my inside sources at the FPF state that Santos instructed the players to miss the penalties on purpose. they know that the confederations cup curses the winner and we wanted a respectable showing to not damage confidence, while also not winning to put more pressure on us/ become cursed.
Although there are plenty of light chops the overwhelming majority are olive You have to ask yourself what's that why we were getting so much hatred during the European championships? If a team like Germany or England qualified the way we qualified for the finals and won would they be getting the same stick?
The Germans are getting praised because it's their B team that won the tournament. Stop with this hate against Germany. If you don't like the hate we receive, then don't practice it on others. Don't be hypocritical.
I want the Portuguese people to be strong with no victim complex. We don't need the approval of other to succeed. We just need to win. That's the attitude that Santos projects to his national team and people.
I missed all the fun, was working. I'm encouraged for next year. We will never be the darlings, fine with me, I kike the bandwagon clear. Here in the States football is still a novelty so I don't expect much. It is sure fun though to leave work early to catch a game with only 10 other people in some dank spot in Manhattan.
Eliseu came in and did a good solid job Patricio proved me wrong last year and this year just cemented it as Portugal No: 1, that won the number 1 jersey and i do not put any blame on the goal
I agree, every team has its haters. Also, people need to understand that white/non-white silly thing is a north-american insanity. In European countries that kind of conversation is unheard of. /digression.
werent we third in 2010 ahead of the shitty african world cup spain slept its way to with unconvincing 1-0 wins, only to be loved and adored forever while Portugal 2016 remains the devil incarnate? I wouldn't put much stock into us being seeded if it didnt happen in 2010. the month before seeds are drawn they will find a way to drop us to 22nd behind a random new spanish speaking south american country that will create itself out of peru or uruguay or some other shit hole.
No we were ranked 10th in October 2009 we moved up to 3rd in June of 2010 before the tournament started. This cycle the points dropped should be smaller because we have a tie vs Israel and wins vs much smaller teams from 2009. While this year we still have Hungary and Switzerland plus the points gained in the confederations cup. No chance FIFA can play with numbers to oust us. Their best bet is having Poland, Colombia and Russia as seeds. England will draw Russia, Poland or Colombia as Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Chile, Portugal would make quick work of them.
I was looking at the highlights and the team created so many chances, the score could have easily been 3 or 4 to 1 at the end of the 90 minutes. Portugal is not the same without CR7, and for the better I think. The performance was much better than on the sluggish first game. The mexicans complained about a shaved off penalty at the end of extra-time, but I don't think there was anything dangerously close to a pk, unlike in the game against Chili. On the other hand, there was another handball by a mexican defender that the ref let slide.
We were the best team in this tournament. All that matters. We would slap Germany B around, Chile made mistakes unbecoming of a finalist. Santos got it wrong in one game. It was bound to happen sometime. Great experience and lesson before a world cup year.
Forgot to post this but, Congratulatios Mexico. Portugal is officially your daddy.... meet your notable brothers: Mexico 3-0-2 The Netherlands 7-1-4 Croatia 4-0-0 Denmark 11-3-2 Norway 8-1-2 Bosnia 3-0-1 Hungary 8-0-4
All and all we are credited for 3 wins and 2 draws, move up FIFA rankings and finally got Bernardo and Gelson integrated into the team. The PKs sucked but that should teach Santos that PK shooting drills will be a must in future training and Ronaldo has to shoot first. Eliseu finally learned how to play LB and in a pinch is no longer a worful option. Pepe has one more tournament in him at least, but Quaresma and Nani are on their last legs and Bruma will most likely get called to replace one of them (Quaresma most likely) Pizzi is a waste of a roster call litterally nothing to him but bad passes and shots at least Andre Gomes can hold the ball and complete some passes, Pizzi was a huge let down and goes to show that when your fans are not the refs all of a sudden you become mediocre.
Gooddead, you comparing Andre Silva to Pauleta is honestly ridiculous. He was a beast this game until he got shattered physically around the 75 minute mark: -He had great link up play with good one touch lay offs - makes good runs in behind the defense and always drags defenders out of position - Great hold up ability, unlike pauleta he has both thr strength and mobility coupled with skill to hold up the ball with his back to goal when on a island - creative enough and good enough as a passer to lay off teamates (like that movement and flick over the Mexican defense to Gelson who wasted a 1v 1 basically) -decent enough finisher, 2 great saves by Ochoa and Akinfeev in the group stage, and Bravo did come out strongly and even then got lucly the ball lost momentum when being shot under his ass.. His pk wasnt poor, low and hard, ochoa just guessed correctly. Does he have room to grow? Absolutely, he has a long road ahead of him. IS he shit and should be discarded or written off when he's one of the more positive aspects of our national team right now in terms of scoring and also bringing teamates into play around him? Absolutely not.
As for this game, all our chances fell to thr wrong players...give Andre Silva the three headers Gelson and Nani missed from inside the 6 and he would have scored, or Ronaldo. Pizzi missing that sitter was shocking.. Nelson Semedo really struggles, he gets beaten so much 1 v 1 by average players...still a long way to develop into a culture fullback thats worth 40 million. He does not replicate his Benfica play with Portugal. Eliseu was decent, but is really limited in what he can do. Nani cannot beat a player 1 v 1 anymore, and its so painful to watch. Quaresma ruined play after play, but his two crosses were quality again. That's what he is, an ace in the hole to bring on in the second half against tired defenses. Nani's time is runnning out anf Bruma should take his spot, but Quaresma still can be useful Unfortunately Santos doesnt see it like that as Nani is automatic captain when Ronaldo isnt playing, so Bruma will watch the world cup at home and both veterans will be there. Moutinho was decent, he can still be an experienced cultured midfielder that can come on calm things down and bring his energy for 25/30 minutes. He lost his engine which is what made him great over the entire match. But he can season young midfielders like Joao Mario, Sanches, Andre Gomes (again so frustrating, he has zero impact on a match..good touches but either loses it or it comes to nothing, easily beaten defensively...so slow), or bruno fernandes (if/when he's called) Gelson was ok, but he is capable of so much more explosiveness and being dangerous on the ball. Danilo is what he is, a complete beast defensively, poor on the ball in terms of thinking the game and distribution in between the lines. If only his athleticism combined with William raw skill and passing..we would have an amazing defensive midfielder. Ruben Neves is going to Wolves apparently, so i dont see him being an option to fight for a spot for 2018.
hahah Pizzi is good when the speed of play is slower and when he can get an extra time on the ball like in Portugal or vs average teams in Europe, but the second he plays against top quality opposition like Dortmund, he does not look great. I agree, he isnt an option.
lol Have you not paid attention to him this tournament? His link up play is outstanding but his finishing is abysmal. The #9 curse is still in tact.
Our game against Mexico was seen as two cement pouring nations having an exhibition game. All the pundits tuned out, no halftime analysis or anything. If it was Germany vs England, they would have been all over it.
I've been saying all year Pizzi sucks. I don't get the praise he receives from benfica fans. It's almost like we're watching different games