UEFA Euro 2008 Group A Qualifier: Portugal x Armenia[R]

This is more like a sequel to Poland and Serbia games. Nightmare III.

And now Bosingwa is hurt. Shit.

And C.ROnaldo is really sucking. He hardly runs.

 

No one runs, only the guy with the ball, the others just stay idle, watching.

 

THAT WAS A REALLY BORING AND BAD GAME BY PORTUGAL, QUARESMA HAD GENERATED SOME PLAYS BUT NO FINISHING AND ... WAS RONALDO PLAYING??

 

Too much individualism all around and of course Ronaldo no exception to this rule. Ok this one is over and time to think about Finland. Lets look on the bright side to the fact we played that poorly and still won. Tactical setup must change for the game against Finland.

 

Most importantly Scolari needs to do a puxao the orelhas.

 

if they play like this vs Finland, well see a repeat of 2001 4-1 loss to finland.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this means that the only way we can't pass through is if Finland beats us with an 8 goal differential in the next game. Right?

 

O
M
G
!

Thank God the game ended! Urhmmmm...!
I mean, the first half was ok, the second just terrible! They couldn't finish a pass in the box! What upset me was that they didnt make any plays on the LEFT, always kept passing the ball on the right where there were about 5 Armenian players & on the Left where it was more open they didn't pass the ball!
Im not sure if they even knew it was a Euro qualifier!
On the first half, Ronaldo made some good runs & had a few chances, the second half he didn't get a touch on the ball!
Alves+Caneira, yakeees! No no no! And Meira was ok, I really like him as a player & I hope he comes on form for Portugal!

Bosingwa, thank goodness he was fit for this game! He is soo dangerous on attack

If we play like this against Finland, oooo I dont even want to think about it loL!

Starting Simao, ROnaldo & Quaresma is not a brilliant idea!

Anyways, its a win thats what matters! I just think do to the injuries and the fact that the team hasnt played consistantly together makes it more difficult! Hopefully it will all be good!
I think after the Belgium game (4-0), the team hasn't been the same!

 

MOM: Bosingwa. Enough said.

WOM: Ronaldo. Easily his worst game for the NT. Hopefully all the negatives from this game will motivate him all the more for Wednesday.

Nani, as expected, played well. Pretty much the only one who ran around. Everybody else jogged around like they were training.

Simao was really mediocre. I bet he'll start again next game, but frankly Nani is hands down more useful even if they try the same tactical setup (which really didn't work).

Meira and Caneira looked very shaky in the first half. They calmed down a bit in the 2nd half but both their passes and speed on defense were highly suspect. Fortunately, Armenia tired considerably.

So, now if Bosingwa is hurt... Not pretty. We'll have a very tight competition for slowest back between Meira, Caneira and Ferreira. Hopefully Finland doesn't have speed down the wings...

But we won, that's positive, so I'll try to keep positive. It's just that in the last 5-6 games, the NT has been playing significantly below its abilities.

 

MOTM - Bosingwa

My only beef with this game/team...

they cannot cross the ball!!! It's always short!! The only one that was delivered cleanly was from Bosingwa and Almeida scored. Our wingers cannot cross the ball and thats what they are suppose to to!!! argh!

 

Wrong. If Finland beats us, we're out. It would be either Finland or Serbia.

(the first tiebreaker is head-to-head, and we tied the first game against Fin).

-A.

 

The Fernandes - Quaresma sub was very good. Allowed Portugal to take complete control in the midfield and kill the game off. Even though Almeida scored, I don't like they way Portugal look with him on the attack. I really hope Makukula is the future because he looks strong and smooth out there. I've never seen Portugal with a striker like this and I'm enjoying it. I thought Armenia played very well today. They were very effective at closing down space and breaking down attacks for the most part. Portugal really needs to work on their set pieces because what I saw today was ridiculous. Nobody was able to get a ball to the far post... always too short.

I think Portugal will have an easier time breaking down the Finland defense, especially since the Fins will have to push for a win.

 

I doubt it will be Joelz, everyone was standing around like usual today, its been like that the past year.

We are going to be smashed agian by Finland unless the heart and soul and ********ing desire of this team comes to life.

Why was Quaresma subbed? finally eh had another good performance for the ntl team after 2 bad ones, better then simao who totaly ruined the midfield and created absolutly no linkup to the forward line today...
but if he got another yellow he would have missed next match so i can understand why he was subbed

But anyways..we have a major problem now.

bosingbwa might miss the game, eklaves us with Abel..and who do we have to replace caniera? jorge ribeiro?! LOL



And Makukula linked up alot better with the team, but almeida scored, and setup simao for 2 sitters that he missed.

Pepe must start..

Pathetic.

 

We just need a tie and they need to win. This combination scares me the most. If we go in to tie as we have a tendency to get complacent in this type of situation it could end up in major disappointment. Hopefully this is not the case. Regardless of whoe plays, tactics, blah blah blah... what attitude they approach the next game with will determine the outcome.

 

Look guys

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HhOponECkGA

The team spirit is great! Come on, who knows, maybe the team just decided to win by not playing their best or just give the fans a heart attack lol! Either way it was a win sooo Im happy wit that as long as we improve against Finland!
At fist I was a little upset just bc I knew we could of done soo much better, but now Im cool lol!
Its all good, lets kick some Finalnd behind on Wednseday!

And NANI should of started, hey it was his 21st birthday today & if he was going to be wit the team he should of had a start jeje!

 

it's easy to talk bad about Portugal here... But this is all Armenia... they put 3 guys on the ball carrier, look every team had problems vs them. they seat back and it's really hard to make one nice pass....

Anyways we need a better passer for the corners Veloso = not good.

Deco... we need you, oh and Ronaldo should of just kick that ball, that was an easy goal.

Nani should start i think, when he came in things started to speed up.

 

Nani should start over Quaremsa, and Miguel or Paulo Fereira over Caneira in the next game.

I would also start Quim over Ricardo (nothing against Ricardo, it's just that Quim is in better form at the moment), but I highly doubt that would happen.

 

miguel and ferriera are both injured..and quaresma was our best winger today? why take him off?

simao was horrible in the middle, and even worse outwide.

Nani needs to be kept as a supersub, hes better of the bench then quaresma.

 

That's because he's better than Quaresma.

I didn't see anything special out of Quaresma or Simao, but I like Simao better so I'd start Nani over Quaresma.

 

I like nani better then Q and Simao also.

Ronaldo / Nani is the best.

nani rarely ever looses the ball, and hes a sparkplug on the field.

 

Cristiano Ronaldo, extremo de Portugal, sobre a vitória (1-0) desta noite, em Leiria, sobre a Arménia, na penúltima jornada de qualificação para o Europeu de 2008:
«O mais importante foram os três pontos. A equipa não jogou um futebol atractivo, mas agora temos mais uma final contra a Finlândia e esperamos ganhar.
[O que correu mal] Estes jogadores não são máquinas e as coisas nem sempre podem correr como queremos. Há jogos menos bons, mas tivemos atitude, conseguimos marcar um golo. É óbvio que as pessoas esperavam mais, mas isto não é o querer é o poder. [Sobre o último jogo de apuramento] Dependemos de nós. Se ganharmos ou empatarmos contra a Finlândia qualificamo-nos para o Europeu e isso é o mais importante. Agora há que descansar bem, o jogo contra a Finlândia vai ser mais difícil, mas temos equipa para isso.
Nem sempre se pode jogar bem. A Finlândia também jogou mal e ganhou. O futebol é assim. O mais importante são os três pontos.
[Perspectivas sobre o encontro com a Finlândia] O empate dá, mas não podemos ir para dentro de campo com isso na cabeça. Quem vai com a mentalidade de empatar acaba sempre por perder. Penso que estes jogadores têm experiência, são grandes profissionais e sabem que não podem relaxar dentro de campo, ainda por cima com uma equipa como a Finlândia. Espero que possamos jogar bem e ganhar.
[Sobre o regresso de Scolari] Claro que é sempre importante ter o treinador principal do nosso lado, mas o Murtosa tem feito um trabalho espectacular. Se tivesse de escolher escolhia os dois. São grandes amigos e trabalham como um só. Mas, claro, com Scolari é mais uma valia.»


Cristiano Ronaldo, capitão de Portugal, sobre os assobios à sua equipa, esta noite, em Leiria, após a difícil vitória por 1-0 frente à Arménia, na penúltima jornada de apuramento para o Europeu:
«Estamos em Portugal. Já sabemos que os portugueses são assim. Jogo há cinco anos em Inglaterra e nunca fui assobiado, mesmo jogando mal. É a mentalidade. Temos de viver com isto. É claro que é triste. Quando precisamos, o povo deve aplaudir-nos e não assobiar. Saímos um pouco tristes daqui, mas os portugueses são assim.»
E se jogar mal e vencer for necessário para assegurar a qualificação, Cristiano Ronaldo não tem dúvidas de que será a melhor solução. «Preferia jogar mal e ganhar, do que jogar bem e não ganhar. Claro que todos temos qualidade para jogar bem, mas se assim não acontecer e conseguirmos ganhar fico feliz.»

I agree, I think this is right! I mean I would get really pissed off if a team plays their heart out and still loses than when they dont play their best and still win! Yea the players werent their best, but based on their performance, then they should of lost but they didnt
And sometimes we could be a little judgemental but its only bc we r mad at that moment! It is sad when ur own fans booe u but I understand that when one is frustrated we react out of that frustration!

PORTUGAL!!!!!!!!!

 

Oh well, nothing but the three points counted here, and we got them.

It wasn't pretty, but had Simao scored that early goal things could've opened up more for our style of play. Quaresma is not the same player once he puts on the NT shirt, a little too cocky, and not enough dazzle we see in his club play. The team looked slow in attacking, and all players except the player with ball moved. A lot of standing around watching what he could do (CR) on his own. Good players need the whole team moving to create spaces.

The D look shaky everytime Armenia attacked, but Ricardo was there to save the day.

Now all is left for Wednesday, I can't think at who instilled the mentality in the players that all we need is a tie, we all know what happens then. A team like Portugal needs to have a different mentality, we need to face every game with a winning mentality, had we done this throughout the qualifying we would've been celebrating already.

 

I'm really worried about that game, and i'm not even kidding.

Im not too condfident..there is so much wrong with our team.

Deco isnt a proper number 10 anymore..we dont have one, and in our tactic we badly need one..

we need to find a leftback..the other wing opposite of ronaldo is a revolving door.

There is so much space between our lines from defence-midfield and midfield- attack..we give the opposing team so much space..

 

Our Squad should be this:


----------------Quim--------------------

Miguel----Alves-------Da Costa------Ribeiro

----------Veloso-----Raul Meireiles------

Quaresma--------------------------C.Ronaldo

---------------------Simao------------------

--------Nuno Gomes-------Almeida--------

Quim is playing better thatn Ricardo if Ricardo had stayed at Sporting he would be better off.

Meireles in overlooked and can defend aswell as attack and his CL games show and he was Porto's better player against Estrela.
Nuno Gomes would of scored 2 goals today.

And Ribeiro who plays for ************ Boavista has been great for them and even scored a belter against Benfica and was 100% of Boavista's attack against Benfica.