Bruma is not good at keeping possession or knowing what to do with it unless he's racing unimpeded toward the goal. I love his work rate in defense, though.
at least we went from being totally dominated to it being a complete snorefest, this game was like a complete waste of time, at least i did'nt pay to attend...wtf...these games do nothing but disappoint and i still get suckered into watching....that being said, let's sneak a goal...LOL
God, a terrible finish from Mario (after an excellent tackle) and a horrid pass from Bruma after that. Finally a nice shot from William.
if italy cant beat this portugal at home, must win, sold out, ...how bad are they? more than a drop, they plummeted.
Better 2nd half and got the necessary result. I'm interested to see the lineup against Poland. Hopefully Sanches gets the start. It was nice to see Joao Mario come in and play well. Portugal really needed someone in the midfield to be able to apply that type of pressure and not let Italy have time on the ball.
They looked much better than the game against us before, they lost confidence after the 60 minute mark. They are getting better. We qualified after 3 games, no defeats and only our 2 draw away to Italy in 10 games (eight defeats). Lets put this into perspetive.
Exactly. perspective says this game should not have ended a draw. Are you kidding me ? with what we put out and played out there? a loss was assured , and to somehow not lose, call it luck, yes, a bit, but something lacking in that Italy team. all i'm saying.
Well with only needing a draw and we all know "always going for a win" is a bs statement, this game was always going to be messy. Greatly improved second half with a much higher press. With nothing on the line at home against Poland, I think we can expect a much more fluid Portugal.
I hate that mentality though. Not good for Portugal. We ain't a big team. Loads of Talent, and close, but mentality still weak. I thought Euro took us over the cusp, but days like today show still the same. I was hoping to just go out there and play, results be what they are, this tournament ain't critical in grand scheme of things but the experience you gain in Playing, showing your talent, and going for it in away games, in environments like this, is !!!....
Good result, ok performance. Portugal only needed a draw, but should have played a bit better than what it did. Too many mistakes in the first half, and players waiting for the ball instead of attacking it. Pizzi sucked, as usual. João Mário did great, better than I expected, he's in great shape. So did Mário Rui. Bernardo Silva sucked, so did Raphael Guerreiro (what's with him? He's so good). Making it to the final four will be another opportunity to take the League of Nations trophy. Also, the Italian crowd booing and whistling during Portugal's anthem was as lame as unnecessary.
No. It’s one thing to play conservatively knowing a draw cinches the group and look strong and organized confident and calm doing it. For the first 60-70 mins of the game, while Italy lacked the daggers to finish plays off, their possession and passing was pulling Portuguese defenders out of position and making them look very confused. It is interesting to me that at the first signs of we showed of finding some composure, they seemingly completely dropped any initiative they had been showing up to that point. There was no reason for them to drop their heads and drop their intensity level. They looked nicer in the first half pushing the ball around than I’ve personally seen them in a while, but I feel that the impact of the program falling recently has their confidence shook. Especially some of the younger players who already are far removed from generations of Italian players who always had extreme confidence and self belief vs any opponent.
You speak truth, we never looked organized. It was circumstance / luck in that 1st half that left that 0-0. Played better in 2nd half, but just wish we went for it from get-go. glad we are in semis, but you ask me, better performance today and lose and rely on result vs Poland, i take that, just was not good way we played today. These games are building blocks, our mentality still weak, we play like a small team.
The drastic difference when Mario came in should be pizzis death warrant. This isn't the Portuguese liga where he pays for the stars of the show.
Team so weak mentally....we ain't winning shit with this mentality. Sorry, But just something lacking when it comes to Portugal and Big games, This was not the biggest, but the stain wont go away, something lacking, mental toughness, talent is there.....BUT....do or die, never count on Portugal, IN ALL SPORTS. is mentality, BELIEVE you ********ERS, you are good
You seen to be under the impression that only Portugal or small teams go into defensive shells when needing just a draw. Not sure how you could think that when clearly it isn't the case. Did you watch France sit back and counter away from home yesterday? They were outplayed and it came back to haunt them, but clearly they wanted to put defense first as it was on Holland to attack. Watch Belgium v Switzerland tomorrow if you can. It's on Switzerland to win and they are at home. Belgium has to be considered an attacking team, trust me you will see a much more cautious team tomorrow. Sorry my man, I have seen big teams go into shells for years and years.
that is the point, was this result the be all and end all ? NO, we have Poland at home to decide the group, i would have preferred an open game vs Italy, so what we concede and lose, play your game, these games are to try and gain experience, grow, Our players would have benifited more in going for it. Win or lose.
Portugal got the favourable result and the rest is history. Eventhough we played like terrible, we still pulled through. This shows a strong mentality that even when playing like crap, you know you can squeeze a positive result.
Exact. How many games against Italy have I watched where Portugal played better had more chances, but still the Italians would only go once to our goal and made it count in the end? Also in the game in Lisbon, the Italians could easily have lost 2 or 3 to nothing.
We have developed an ability to NOT lose and to grind out results. Jogo bonito didn't get us the Euro Cup. 20 years ago we would of had Figo, Rui Costa, Joao Pinto, etc... do their best impression of jogo bonito and would of gotten smacked by Italy.
Ability my ass, say it like it is amigo, you talk like that was a master class defensive effort or something, when in reality, that was utter shit on our part, luck, and Italian ineptness. Listen, I pull for Portugal to no end, always will, but I say it like it is. We have talent, we are good, BUT we are so weak mentally, shit in pants weak!!!, yes, I am honest, have no faith in Portuguese in crunch time, if that was any other top nation out there tonight they would of mopped the floor with us . I speak truth, I was hoping we turned the corner with Euro win, tonight going out there and actually playing would of been another step, growth, prove we are different, but this mentality stinks. Not talking jogo bonito, talking playing to potential, different attitude, no fear, on the front foot, etc...Portugal has the talent, but exhibits none of that when shit hits the fan, small team mentality. Sorry to burst your bubble, yeeeeahhh, we in nations leagues semis, who gives a shit playing scared like this.