Which I did. But, this is a huge issue I've seen with Portuguese people in general. The issue here is not Almeida or Antunes. Let's be serious. Either one is arguably better than any defender the USA or Ghana has. That's a fact. Let's not waste our time arguing over things that are, currently, non-factors. It distracts us from the serious issues at hand, which are that this team plays the 'victim' card (be it the ref, this player or that player being called, etc.) when in reality, the issues are much deeper than that.
Eder, William Carvalho, Neto need to start next match. Rafa as a playmaker potentially..because Meireles is finished. at his best he provided energy and the coverage of a lot of ground both offensively and defensively..but today he was literally nowhere. Shift back Moutinho to his more box to box role.
maybe swap keepers also. Patricio had his head in the clouds. SCP are not getting 15 million from Monaco for him
Entered the game too nervous for seasoned players like they are, and never really overcame the jitters. Horrendous ref'ing
What has Antunes done that Andre Almeida has not? Almeida has been solid in preseason and even today he looked good even overlapped on several occasions and made Boateng look like a dummy People's problem with him is the fact he is humble and not arrogant
The worst player on the team today without doubt was Ronaldo that gesture to Hugo Almeida was in called for considering the game was young Hugo Almeida relys on service not or Ronaldo smashing it off a defender expected Hugo Almeida to sprint 30 yards against Lahm and Boateng to win it
Antunes has played well in each match he's featured for the NT, he's played in the Champions league, U20 WC, U21 Euro, plays in the Spanish league regularly and scored against Real Madrid,
That goal that never became one because of his decision to pass to CR7 instead of putting it in the back of the net and the collision with Nani going for the same ball pretty much shows his day to me.
it was so funny when they showed Ronaldo getting off the bus, and he did a "WEST SIDE" hand sign to the crowd. anyone else catch that? anyways, we are Portugal. we are only here to Troll the WC. lets play anti football the rest of the way and ******** shit up.
The problem with Portugal is the same problem with most posters here "negativity". I so sick of all the hate on A. Almeida get over it its not gonna change, if you want to hate on P. Bento he's the donkey that called him up. FORÇA PORTUGAL!!!!!
Watching the replay We had better support then Germany until the second goal. Usually a rarity. Almeida should have ripped one across goal Ronaldo must be hurt normally he cuts in and gives himself a better angle then that. JP won the ball before pulling the shirt, very weak call. Nani almost equalizes with a shot Ronaldo wide open while Almeida stalls then gets injured with a rough tackle. Had that tackle been made by a Portuguese on a German it would have been a yellow. Looks like the real turning point was Almeida's injury as the passes start becoming really bad. Nani 2 on 2 with Ronaldo and he scuffs it......wtf? Coentrao right in front of goal and decides to try to pass through a German to get it to Ronaldo.....again wtf? Eder open header over the net....2012/13 Eder buries it Pepe....why not just yell at him or better give him your hand and get him up? Bruno Alves with the weakest clearance of his entire career. Then the ball slowly goes right passed Rui again! What is he doing in net? Muller got the easiest Hat trick of all time today. Eder with another header right over. Besides finish open goals and win some balls in midfield Germany does nothing of note. And this is only the first half! This game reeks of Ghanaian witch doctor.
There are various issues, and none should be immune from discussion. Sure, this isn't the biggest issue but it is part of the large paradigm we have consisting of them. Just because somebody brings it up, it doesn't mean we are being ignorant to what really went wrong today. We can't deny that Almeida is still in a stage of development and evidently as a result is prone to making mistakes more often than not and isn't ready to play on a stage like this. As a Benfica fan, you should know this.
I don't even want to watch the second half replay. Coentrao and Nani colliding on a promising play, Coentrao getting injured chasing an errant pass, Ronaldo shooting from 40-50 yards because he cannot run anymore.
.....overlapped and contributed what to the attack? Can he be creative and dribble players or make a slicing through ball like Coentrao? No Can he anticipate and defend top wingers/forwards like Coentrao? No (he also looked like a beer league player on that 4th goal) he sucks man. Show me physical evidence of where he made boating look like a dummy in terms of getting by him?
I disagree on CR7. He was definitely up for it while there was still sight of achieving a result. After it was 2-0 and he saw his three "confidantes" (Nani, Coentrao, Pepe) each commit stupid, retarded mistakes he thought "******** this, everyone is right. I can't carry them. Let me pout so people feel bad for me for having shitty teammates." He is still a child. It's quite sad. This WC will most likely shape his legacy. It would be a real shame for him to keep putting himself over the national team. I still believe he can lead us to some satisfactory glory, but if he doesn't, I could see many changes come after this tournament.
BTW, Does anyone else also get a very eery WC 2002 vibe? I feel like this will end badly, and I generally try to be optimistic about this group. Today was incredibly bad.
Exactly, I watched a replay with my friends and they all remarked how on second viewing Portugal actually had the better chances and were shading possession. The two turning points were 1: pk...soft soft call 2: bogus red to Pepe, when Craig Forrest, a notorious Portugal hater says it was a yellow at most you know it was bullshit..after that we imploded a bit and Coentrao at the very best scenario pulled his groin instead of tearing it...
I do but I believe... We will beat USA 1-0 Beat Ghana 1-0 and qualify we will win round of 16 1-0 Beat Argentina in QF on penalty shots Beat the dutch in the semi final 1-0 like we always do and in the final we will defeat Germany 1-0, Pepe scoring the goal and getting redeption we will go down in history as the most hated world cup team of all time.
It's sad, though. I really liked Patricio, i even saw him perform here in Edmonton at the 2007 FIFA U20's along with Fabio Coentrao & Antunes. Everyone else off of that team became a nobody. I guess Anthony Lopes is the future starting in 2016.
Exactly, I watched a replay with some friends and they remarked on how Portugal had the better chances and were shading possession the first 35 minutes, until questionable calls on the pk and red card. When Craig Forrest, a notorious Portugal hater exclaims how it was a yellow at most, you know it was a poor call. Pepe was so dominant in defense..huge loss..