I wouldn't mind seeing Frings play in place on Hitzlsberger. But then saying that its not like you can come back from a broken rib within a week. Its not like a muscle strain or something. Surely he will need more time for it to get better.
Incorrect, put on some glasses. There was light contact, but not a push. The goal was a correct decision.
I tend to think that if the push was strong enough to move him, Fereirra would have dived to get the official's attention.
I am a German fan and if you have ever played the game you will know that it does not take much of a push to throw your timing off. With that being said I thought it was a foul too
The ref didn't consider it a foul because Ferreira wasn't rolling on the ground in exruciating pain with a 5 second delay after Ballack stepped up, pushed Pablo with a "GTFO" attitude and scored!!!!
There is a lot of contact in the box. I feel that this minimal contact did not warrent a whistle. Much worse occurs that does not get called. Beyond that, aweful defending by Ferreira. He rarely starts at Chelsea and I find that he is too lightweight to be a CB.
Honestly, if that push invalidates that corner, then no corner would be valid, ever, anywhere, at any level. Panucci had his arm around the Romanians neck; Proedl was dragged to the ground directly in front of the ref -- I think those were highly defensible calls. I also think this was a good non-call.
This is completely true. But to me that's a huge factor in defining great players -- the ability to ride off those small challenges, keep their balance, stand their ground, get a shot off, not go to ground, not lose their man, not be distracted and do the business defensively and offensively. Great teams at the national and club level have top players who know how to throw lesser players off without committing egregious obvious fouls. The small shoulder bump, the knee to the thigh, the hip to back, a small handful of shirt as players run side by side. I'm not celebrating that, but that's how the the game we love is played at the top level. As a side note: I know Cristiano goes to ground so much because he's constantly being dinged left and right -- that's an obvious tack of teams playing against him. And he's trying to get the ref to notice. He just does it too often and too theatrically so when he's actually stepped on -- as he was against Germany -- I honestly have no sense if he's actually hurt or it's more bullshit.
What did this game tell us? Well, do never underestimate the "Mannschaft"... We were the clear outsiders this time (very modest performances against Croatia & Austria, only 2 days of resting, Frings injured, Löw suspended etc.) ... but thankfully we managed to improve and show tactical flexibility! And we had a "pig climber" in superb shape (don't know why he loves Portugal so much )! Who is Ronaldo?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/06/20/sfgpor220.xml Nice article from the english press about the game. A little bit over the top in it's praise of Germany but otherwise good.
Well, I must say I did take some time do "digest" this defeat. Still, I'm emotionally over it now and so I hope I can express some thoughts on the matter. First of all, I must congratulate mr. Low who, unlike mr. Scolari, studied his opponent thoroughly, identified both his strong and weak points and acted accordingly. Germany surprised Portugal both in tactics and in attitude and got rewarded for that. Portugal has some huge talented players but they work poorly as a team, Germany is the other way around. Mr. Scolari has a lot of responsibility in this non-preparation in terms of tactical and even mental approach. He's a huge motivator, no doubt about that, but he's left wanting in terms of coaching skills. Our disastrous shipwreck last Thursday was greatly due to the fact the our NT is still far from the level of professionalism and competitive attitude that Germany or Italy, for instance, show. Portugal made some defensive mistakes that are unforgivable at this level: Ricardo himself proved once again that he is crappy to say the least and our back four looked pretty shaky too. All of Germany's 3 goals show a complete demise of our defense in all aspects. Unthinkable for a team who justly and deservedly aspires to win an international competition! This whole situation kind of reminds me of the disaster of WC 2002 when after the tournament we proceeded to a huge squad reshuffle, with lots of players going out and the signing of the then WC champion coach for Brazil, mr. Scolari. I don't think we need to get that radical today but some serious measures need to be undertaken by the Portuguese Football Federation and, to my mind, the first one should be that mr. Madail should quit the job. We need new faces, new projects and a new attitude in all of our football if we are to truly make the most of our potential in this sport. This all being said, I must still talk about the referree. It is true that Portugal screwed up and Germany surprised us and humbly worked as a team to win this match. However, the decision to validate Ballack's third goal was disastrous and I'm convinced that, as History teaches us, if it were in the other box it would've been a foul, pure and simple. It was a clear push on Paulo Ferreira and I'm sure that the linesman saw it (if not the referee himself) but since we're talking about Germany vs. Portugal, the stronger nation always gets the benefit. Always been, always will. Nuno Gomes was also scandalously grabbed in the box in the first half, trying to rotate and shoot after a Ronaldo's pass, something that, once again in this Euro, did not deserve a TV camera repitition. I know that FIFA and UEFA are not interested that football becomes a cleaner and fairer sport so we'll have to continue to take this refereeing "mistakes" on the chin, time and time again. Perhaps Germany would've won anyway, but these decisions do influence the outcome of a match. People who say otherwise are just not being honest. Anyway, congratulations to the "Mannschaft" and especially to mr. Low, but I'll be rooting for Turkey in their next match. I hope mr. Terim studies the weaknesses of the German squad and makes the most out of them, unlike mr. Scolari.
there is too much talk about this "push" by Ballack, thats a 50/50 decission. Lets not forget the called off side of Hitzlsperger which prevented a HUGE chance and that was 100% no off side. Anyways, respect to the portugal fans for their mature posts and good analysis. Some ppl should take a lesson from them how you can post in a good manner even if you just lost.