PORTUGAL VS IRAN 2018 FIFA World Cup Group Stage [R]

The TSN panel completely S**T all over our style of play. They shat on everybody including Quaresma.

Whereas they were making excuses for Spain when they were playing against Iran and couldn't get anything done.

Iran play in a 6-3-1 formation and have a love affair with their manager and his philosophy. Nobody can be super creative against a team like that. That's some Greece level S**T.

 

That penalty single handedly ruined our chances.

I can deal with Brazil & France but now with Germany likely coming over this makes it ridiculous.

Ronaldo got no sleep last night.

Rested CR7 nails that at the top corner easily. He took a Messi-style shortcut and failed. Lesson learned (I hope)

 

No one thought the Portugal - Holland game was going to be like that but it was. Many people including me thinks that it may well be like that game but maybe it wont. But there is a huge potencial for things to kick off, as there Will dives on both sides, going to to try at get yellows on both sides, as soon as someone gets agressive there Will be retaliation like Quaresma yesterday....

 

Yes, if we honest they are a version of us, CQ hás been their manager for 7 years, thats part of the reason things got messy in the game and afterwards and even on the boards here.

 

Probably. I bet they will use VAR to even lip read and send off guys for foul language.

 

VAR needs to go.

What is it adding besides more controversy?

 

https://www.abola.pt/Nnh/Noticias/Ver/737276

Sorry to harp on this but everything about CQ is so freaking sleezy. Apparently he started whispering sweet nothings in Moutinho's ear as he waiting to be subbed in. Moutinho didn't look very happy about it and didn't want to discuss it after the game. Reminder that Queiroz didn't even call Moutinho up in 2010. Then the dirtbag has the nerve to complain that the players didn't want to genuflect to him after the game...

 

Did anyone see the replay of Spain's 2nd goal? And like me are you wondering why Aspas is wide open on that corner? Because apparently the ref pointed to the other corner flag and the Spanish just ignored him and took a quick corner from the wrong side. Iran's goalie, defense and ref are literally looking the wrong way as the Spanish take the corner. And for some insane reason the ref doesn't call the play back?!?

https://streamable.com/soknn

 

Anyone catch what Santos and Failroz were talking about at the end of the game? Santos grabbed his arms pretty firmly

 

Santos was probably telling him to man up and stop being a bitch.

 

I thought the coaching and tactics from Santos were bad. After we scored the goal in the first half, we had complete control on the game and possession of the ball and I don't understand why we were just playing to get to half time up 1-0. We could have gone for the jugular and made some passes to A. Silva or Ronaldo in the middle into the box instead of just passing the ball back and forth wasting time.

This tactic almost always comes back to haunt you cause the other team almost always ends up scoring in the second half. Then at the end of the game being up 1-0 instead of trying to keep possession like we did in the first half we go into this open game with them, they score (on a stupid penalty) and it almost seemed like we were going to loose the game in the end.

 

They have know each other for 34 years, in the end they hugged. Lets be fair CQ is 100% Portuguese we have to be prepared to take what is given. He used every trick in the book but come Portugal - Uruguai he Will be supporting like the rest of us, he was being professional. That said I am glad he is not our coach anymore, Santos is an upgrade.

 

Santos strategy was a master class. After firing up Ronaldo, the fans outside the hotel...CQ wanted us to lose our heads and attack angrilly, instead we came out playing posession football, with our lack of pace in Pepe and Fonte they would of got caught out on the counter attack.

1. We scored first just before the break which was optimal.

2. Iran had to attack in the second before they really wanted to because they knew they were unlikely to win if we scored, which we did.

3. We got the penalty, which if Ronaldo scored, it would be 2-0, that is the turning point of the game as they would need 3 to win and only have scored two goals once in all their games in the WC, he missed.

4. Iran got confident and we lost confidence and start to doubt ourselves because Ronaldo missed a penalty.

5. There was two penalty shouts for Iran, the Carvalho one would of been soft but when the ref had another call to make in the second penalty shout, he added that he gave the benefit of the doubt to Portugal and that he had already given us a clear penalty. So he decided to even the score by giving a penalty to Iran which was a farce.

6. After Iran scored we started to panic and could of lost the game at the end but luckily Iran missed their chance.

So Santos strategy was superb but the Ronaldo miss and our players losing their heads and confidence is hard to change from the side lines. Santos won this battle against CQ (his friend) by a mile but the players did not do their part well enough.

I do not mean to be over critical but I have been thinking about this for a while and your post gave me the opportunity, thanks

 

Now that the dust has settled, I hope most of you realize we played a solid game. There was a 80% chance the game should have been 2-0 and put out of reach, but CR7 is still human. We then concede a phantom penalty that isn't called 9/10 times and all the sudden we are left with a bitter taste in our collective mouths, and the first 89 minutes are completely forgotten by everyone.

Guerreiro was still poor defensively, but I thought good in attack.

William showed a lack of pace a couple times and made 2 poor passes, but mostly he was still the animal with great ball distribution we need him to be.

Ronaldo was not his usual self.

Cedric was solid, not sure I understand the hate.

Everyone else was pretty solid also, except Mario who got worse as the game went on.

Luck wasn't on our side, and now we are probably on the more difficult side of the bracket. Let's see how it plays out though.

We all know Uruguay will be a tough battle, but I'm confident our guys have a mental strength that most of us have yet to fully appreciate and we will get to the next round.

 

Oh, and MOTM has to go to Adrien, he needs to start.

 

Precisely this. The VAR team communicates with the ref and suggests they take a look at a close play, but they don't make any decisions on their own. That said, they're on the hook for a terrible call like the Cedric hand ball too. They never should have suggested the ref look at such an obvious non-penalty. It was a comedy of errors much like the Spain equalizer.

The issue is not VAR itself, it's refs and VAR officials out of their depth. Everyone who watches this sport with any regularity knows that wasn't a hand ball penalty, yet the people who should know better than anyone and who actually had the power to determine the call got it completely ass backwards. They just need to make sure these officials can handle this level of play and have the brain power to make the correct call upon review as well.

On the bright side, anyone who has watched France play knows that beating them and Uruguay to reach the semis wouldn't exactly be a miracle. I don't think they're just going to suddenly turn it on and be great.

 

At the end it is humans (with all their faults) that hás to make the call, VAR is just a instrument to aid the call, until AI actually hás the final say (which is just as scary as humans if not more so) nothing is going to change, or if it does change it Will be pró machine, it Will like their makers but better, Nietsche said, god is dead, what are we to do now, try to be gods.

 

I would say all three were still much better than in the Morocco game, even Mario. I hoping it is not just from the lack of quality of the opponent they faced and that they can build on this and get better with the tournament.

 

I for one welcome AI to the sport. I mean it already exists in a very primitive form with Goal line technology and I think that given the amount data we already have collected about this sport, it isn't impossible to begin training a bot to call fouls, handballs, corners, and so on fairly accurately

I mean take yesterday as an example. Iran's players were all over the ref for that handball calling for VAR. To me the ref was clearly influenced by that display. Two problems: a) refs emotional response to being heckled at the end of a very dramatic day leading him to go to VAR and b) he ended up making the wrong call anyway

Now picture a robot in the place of the ref. All that whining and moaning has no effect and play goes on because the correct decision would have been applied from the start. No time wasted and we made the correct call

Far from scary to me. I see it as another way to make the sport better

 

I don’t know if anyone remembers but Ronaldo took a free kick and hit an Iran player in the arm. WS this any different than the penalty called on Cedric plus as far as Carvalho knocking down the Iranian player it was incidental contact and happened prior to the pass. Maybe it’s God sent that we don’t play Russia in Moscow. I’m saying it for the 100th time that Russia changed their tactics from the first two matches. My opinion they look st the bracket and not only saw that if they finished second they will not only play at a Moscow but will also be on the easier side of the draw. It’s all about winning the World Cup.

 

Biggest problem with VAR is the video refs are on the same team as head ref. If VAR makes a call and head ref doesnt, head ref loses points and it could mean less chances at high profile games. Video refs are afraid to get their bosses in trouble. The video refs need to be from different countries than the main ref team. So that the video refs dont feel obliged to make the head ref look good.

 

Yes, thats low level AI.

Agree, about the ref but you must think further, if they cannot influence the ref by human methods they Will try and hack the bot or find a weakness and systematically abuse it or...

There is allways costs and benefits, I am old school, this tecnology fetish is a god complex sumperimposed firstly from religion to humanism now to mans creation, AI. Do you really want the absolute cold calculus of reason to operate at all levels?

 

I would of done the Same thing, note also that it was decided way before the games were played for the second team to Play in Moscow, that is called planning.