It was laborious but that's not surprising. Portugal needed the 3 points and not spend anymore energy that absolutely needed against an opponent who's 2 leagues below, at best. All it took were 7 minutes to break Korea down and secure the 3 points. Had Portugal played full speed the entire, it would have crushed the Koreans, but that would be pointless since at the end of the day any win counts 3 points.
The good thing is that this team likely isn't stoked about how it played today. These guys are coming off two Euro trophies, they aren't gonna be patting themselves on the back for beating a feisty yet floundering South Korea squad 1-0 in a group match.
Portugal's barely possessed the ball in the opening 15 minutes against Argentina, which has been sharp and quick in possession. That said, Portugal has flown up field counterattacking rather than hold onto possession when it gets the ball. Leao with a shot right at the keeper followed by an Ederesque shot from Gedson that was just wide in the past couple minutes. 0-0, 20th min.
Jota skips by a defender on the left and into the penalty area, but the chest-high shot is pushed out for a corner. This entire match seems to be taken place in the attacking third in one direction or the other, it's great!
Portugal has settled in and controlled the past ~15 min. Corners, shots, but no goals. Leao with another shot that he does well to fire on goal from a tight angle, but the keeper had the space covered.
Leite gets a shoulder on his marker and heads a corner kick down that bounces a foot wide. And now a dangerous FK coming for Portugal. ...And Gedson sends the FK directly out of bounds by about 10 yards.
Argentina scores completely against the run of play off a goal kick. Vinagre's man pokes a pass in front of goal that is met at the front post and scuffed toward the back post, which it hits at about 0.5 miles per hour and trickles in. Portugal was pushing forward more and more and that was the first time since that Argentina got to a ball with Portugal's defense chasing back. Inexcusable goal to allow, really. 1-0, 37th min.
Portugal dominate after the first 15 and had some close chances, Argentina score on a weak counter attack. Harsh. Jota has been unbelievable at times. Time to see what this team has against adversity.
I watched the Korea match on a stream I found via Reddit the other day here: https://www.reddit.com/r/redditsoccercity/ This one is on FreeSports in the UK, but I'm watching on Premier Sports website that also carries the channel (first month is free) because my antenna doesn't pick up the freeview channel very well.
Had Portugal allowed a goal in the opening 15 I'd have had no complaints, but to allow the goal off a goal kick (that was due to a Gedson FK directly out of bounds) when controlling the match was a gut punch. Jota has been really good, just needs to come through with a better delivery in front of goal at some point. Hopefully Trincao can get a couple chances in a good position in the second half.
Terrible foul and probably a shitty call too. The ball was out for a corner and Miguel Luis unnecessarily gets called for the foul.
It's all from the left side in the Portuguese attack. WTF, the referee had his hand in his pocket and then didn't give a card for more simulation. Trust your gut, ref!
I guess all those U-19 goals last summer were a mirage. A couple good opportunities there and the keeper could've been laying down reading a book.
If Vinagre is in a dangerous position to send a pass in front of goal there's a 99.9% chance he takes at least one unnecessary touch too many.