (main responsible for goal suffered against Iceland) and Ricardo Carvalho didn't paired very well with Pepe. José Fonte is a center back with different attributes and that made a world of difference. Ricardo Carvalho's reading of the game is very similar to Pepe but just slower physically. Once Vieirinha and R. Carvalho were out it made a huge difference to the main defensive line. It's good to know that Vieirinha, Ricardo Carvalho, Bruno Alves and Eliseu (supposedly) are not going to wear the nt team colors again. There are far better prospects available, even better player themselves before the tournament started. Even as in replacement for Cédric who seems to be competent but maybe only as a sub, he wasn't entirely convincing when the team was exposed in the back. Cancelo, Nélson Semedo, Ricardo Pereira or worst case scenario André Almeida are options worth exploring for the RB role. I think in his particular case or any of the defensive subs coming on you are right that the midfield helped by soaking up the pressure. Pepe gave that edge to keep things tight.
Two of the goals that Hungary scored were pretty fluky to say the least. If not for those they would have conceded 0 or 1 goal in all 7 matches.
Tournaments in Europe have the weirdest finals. The best player always gets hurt or has a moment of madness lol. Some people think it's a conspiracy some people think it's the pressure of the moment. But tournaments in Europe always produce wwf moments. Ronaldo getting sick in 1998. Zidane going "bush whacker" in 2006. Ronaldo getting hurt in the first half of 2016.
Roberto Carlos tying his shoe and letting Henry get the winning header In 2006. Almost like people getting paid off. Think someone forgot to pay off the substitute Eder lol. Wondering if he'll be kicked off his French club ala the Korean player in Italy following World Cup 2002.
That kid is a classic example of Portuguese people. We are friendliest people you will ever meet. All this hate towards us is insane.
Indeed, I don't hear about the riots of Portuguese fans. Although, there were some incidents after the match, but we can consider this as rage because of French defeat. According to these pictures, it seem that they are the members of French immigrant community. Deeper reasons of this riot and football match became only one opportunity. http://metro.co.uk/2016/07/11/riots...loses-to-portugal-in-euro-2016-final-5998981/ Portuguese boy is a of mixed descent, French father and Portuguese mother. Interesting, usually fathers side prevails, at least in southern Europe. Also, he doesn't speak Portuguese at all. http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/lat...o-Portugal-fan-France-fan-hug-Euro-2016-final Here they say that both of his parents are Portuguese. http://archyworldys.com/the-child-who-comforted-a-french-fan-invited-by-the-tourism-of-portugal/ "fils d'immigrés portugais" https://www.rts.ch/sport/football/7...ux-supporter-francais-invite-au-portugal.html
Just found this. This is cool! Cristiano motivated and encouraged João Moutinho to take a penalty in the shootout vs Poland.