FFS check your facts before talking! Portugal had the best attack out of ALL EUROPEAN qualifying groups. And the best deffense too if I'm not mistaken. Now you think Scolari changed the way we play?! Well, when did he ever use 2 strikers besides friendlies?! I'd call THAT a change and I'll give credit to the coach who will have us start games with 2 strikers. But it certainly wasn't Scolari. edit: Oh, and just another thing. Don't say we're Scolari "bashers" alright? I mean I "bash" Benfica or Sporting cos in general I want them to lose. But PORTUGAL!? I wish I had only good things to say about Scolari! But I don't! I have several critics, and while I'll admit he has done good things for the NT he has chosen a path of conflict with Porto that I simply don't understand. Not to mention what they done to Baía, which you think is ok to joke about, but I honestly think its something out of the Inquisition! This towards a guy that almost ruined his career because of an injury he picked up with the NT! Its criminal!!
Well atleast we have gotten to the root of this hatred...the dissing of Baia... It's understandable, because Portistas think he is God's Gift to GK... Well wake up and smell the coffee..there is no witchhunt, he just isn't "good" enough anymore.... And please don't ask me to check the facts...Portugal has radically changed their style of play since Scolari took over...Yes the WC02 campaign did give us alot of goals...but look at the teams they were scored against....against the biggest rivals we had a tough time scoring...Ireland...Holland (2-0) in Holland is the only game were we beat a quality opponent scoring more than one goal.... In Korea...we needed to be down 3-0 to the USA before we started attacking...not to mention a big 0 against Korea....and don't bring up the 4-0 against Poland...because they didn't even belong in the tournament... But I don't want to rehash those memories...but Portistas need to let go...there is no bias against Porto...or Baia...Scolari is just more comfortable calling up Ricardo and Quim...who both merit the call up...
That's part of it. No one ever denied it. No. We just KNOW that he's still the best portuguese GK. Only you would make such a statement in these boards. If you discount the game against Russia (freak occurance) what prevents me from saying the exact same thing? Poland didn't belong in that WC? They steam roled the US!! How can you say they didn't belong there? Again: I totally reject your argument that Scolari substantially changed the way we play. All you need to do is remember EURO 2000. I don't remember us being a deffensive team. We certainly weren't a deffensive team in the 2002 WC either (I have no idea how you come to that conclusion, specially because a team can be attacking and fail to score, which has always been our problem) So, really, I don't see what changed in terms of game style.
There's one major difference between the Pre-Scolari Era and the current: Cristiano Ronaldo who has been o nosso "abono de familia".
Not even that changed much. C Ronaldo is a midfielder -- Figo was a midfielder We now have Deco -- then we had Rui Costa Pauleta or Nuno Gomes are still our main strikers and we rarely use them together from the start of games. Possession is our game and always was. But too often a lot of possession doesn't translate into goals (except that game against Russia when all shots went in) I really wonder how can someone back up the claim that Portugal changed it's style.
Discounting the 60's and the Era of Eusebio, watch any game during the 70's, 80's and early 90's and Portugal was a defensive team... But that is not the argument here.... Scolari not going to the Dragao and stating he had been there 10-12 times is what is in question... And I will continue to state that it is meaningless, unless you are a Portista...which for some strange reason they think he "owes" them a visit... If all we are saying is that he is a liar...then the press should just ask him what games he was at....end of discussion...
Yeah, but we now have a complement to Figo: teams can longer afford to double team Figo because they have to worry about Ronaldo and like you mentioned, Deco in the middle.
Bring back Oliveira. At least he will call up Baia Maybe in 2006 we could have as good as a campaign as we did in 2002 Scolari is the only one that stands up to anybody and doesnt let other people get into his business. Not like Oliveira
That' true, Ronaldo adds a dimension to this team we've never had and now compliments another great winger, Figo. IMO this Portuguese side regardless of its coach, was destined for better things. We just have better players now than we did 10, 15, 20 years ago. We have excellent players at every position. Portugal was also the home team at the Euro, which meant the players were very self motivated to perform for their country. IT won't be until after the WC that we can make our final judgement on Scolari; the real effect he's had on the progress of the NT.
Stop being an ass nobody is praising Oliveira. Let me just say this: there are no guarantees that 2006 will be any better than 2002 so let's not all just assume it will be simply because we want it.
Thanks Ferreirajl for writing this.... These are some of the same things everyone wrote when the WC02 groups were selected and Portugal found out they were playing Poland, USA, South Korea... And we all know how that turned out... So let's all remain confident, but humble at the same time...and hope that Scolari has a better advance scout than Oliveira
So you who you rather have as a coach? Coach success is measured by their results. And Scolari has a great track record both in Brazil and in Portugal. I think that the FPF did a mistake by letting Humberto Coelho, but that would be second guessing from my part. We all should be behind Scolari. The guy does not look at names. He sat Rui Costa, Fernando Couto and others. HE subbed Figo. Do you think any Portuguese coach would hav eteh guts to do that? He does whats good fo rthe team. Unlike others... I am not taking any team for granted. My view is that if a team is good enough to qualify then you need to respect them. We learned our lesson with Greece
I would have prefered a portuguese coach. I won't say any names because it won't lead this discussion anywhere. But I think it belittles our football as a whole that we had to import a coach. But that's me, and I admit that there might have been smaller advantages in bringing in a foreign coach after 2002. But still... and since a foreign coach doesn't automatically guarantee success (obviously), I would have prefered to keep some dignity and go for a portuguese one. Maybe we could have also avoided the tendency to naturalize brasilian players (no, I never agreed with that either). I think all this leniency towards Scolari is just a part of the unhealthy habit portuguese people have of being too subservient to foreign people.
I'm sure FC Chelsea is not complaining about having a foreign coach nor is Greece. If you're good you get the respect, it doesn't matter what the background is.
At the end of the day, Gilberto Madail isn't going to fire Scolari just because FC Porto want him to. I said GOOD DAY SIR!
This is the key sentence of this thread! We are a fvcking bunch of pvssies with no self esteem(spl?)! Always needing the aproval from someone who isn´t Portuguese, to tell us that we can do good things and fullfill all our potential. The Portuguese currently living in Portugal understand this better than everyone, its always the same fvcking **********, if it isn´t Portuguese it must be good... EDIT: Damn 2000 posts!
What is this Sociology 101? So if Portugal wins the World Cup, you guys won't let it be one of the happiest days of your lives because our coach is a foreigner? It will be bittersweet won't it...I feel sorry for you guys. Scolari is the best man for the job at the moment, he speaks the language is a champion himself and really wants to take Portugal to the promised land. If he doesn't fullfill his promise/goals I think he will move on. This will open the door for Mourinho who is a great league coach, but as many observers have pointed out, he may not be particulary suited to coach the NT as it is for more difficult to put your stamp on a team when you play every other month. If he fails miserably it will be fine because he's Portuguese? Oh congrats on your 2000th post!
Its nothing against Scolari, (despite being a terrible tactician and anti-FC Porto, he is a nice guy and a good coach) its just against our mentality, i couldn´t care less if it is a foreigner or not, we all want to achieve success if it is a foreigner leading us to glory GREAT! What i want is no arse kissing to foreigners just because they are foreigners, its really sad to live in a country were students need 18,5 to get in university to be doctors,while the Spanish need 15 and them come here to fill our empty spots... this is our great country at his best... things like this happen in every sector of our society.
I hear you, I don't live in Portugal, but I understand where you're coming from with your socio-economic-political problems. We are not inferior to anybody except perhaps in our mindset and we need to believe more in our abilities and be proud of our heritage.
It's different at club level... national teams are supposed to be... well... national! Everybody tends to use their own coaches. I remember it was quite a shock when England went with SGE simply because the best NTs in the world never needed foreign coaches. France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Brasil have never used foreign coaches. Not that I remember. Mostly it's the smaller and upcoming NT's who use foreign coaches. Those NT's who have to learn from someone else cos they can't come up with a decent name: Korea, USA, Greece, Japan... To me "National Team" is not about winning at all costs. National team is about having a team that represents me and with which I can identify. And I have to say that if one more brasilian sets foot in the NT I will start rooting against Portugal in every game. I'm having trouble relating to this NT as it is.
Lets face it Humberto Coelho and Antonio Oliveira had quality teams, but Scolari's got more to work with. Today, we have Cristiano Ronaldo - most believe he will go on to become one of the best, if not the best in the world. Today, we have Deco, who's as good as Rui Costa ever was. Today, we have Miguel and Paulo Ferreira - both better alternatives than we ever had. Today, we have Andrade and Carvalho, who are both as good or better than Couto and Jorge Costa ever was. Today, we have Nuno Valente, who's better than Rui Jorge ever was. Today, we have players like Maniche and Costinha, who as good or better than Paulo Sousa and Paulo Bento ever was. Today, we have a coach, Scolari who's proven more than Coelho and Oliveira ever did. Today, we still have Figo, Pauleta, Nuno Gomes, Petit, and Quim - who are still as good as they ever were most games.
Just these two points that I don't agree. Rui Costa was a fvcking genius. A player of the highest caliber, IMO comparable to Zidane and all the best of the decade. He simply wasted his best years with Fiorentina because he has too big a heart and let emotion and love for club get in the way of individual ambition and success. Such mistake Figo for example did not make. Figo knew when to make his moves even at the cost of making some enemies. But Rui Costa is a different person, and what hurt his career on the pitch only makes him a better human being off of it. To me he was a better player than Figo. Too bad he didn't get to fly as high. Deco is good, and obviously I'm a great fan of his.... but I just don't see him as portuguese. Every time he plays I feel like we're cheating. Give me Brasil NT and I can be World Champion coaching the team by phone from the beach.
Do I feel pity because you feel this way? Or just kind of angry? First of all; where was your bitching when your President hired an Italian and then a Spanish to run your Portuguese club? Second; what the ******** are you talking about? Excuse me, but I think that Portuguese people are the most proud people their can ********ing be, abroad or in Portugal. No one is as proud of their nationality as us. Unfortunately that has nothing to do with this. Scolari is not the one kicking the ball in to the goal or keeping it from bouncing in. Where was this arguement when Deco was called up for the national team? Where was it when Porto bought Diego and Luis Fabiano? It's hard to accept the opinions of the Portistas because their(your) club represents everything you guys are speaking against. And you know why it's even harder to see anything wrong with Scolari? Because there's barely any people OUTSIDE of a Portista mindframe who think like that. If a coach is good buy him. If he happens to be Portuguese, great! If not, too bad. If a player is good, buy him. If he happens to be Portuguese, GREAT. If not, too bad again. And so on and so on. It's not about thinking people outside Portugal are better. Who are you kidding with this arguement? When did this even become a factor? It's not that he's coming from outside Portugal; it's that he's won a WORLD CUP. And well, I dunno about you guys, but I'd like to be celebrating one in (give or take a few days) a year. If we thought crap from outside Portugal was better; do you think fans of Benfica and Sporting would throw their support to FC Porto when they went against Manchester United and Deportivo and Monaco? If we thought crap from outside Portugal was better; do you think we would be supporting Benfica, Sporting, Porto, Braga, Beira-Mar, Academica, Boavista, Guimaraes? Do you really? If your answer is yes; excuse me for lack of better explaining; but you're a raging lunatic in dire-need of a heroine injection.
let me get this straight... You rather have the best Rui Costa over the best Deco??? (this would be a nice little poll)