With one game more played, it will be very hard to qualify for SA. It's not impossible, but looking improbable...
We absolutely killed Sweden in shots, attacks and possession!!! It's acceptable to angry we didnt score with all the chances, but no one can say the team played bad. Portugal played the best game I've seen them play in recent memory. Probably the best performance in the past 2 years. Fact of the matter is, we didnt score and thats what we had to do. Yes im upset we didnt score/win but Im not madd at all at there performance. CQ is absolute dumb for putting Rolando instead of Miguel or Nelson. Either of them would of helped offensively. Duda is f*cking amazing! Deco still got it. Pepe was excellent as DM. Danny was upsetting but definitely a better choice than Al-merda. Meireles should never play for the NT ever again. Neither should Rolando. Tiago is an exellent passer, but is too scared to take shots when he gets the oppurtunity. As for corners, we had a million and one, but were talking about the Sweds, there 2 feet taller than the average Portugee. And Majstorovic?(Or however you spell it) One of the best/underrated defenders in the world!!! He was a damn brick wall. Literally stopped everything. What a monster. Friggin huge too.
We have 5 games left. 3 away, 2 home. Albania, Denmark and Hungary away. Then Hungary Malta home.....
Easy. Rolando wasn't bad, he just should not have been put in when we needed to be offensive. Miguel was not called to the 23, but Nelson was very much available. It was a wasted sub from CQ. Raul was playing very good in the first half, some beautiful balls. But towards the last 20 minutes, he started to collapse. Maybe he was tired or whatever, but saying he should not be on the NT is an exaggeration. The only positives I can see out of this game, is that we have solved our LB problem, and for the time being, the DM problem as well. Danny, should also be considered to take that ST/FW position until something better comes for Portugal.
Never watched the game. I still might, but I'm not sure If I need to experience aggravation. I still think Queiroz should have started Maniche, Deco, and Almeida instead of Meireles, Tiago and Danny. I'll watch the game probably to see whether that should have been the case or not. But, atleast Almeida has experience in the centre-forward/striker role, as opposed to Danny, who's an attacking midfielder/wideman. And as for Meireles, atleast Maniche is a threat to joining the attack, running around like a man possessed, hussles his @$$ off, and likes to unleash his dangerous shot from far out. We also lacked some creativity, until Deco was subbed in for Tiago. I mean who exactly was the attacking midfielder, Tiago or Meireles. In either case, neither was the man for the job. I dunno! It would be nice to see Cristiano Ronaldo step up and play like he is/was the best player in the world. I only hope we aren't overestimating this team, they may not be as good as we think they are. I hope I'm wrong, and they're able to turn things around and quality. But as of right now, its inconceivable. We need a miracle.
I dont get why CQ took out Danny for Hugo when we needed a goal. I think a better sub would have been Hugo for either Simao (who played awful) or Raul, considering Pepe was already playing the trinco postion. Raul played bad too. Eduardo wasn't bad, but had that one shaky moment which was called back anyways. Tiago played awesome and so did Deco when he came on. The two plays that aggrivated the hell out of me was after a Ronaldo shot, Hugo picked up the rebound at around the six yard box and instead of blasting it back at the net, he dribbled it to the corner, doing the defenses job. The second was that Ronaldo header, I dont know how he put it over the net. Both teams played well, Sweden is no joke, even without Zlatan.
How long has it been that we have had trouble scoring goals? Seems like forever. Win, lose or draw, we must keep fighting. We can win these last five games. Then let the chips fall where they may.
Id pick Deco or Maniche over Meireles anyday! We wasted 3-4 balls and just bombed it horribly. Decent 1st half but fell apart when we needed it most. As for Rolando, he did play his natural position, CB. He switch with Carvalho, so RC played RB. Rolando doesnt impress me at all.
Danny and Almeida comparison was day and night. Trust me. Danny was mobile, linking well with the midfield, and he got a few half shots off as well as one great oppertunity wish he should have finished. Almeida...wow...we bring in a 6'5 player, to do what? To wander off to the wings? No. To pass? No. He was terrible. Got the ball 4 times, passed it too Sweden three times, and I think he got one ball to Duda the other.
I know he played in his natural position, but you think Carvalho on the RB position was a good choice? Rolando conceded a corner and that was it. You can't fault him, he didn't do anything wrong. Nelson should have been brought on to play RB, not a makeshift RB in Carvalho. Like....RB is one of the positions where we actually have talent at....yet we didn't utilize it. A CLEAR brain fart from CQ. Anyways...I am slowly coming to the terms that perhaps Portugal won't be playing in SA this summer. CQ should remain Portugal's coach for the remainder of the Qualifying campaign...but if we don't make it. Say good bye to him.
Portugal still has a decent chance. 1. If Portugal wins all of its remaining 5 games and a. Denmark wins the rest of their games except against Portugal, then Portugal would still be in 2nd place (and into a playoff round). b. Hungary wins all of its games except against Portugal, then Portugal would be in first place. 2. If Portugal ties one more game and wins the remaining, I estimate that they only have about a 50% chance of getting into 2nd place and into a playoff, and almost no chance of 1st place (assuming Denmark and Hungary continue to play well). 3. If Portugal loses 1 and wins the rest, I estimate it would have less than a 25% chance of getting a 2nd place position (playoff), again assuming Denmark and Hungary continue to play well. 4. If Denmark & Hungary fail in the future, and Portugal wins, anything is possible. Basically, they need to win every single game from here on out. If they tie once, it will be hard to qualify. If they lose again, it will be nearly impossible to qualify.
Re: Portugal still has a decent chance. Thanks for this. It is very much appreciated, especially by me, but I am sure others will find it very useful to know where Portugal currently stands.
I cant believ what im reading, "we played well" Sweden were terrible and we were only mildly better Meireles Tiago midfield, are you ********ing kidding me Pepe is in their to sit deep and he played well and is suited to that position, but where is the service to the wings and striker going to come from. Meireles was horrible tiago a little better but only just. Bosingwa was excellent till the injury, but what was with putting our best CB at RB. Absolute waste. Simao and Ronaldo were terrible, they are selfish twats Danny for me did well he created alot with his back towards goal. eduardo was a little shaky Eduardo- 5- was a litttle bit shaky at key moments Bosingwa- 7- excellent unitl injury and was sorely missed Carvalho- 7- he is the king Alves- 7- is proving alot of people wrong with some dominant performances Duda- 7- our LB problem solved Pepe- 7- has found a new home, feel safer with him there than CB Tiago- 3- bad performance Meireles- 1- one of the worst performance ive ever seen Ronaldo- 4- selfish and lazy Simao- 3- terrible crosses and a non factor Danny- 6- did well Subs: Rolando- 5- looked vulnerable Deco- 7- needed him from the start Almeida- 3- was so slow and ineffective CQ-1- i would sack him the momentum is well against him and i doubt he can recover
You can wave the white flag! Portugal are finito! CQ will be fired and I hope Madail resigns. Evaluate our players, bring in Zico and that should suffice. It's might be too late, thought! Bye-Bye World Cup!
Portugal played a dominating game. Ronaldo decided to just run up the wing and randomly shoot the ball at a defender in a lazy attempt to cross the entire game. Why? I don't know. Everyone else played very very well (aside from the finishing perspective). Like Joelzinho said, Meireles strung together some good passes at the beginning (I.e. ronaldo breakaway), but died out towards the end. Duda was MASTERFUL. Very smooth and composed. Danny, while wasteful, produced some good play when he linked up with simao (who was kinda disappointing today) and the rest of the mid. Deco was the only person to really threaten the goal. Almeida is sh*t.
So why haven't we scored in the past two games? Is Portugal trying to hard? Or Do they suck that bad? Almeida does suck! Orlando Sa is an energy player, and he is exactly what we need on this team.
I LOVE IT!!!! This is the typical Portuguese response but guess what? Give me a f*ck*ng sh*tty performance but THREE lousy points. In the end, LIKE I'VE BEEN SAYING SINCE THE DENMARK GAME, you qualify for the WC by getting three freeking points at home and a single, lousy point away against the top team in your group. When you look back in five or ten years from now people ain't going to say, "Boy, Portugal didn't make it to SA but they sure played a hell of a game against Sweden on Saturday, March 28, 2009." Now it will take a miracle to qualify and CR, ONCE AGAIN, proves that he's more mouth than performance. Shut the f up and grow up! As for CQ that prick should have been fired a year ago!!! The good thing is that, ONCE AGAIN, all of Portugal can cheer for their favorite World Cup soccer team, BRAZIL!!!!
I knew the game would end in failure when I saw a tiago-mierieles midfield. Just awful and brainless. I suppose we need to win out to have a chance to make it, but with the way we keep playing to the level of our competition I dont see it happening.
What's the point in keeping him? Portugal needs 5 wins in a row.... What are the changes of that happening with a mediocre team like this. They've been a big disappointment and its hard for me to grasp the fact that they might miss the WC.
Yeah, but I am a loyal type of dude. I like to see things through. if CQ can come out of this....bah I have already come to the fact that I might not be able to watch Portugal next summer.
Firing CQ would require that someone at FPF grow a pair and that ain't going to happen. Why they picked this man is just plain crazy. He has been a flop at every level EXCEPT when working with youth players. When Scolari left we can have gone out and found a coach to take our national team to the next level. Instead the brains at the FPF decided to go with the safe choice. I never liked the guy but I really lost all respect for the mf when he lost those three points agains D, IN PORTUGAL. Everyone, EXCEPT FOR CQ, knows that the most important thing in qualifying for the WC is to make sure that you get those three precious points at home. It looks like if we don't qualify it will be a return, AS I'VE BEEN SAYING FOR MONTHS NOW, to the second tier of European football. For example, less money from Nike or the sponsor of the national team, being placed in a group with team like Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. In summary, the future does not look good for us and in then end I don't know which would I hate the most: 1.)
You can count the good chances we had on one hand, and you wouldn't have to use the majority of your fingers. Sure, Sweden is a classy squad, but we just don't generate enough offense. Every team that comes to Portugal knows that they have a good chance of holding us to a tie. Not that it was really in doubt, but I think this guarantees that Liedson will be in the team as soon as his papers are official. If Nelson was on the bench, he should have definitely come in when Bosingwa went down. He crosses the ball very well.