First of congratulations to Portugal. Second is that we deserve what we got, out in the first round. We must be the most overrated team in history. It doesn't help when we have a coach like Saez either. Anyway, now time to go drink my sorrows away.
I didn't watch much of the game so please enlighten me...what did Saez do besides not starting El Moro?
Spain deserved to Lose. I cant beleive valeron didnt start. Saez should be fired. Oh well, I am a Spain supporter and I called their loss today. Chokers always choke when it counts. And thats what happened today.
Albelda in for Baraja. Failing to attack at all in the first half. The failing to bring in Moro until the 80th minute, and putting in Luque for no particular reason, while taking off Joaquin. In short, Saez played for a draw all the way. And it bit him in the ass, quite rightly.
Wow. I would've thought that Spain would've been playing in the second round. A tie today would've done the trick for them. So it goes.
What a waste of my sleeping time. Portugal should have won 4 - 0. Cristiano Ronaldo showed why he is the best youngster in the world at the moment, talent-wise he's miles ahead of Vicente and Joaquin, who are brilliant one day, but useless the next. Puyol showed why he is the best right back in the world and the best Spanish player period. Albelda and Xabi Alonso were terrible. Albelda's control is so bad he should be playing with the U-15s. Xabi Alonso didn't start making his passes until the end.Saez should be very careful walking the streets of Spain. He was a bad coach throughout the tournament, making bad decisions from start to finish, culminating in putting Luque on the right wing. How the weak Torres and badly positioned Raul played the whole match, and goalscorers Valeron and Morientes got pretty much nothing was beyond me. The Spanish FA should've sacked Saez as soon as they saw him telling Baraja to warm up. Absolutely unbelievable tactics. Despite the fact that i felt Saez effectively ruined the game with his poor tactics, i think Portugal deserve the utmost respect as they played a great game from start to finish. The will and hardworking ethic that we saw from Porto was on display today. Scolari made a smart move in bringing on Nuno Gomes early. He's clearly Portugal's best striker. While neither Ronaldo nor Figo could really get past Puyol very often, they made mincemeat of Bravo and Albelda. Deco is a ********ing diver, but played his role well. ********ing Spain, i have an exam tomorrow, and they just ruined my ********ing day. Adios.
Very entertaining match IMO! Portugal deserved the win. Ronaldo was brilliant, he's one of those few players who love to play around with the ball, and are actually very successful with that.
Saez is a moron...that's all I can muster at this point. I'm the village idiot but even I could design a better system for Spain than Saez...I'm sure any number of more educated soccer scholars on this board could craft a fantastic system for Spain. BTW...Portugal's looking better. IF Figo will stay put on his side and run at his post on crosses, like he's probably supposed to, Portugal would have at least another goal or so.
To be quite honest, I feel Portugal are very lucky to be advancing. They were hardly impressive in any game. If England advance I think they will beat the Portugease.
You may even be right but it is ironic that you say England will go through when England, even having won 3-0 was not impressive at all.
Well as a neutral I'm glad Portugal won. Once again its shown that if you play for a draw, or even try to defend a 1 goal advantage you end up paying the price. I bet that 2-year extension for Saez will be even more unpopular now.
I think England have been more impressive than the Portugeese. Portugal, even though they won tonight, didn't look sharp until Spain started to attack in the last 20 minutes. England, otoh, have looked a better overall team. They work much better together than Portugal do. Portugal are just 11 individuals. England are more compact.
I forsee an England-Portugal quarterfinal, and though I dearly hope Portugal win I do think England would have the edge in that one. As for the criticism that Portugal is a disorganized group of individuals, I think that became less and less true with the three games of the group. Against Greece, couldn't be truer. Against Russia, better but still not great. Then against Spain, I think we finally broke through and played with real spirit and cohesiveness. We finally put together some promising attacks and created a decent (though not great) number of chances. That's not to say Portugal was flawless today--far from it. I think their defense was mistake-prone and they were lucky Spain didn't equalize. Spain's two balls off the woodwork, that reminds me of Portugal's desperately unlucky tries against SK late in the WC02 game. And once again our lack of a true striker was laid bare. I think Nuno Gomes is the best we have in that role, but he's not great. All that said, I was thrilled and proud to see Portugal pull out the win today. They crumbled under the pressure in WC02 and against Greece but this win showed the one thing they lacked then: the ability to remain positive and coherent when their backs were to the wall. Spain is an excellent team and I am sorry to see them go out. Greece, who would have thought it? Plaudits to them, but I predict they'll be swept aside by France. This makes the third Euro in a row that Portugal have topped their group. THis turnaround alone has saved a lot of pride and restored a lot of hope that was thought dashed after the Greece game. A win against the old enemy, top of the group, and great expectations saved--truly, a great day for Portuguese football.
Nuno Gomes, with his lucky number 21, his 21st goal for his national team is one of the most important he'll ever score. Now he automatically gets a start in the quarterfinals because Pauleta got a second yellow card. This was a typical 1-0 win for a team coached by Scolari. But, it could've easily been 3-0 if Costinha and Maniche had sharper finishing. There really weren't any stretches of the game when Spain took control of it. Did Raúl play for Spain? Portugal dominated Spain the whole game, mainly because they had the better midfield. More than that, they showed that they can take the pressure and win a decisive match, which will be required of them from now on. Portugal - England would be a huge battle. England are very tight defensively and in midfield. If it's Croatia, it could end up an open game.
i do feel kinda bad for Spain...Puyol, Vicente, Joaquin, and Valeron (especially)don't deserve this ****************.
I've watched the Spanish MNT for 22 yrs. I EXPECTED Spain to lose. Why? 'Cause I've watched the Spanish MNT for 22 yrs. Change those cursed red shirts (and the whites, too), bring on a foreign coach (see Greece)... If Spain make it to Germany '06 it'll be A FRIKKIN' SUCCESS!!! BTW, Del Bosque is taken, so V. Fernandez or a foreign guy is our choice.
The Spanish looked terrible. Torres over Morientes?!? Luque over Joaquin?!? Raul was a no-show, I couldn't really name a Spanish man of the match, no one played especially well. Spain did not look bothered, and Portugal won because I felt they wanted it for more. Bad tactics, no desire, and a lack of attacking-mindness cost the Spanish. Axe Saez now before he ruins their WC2006.
The Spainish did not play well at all. There were too many chances missed. Morientes came into the game too late. He should have started or came into the match much earlier.
SPANISH FED PRESIDENT AND CHIEF LOSER VILLAR JUST CONFIRMED SAEZ WILL STAY!!!!!! GRRRXXXFFFRRRLLLLFFXXXX!!!!! YEAH KEEP THAT %@$##@ LOSING TRADITION GOING, JERKOFF! WE WILL NOT BE AT GERMANY 2006. PERIOD. NOT WITH SAEZ. OR VILLAR...