Well hopefully that was more of a Spain vs. Costa Rica type thing than an indication of what Portugal can do moving forward. I still think I will pull for Portugal to eliminate France if they meet in the semi's.
Ronaldo with no WC goals and this kid starts in his place and gets a hat trick in his 2nd NT game ever and 1st KO WC game . Fabulous !!!
Cristiano Ronaldo heads straight down the tunnel while his Portugal teammates celebrate their win on the pitch. Cristiano Ronaldo heads straight down the tunnel while his Portugal teammates celebrate their win on the pitch. 🎥 @adriandelmonte pic.twitter.com/CPIkT84O2I— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) December 6, 2022
Well ... that was the best performance of the R16 from top to bottom IMO. And against an opponent that was not supposed to be a walkover. Every game has a different narrative and context, and performances can be deceiving, but that was all around solid from Portugal. It does also seem to have payed off for France, Brazil, and Portugal to have rested their players in the final match day of their groups. They all basically ran over their opponents. Perhaps France not as much.
Sadly, he scored the penalty in their 3-2 win over Ghana, and became, I believe, the first man to ever score in 5 world cups. https://www.espn.com/soccer/portuga...do-becomes-first-man-to-score-in-5-world-cups
That's like the most worthless record when your total count is like 8 goals and 3 I think are from PKs.
Yeah, PK only in his first world cup and in his last world cup, it's why we call him Penaldo! Plus Marta (of Brazil) and Christine Sinclair (of Canada) beat him to the record.
R16 is done and we are left with 7 teams who are no surprises and 1 Cinderella team. Out of the 7, I'd say 6 have some shot at winning. I'd leave Croatia out of that group. And I think 3 out of those 6 are ahead of the pack right now. France, Brazil, and Portugal. From Group Phase: France - SAME - Still a top contender for the title after Mbappé's scintillating performance against Poland. They showed some weaknesses on defense, but the attack is clicking. England - SLIGHT UP - Efficient performance vs Senegal. They look solid and pragmatic with good players in attack. Not sure what happens to them if they concede 1st though. And they have a historical tendency to shrink against big teams. Argentina - SAME - On the surface it looks like they are on the rise, but I still think they are very Messi centric. Defensively they looked solid until late in the game vs Australia when they conceded once from a deflected goal. You could argue they've had the easiest road to the QF so far. Portugal - UP BIG - Huge statement win vs the Swiss. Biggest winners of this round with the most impressive performance. They've been solid all tournament and now they sent a statement to all other opponents IMO. They should get past a tired Morocco and with Brazil the most likely to be in the SF right now. Netherlands - SAME - A bit of an impressive win vs the USA but you have a feeling they set a trap that banked on the American's naivety. Brazil - UP - I would say back up not due to easily beating a tired S. Korea, more due to having Neymar and Danilo back from injury. Losing GJ isn't a big loss with the way he was playing. It would be good to have Alex Sandro back though. The attack clicked really well vs S. Korea but strength of opponent might skew judgement. Overall I'd put France, Brazil, Portugal in the leading pack with Argentina, England, Netherlands in the 2nd group.
Great summary. I totally agree with just about everything you wrote. I predicted a Brazil v Portugal final before the whole thing started and I still think it will go down.
I have zero idea who wins this competition ! Any out of the last 8 other than Croatia I’d say … Holland and Morocco are real dark horses as well . The other five all have an equal chance .. guess it’s gonna come down to a bit of luck judging by Spain hitting the post with the last kick of extra time .. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
France is quite beatable because of that midfield though. Weak goalkeeper too. I could see Bernardo and Bruno bossing France or England, but I am getting ahead of myself.
It's noteworthy in the sense that it illustrates his longevity. But yeah, it's sort of the equivalent of something like scoring at least 5 league goals in 18 straight seasons in a top league. Slightly more meaningful than a participation trophy. Anyway, looks like Mbappe is gonna smash all WC goal scoring records over the next 8 years. The expanded WC will only help. Enjoy your record while you can, Miroslav Klose.
And already appointed the new manager. Luis de la Fuente . Looks like he has been managing Spains youth NT teams.
I really would have liked to have seen Lucho continue, but if he has to leave then I think de la Fuente is a good replacement. He's been involved with the Spanish youths since 2013. Led the U-19 and U-21 teams to European titles, nearly captured Olympic gold last year but lost the final to Brazil. He will have worked with just about every player that was in Qatar except the 7 veterans (aged 30+), the reserve keepers and Laporte. I saw his contract runs until Euro 2024. It's amusing to see many 'fans' on fb and twitter shouting for Pep to take over. IMO, there's no way in hell Pep would ever take over Spain, staunch Catalan that he is. Likewise Xavi. Part of me would like to see Lopetegui be given another chance in the future.
What a diva! [emoji599] Cristiano Ronaldo did not train with Portugal's squad players today and instead insisted on joining the starters for a gym recovery session. [emoji3578] @MarcA
Apparently in the PK shootout, Lucho picked 3 players including Busi and then went to the bench and let the players figure out the last 2 takers and the order. This is what I heard in a Brazilian sports program.
In the pre-game warm up agains the Swiss, starters and subs warmed up separately on the field. Ronaldo didn't warm up with the subs. Instead he stood right by the starters observing their warmup. The guy is on full tilt.
Agree. I don't understand why many react like Fuente is an ameteur. He has done a very good job with Spain youth. Pep said back then he would like to coach NT team. But i doubt we will ever see that.
This isn't the first tournament I've heard this about Spain. I'm quite certain Lucho did the same in Euro 2020. I almost want to say Hierro did similar in 2018 and/or perhaps Del Bosque in 2008/2012.
Brazil vs Croatia soon. I think Croatia will try to bring Brazil to PK shoot out but if they don't have any counter plan, they will lose in 90 minutes.