Portugal v. Switzerland Al Daayen (Lusail Stadium) Dec 6, 2022 10 pm - Qatar 7 pm - London (GMT) 2 pm - New York City
I don't get the "In" thing on every thread. I keep thinking someone has a take on the match but it's always "In".
I think some haven't realised there is a watch thread button at the top right of the thread and think they have to post to watch the thread.
Portugal have wanted to play like France/Brazil and have controlled territory like those teams (good, not great) but have defended their box quite poorly...like Serbia or Ghana. The Swiss have been efficient in attack (how much of that is simply playing Serbia and Cameroon?) with Embolo and Shaqiri, can they do it again? Fernandes and Bernardo have been very good but the Swiss have not really had anyone else chip in attack, are there other options? Xhaka? Otherwise it's a risky game they play where they might get pinned in lots more data/charts/etc here https://saturdays.substack.com/p/the-big-portugal-switzerland-preview
Anyone heard if Jann Sommer will be fit to play tomorrow? He had the flu and didn't play against Serbia. I wasn't impressed with Kobel, his replacement in goal. The Swiss need Sommer to have a good chance to win. Especially if the match goes to PKs.
One of my nightmares when we play against Switzerland it's usually when they score first they really know how to frustrate us, and if they score early it can turn into a nightmare.
Sitting on the plane to Doha now. Hoping for an entertaining match with a subsequent Swiss quarterfinal. The first since 1954!
Ronaldo benched wow But he gave the coach the perfect excuse with his tantrum last game. We'll see now if this makes Portugal play better as many think.
Well Santos is making the bet of his life, showing autorithy and winning the game he will be respected, if he loses this one everyone is going to accuse him of doing this to please the Media and his tax evasion accusations will show up with frequency on the Media.
Good luck to Portugal. I have seen them livelier and more entertaining when they haven't started with Ronaldo but in this tournament, for some reason, once Ronaldo has been subbed, they have done worse.
I think this game will have a lot of Media attention, particularly the post match regardless the outcome.
Another thing it came to my mind is if the game is on a difficult mode will Santos bring annoyed Ronaldo as a sub? I don't think he accepted well being benched and receiving so many critics since Friday, the internal mood must be spetacular for this game.
I couldn't agree more, much the same with United over the past season or so. The problem is the media and pundits exaggerate every little good thing he does, ignore the bad things.. and the cameras are never off him. But at the end of the day the teams are better as a unit without him. It was the same story with Rooney in his later years drove me mad.