After their victories against Switzerland and Croatia, Poland and Portugal will meet in the quarter finals. http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/croatia-portugal-25th-june-lipanj-2016.2033021/ Stade Vélodrome, Marseille https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marseille Poland prepare for Portugal after Fabianski saves day against Switzerland • Polish goalkeeper has hand in opener as well as shootout • Switzerland’s Shaqiri low-key about his excellent equaliser Poland will bring the curtain up on the Euro 2016 quarter-finals when they meet Portugal in Marseille on Thursday, just as they opened the last 16 on Saturday. Having just about overcome Switzerland, Adam Nawalka and his players will hope this is an omen. Neutrals will simply hope for some more of the end-to-end, shifting momentum that characterised th match. The negative approach of Portugal against Croatia, together with Poland’s impressive defensive record, might give reason for a certain trepidation. It was Lukasz Fabianski, rather than the first-choice Wojciech Szczesny, who ended up conceding Poland’s first goal of the tournament in Saint-Etienne, eight minutes from the end of game four, but there was no question of blame being attached. If there is a better goal in this tournament than Xherdan Shaqiri’s stupendous scissor-kick that beat Fabianski to take the game into extra-time, we will be lucky – even if Shaqiri responded to an inquiry about the “best” goal of his career by saying “I always score nice goals”. After an authoritative first-half display, Poland hung on grimly against a resurgentSwitzerland. That it took a stroke of genius from Shaqiri to break through was largely down to Fabianski, who notably made a fingertip save from Ricardo Rodríguez’s excellent free-kick. Fabianski then made sure the contest went the distance with an even better reaction stop from the substitute Eren Derdiyok’s header in the second period of extra-time. If Szczesny had not suffered a badly-bruised thigh in the opener against Northern Ireland, Fabianski would still be filling one of the least enviable roles in the squad, that of default cheerleader. Instead, he has become a central figure. “It’s the life of a goalkeeper really,” he mused, reflecting on a peripatetic international career. “It’s always been like that, especially in the national team. You can never really please everyone [of the coaches]. There will always be one happy [goalkeeper] and the other … not disappointed, but a little bit frustrated, because we’re playing regularly in our clubs.” After leaving behind a similar situation with Arsenal and becoming the main man at Swansea after his 2014 move, he has had to bide his time again, and is seizing the moment. “Wojciech started and I just had roll up my sleeves, work harder and try to prepare for anything,” he said. “The situation with the Wojciech injury happened and I had to be ready.” He certainly was. Fabianski even managed a penultimate pass of sorts for his team’s goal, with his prodigious throw setting away Kamil Grosicki, who played in Jakub Blaszczykowski to score.Szczesny was magnanimous about his perceived rival, whom he has known since he was 14. Fabianski was 19 at the time. “I knew he was going to be a top goalkeeper the day I met him,” said the Arsenal man. “He’s had a chance to prove himself and I’m delighted for him. I think today he made the difference for us.” After Fabianski’s heroics during the 120 minutes, he was not required to perform any more during the shootout as Granit Xhaka sliced Switzerland’s second spot-kick wide. “I’m sorry for my team-mates, for the travelling fans, for Switzerland,”the Arsenal-bound Xhaka told Swiss television. “Anyone who knows me knows that I will make sure I come back even stronger … And I promise I will step up at the next penalty shootout.” When Poland reach the Stade Vélodrome, they will hope their expected difference-maker finally steps up. Robert Lewandowski did finally manage an effort on target, but was largely subdued, playing a deeper role in support of Arkadiusz Milik. With the first-half chances that Milik missed and with it the opportunity to decisively tilt the game in Poland’s favour, Nawalka might want to swap that positioning, though he praised the Bayern Munich striker for “taking the opponents’ attention away from other players”. Fabianski also praised Lewandowski’s work, pointing out that it was he that forced the panic between the goalkeeper Yann Sommer and Johan Djourou that almost presented Milik with a goal in the opening 30 seconds. “That’s what he gives us, even though we’re not creating as much as we would like to for him.” Whoever gets the chances in Marseille, Poland will have to cut out the profligacy to avoid suffering the same slow demise that Croatia did against Portugal. http://www.marca.com/en/football/national-teams/2016/06/26/576f0149468aebd7718b4567.html
Stadium is nice, but is the pitch still in shambles? it didn't look so great in Poland's group game... Hoping for a Poland win here of course (will take any progress actually), but anything can happen. If Poland got out here, I hope Portugal or another team that does not have a major trophy (yet) takes it (12 years ago it was Greece, 12 years before it was Denmark...and I have feeling that a team from our bracket takes it to shut up anyone talking about an easy draw).
https://footballfutbolcalciosoccer.blogspot.ca/2016/06/euro-2016-round-of-16-review-best-xi.html Both of these nations know this match represents an exceptional opportunity to progress to a semi-final of a major tournament. For one country its for a larger than life superstar with a solid supporting cast, for the other its a group of talent no seen for generations. Opportunity beckons. Expect this to be a tight affair....
While I was critical of Portugal after last game I think they will beat Poland for two main reasons. First because I was impressed with Fonte-Pepe partnership. If they could shut out Croatia, they will probably do the same to Poland who has fewer ideas in midfield than Croatia did. The second reason is energy. Poland looked very tired to me in last game. Nawalka has used most of his key players in every match so far which is understandable since they don't have that much depth in attacking positions. Santos on the other hand has rotated his squad quite a bit and he has players like Sanches and Quaresma on the bench who can change things late in the game. If Poland has any chance they have to impose themselves physically in midfield. Krychowiak, Glik and Pazdan are all very physically strong players. If they can get at the Portugal attackers on a consistent basis maybe they can gradually wear them down. I mean Croatia's defense is nothing special and they did a pretty good job. Hungary has an amateur level defense so that attacking performance flattered Portugal. While I don't see Poland creating chances consistently, with a little luck someone like Lewandowski can make a difference with only one chance. One last thing to look for is is set pieces. Both teams have aerial weapons ... Glik, Krychowiak and Lewandowski vs. Pepe, Fonte and Ronaldo. Sometimes in a game like this that can be the difference
Pazdan being risky there. Ronaldo goes down a little easy, but in the end I suspect the referee probably thought the ball was to high and neither player had a chance to get it.
The reason you don't see that called very often is because the ball was nowhere near Ronaldo. If he had possession or a good chance to gain possession you probably would have seen the call made. I know it's not the reasoning that Portugal fans want to hear. By the letter of the law the call could have been made. But most refs interpret these things in context. You notice even Ronaldo and his team mates didn't complain too much which is usually an indicator that it wasn't so clear cut.
The point is it was an American Football with no attempt at playing any ball. He was staring straight at Ronaldo. It's a PK. There is no basis to justify otherwise.
This is where the difference between the two teams is noticeable. Portugal is bringing on quality experienced players like Moutinho and Quaresma. Poland just doesn't have any options like that. You can see the Poland team tiring and playing slower as the game goes on.