Salty and/or sour. I mean, Portugal played offensive football this time around. It's like whoever "wrote" the article just copied and pasted something from 2016. It seems like some people will downplay a competition if Germany or England doesn't win it. I remember the Euro2004 had its detractors as well for the same reasons.
He is trying too hard with that tweet. Ronaldo's reaction is vague. It could have been anything. He was clearly talking to Bernardo before the announcement. Bernardo could have been saying "its going to be you" and Ronaldo replying with "no". Ronaldo did not even play in most of the tournament. Why would he expect to win the award? Don't listen to the CR7 haters.
Here we go again Per UK and Italian media, Bruno Fernandes to Man United looks to be almost done. I would have preferred Manchester City because we can trust Pep Guardiola way more with younger players, he knows how to handle them.
Maybe the best 60 or so minutes we played under Santos....naturally he made us turtle afterwards but thats to be expected. With a coach who allows the shackles off and lets us play a more expansive dynamic game we could be deadly. With Santos it is what it is...we will persevere and get the win at times, or crash and burn at times (euro 2016, nations league vs world cup 2018, confed cup, serbia/ukraine qualifiers). Danilo is the right choice to play in front of the back four against a top team thats dangerous on set pieces...I like the idea of Neves playing against other teams who arnt as dangerous in the area or rapid in attack. William Carvalho showed he can play the more box to box role but we do need a number 8 to show up soon with Renato stagnating and Moutinho getting older. William lacks the engine and shooting prowess needed for a true box to box..but if it frees up Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva to have the liberty to attack without being restrained too much it would function Guedes wasnt great but he scored..we still need to find a better player to partner Ronaldo up front. It's scary to think how much better our team will be in 6 months...just think, Rafeal Leao is the perfect striker to play up front and partner Ronaldo, and run back to cover the fullback when Ronaldo just stays up top..Jota should get a chance as well. Ferro/Dias will be right by Pepe/Fonte, a good blend of youth and experience. We will be scary. Against other teams besides the top 4/5 we can drop Danilo or Neves/William, and play Felix or another attacking player with the options we have.
The award was for the finals only because Ronaldo won the award for most goals. And guys were already patting Bernardo on the head so they already announced that he won.
Agree with most of this. The future is bright, but on the other hand Ronaldo will also drop off at some point and the question is that it's hard to predict when. His conditioning makes us think maybe 3 or 4 years, but at that age a bad injury could mean it's over. Danilo needs to stay in front of the defence, IMO. William can either play with him or without him. I was very skeptical when I saw both, but it actually worked out ok. I don't think we can play both against minnows, though. Neves seems the obvious choice, but he hasn't yet clicked for the NT. Guedes doesn't convince me at all. Yes, he scored, but we definitely need A.Silva to get back in form or R.Leao arrives at his next level and joins the big boys. I need to see more from him, but I like your optimism. Pepe and Fonte don't have much left in the tank, I'd rather we start that change now with Ferro and Dias as the starters.
I also think Bernardo was saying Ronaldo deserved it, and Ronaldo was just "nah, don't be silly". Could be wrong, but that's what I got from the body language.
Yeah. The foundation of tournament winning tournaments is a solid defense. You guys have that in spades now - that CB pairing is one of the best in the world right now. MF is starting to look good too - you'll just need to add a solid striker and winger and you'll be in the mix for all the tournaments coming up (also a bit more depth - there was noone on the bench to really scare Eng/Por). That's been the secret of our success as well - we've at least one world class CB for more than 10 years, then we got our winger/striker superman and bingo - tournament success has come (our MF has been up and down and we had no depth until the last couple of years - that was the last piece of the puzzle that finally fell into place and that's allowed us to actually start winning instead of just threatening at tournaments). The overall youth on both teams means that Dutch and Portugal future is looking bright.
Santos got this so right. The Danilo/Williams pairing was phenomenal. Allowed Bruno to be so aggressive/direct toward goal - which was the 1st time we've seen him have that kind of opportunity - loved that he took those shots without hesitation. Bernardo also seemed like a man liberated. His energy bombing up and down the field is astonishing - I'm 100% sure he ran the most out of anyone in these finals. Fully deserved the award. And he was the one guy closest to dribbling past the dutch superstar CB duo (mid-2nd half).
Am I the only only that liked Rafa's runs? He was making the dutch sweat buckets at the back. Dribbling with no fear, it was great to see.
You weren't the only one. That was a superb showing. He brought a different gear to the game and really helped to keep the ball out of our half. Perfect sub.
If you are right, it's funny but horrible to see from CR7 at the same time. Bernardo is the face of the team after Ronaldo anyways. Many would argue that he already is the face of the team because when Ronaldo isn't scoring goals, what is he doing exactly? Bernardo is always critical. It's the beginning of the end for CR7.
I saw the reactions live. Ronaldo looked a bit taken aback at hearing it but congratulated Bernardo along with everyone else. And there's nothing wrong with that. Imagine being Ronaldo and hearing you weren't the MVP while playing for Portugal. A guy who, at 21 years old, was the best player on the field for Portugal 13 years ago in a World Cup semi-final against France. With Figo, Deco, etc. on his team, and the likes of Zidane on the opposing side. A guy who, at 19, was literally destroying the Netherlands at Euro 2004 when the likes of De Ligt were nearly in diapers.
I thought he had some great runs as well. Great speed too. Like someone already mentioned, maybe he gets used as a super sub like RQ?
It was a good win against a very good upcoming young Dutch side. What made this a good win for Portugal was how well some of the young players did for them as well. Especially, Ruben Dias who will be taking the torch from Pepe as Portugal's best CB when he retires from the Seleção.
Portugal showed heart and mental strength in this tournament. Not to mention good tactics and execution on plays. And of Course CR showed up big time. I was listening to a lot of British radio before the semis and they all seemed confident that the winner of the English -Dutch match was the best team in the competition and the clear favorites to win. I was thinking to myself Portugal is probably going to win now for sure with that brilliant analysis.
You have to remember that the British are still butthurt from the Ronaldo wink and losing on penalties to us consistently.
The English despise us more than dental hygiene. I go out of my way to always listen to English commentary, because the bias is historical and no matter how often they are wrong, they simply never adjust and always let the hate get in the way. Sad thing though, if you ever speak to a casual fan you can tell they recite almost everything they hear from these limited buffoons.