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Deco to undergo surgery

March 19th, 2007 | By: Luis | 18 Comments »

Deco Portugal midfield magician, Deco will undergo surgery this Monday on his right hand and may miss Portugal’s upcoming Euro qualification matches. Finding a proper substitute for Deco has long been one of Scolari’s headaches. Portugal has some of the most gifted midfielders in the game, but none can match Deco in vision and play making ability.

That leaves Scolari some tough choices. With so much at stake in the upcoming matches, players like J. Moutinho, Hugo Viana and Tiago will have to step up and play a larger role. Belgium and Serbia will look to make the most of the situation. If they manage to bottle up the midfield and organize a few good counter-attacks, things could get very uncomfortable for Big Phil and his star pupils.

Tags: Deco, Euro 2008, national team, Portugal, Scolari

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Comments

By Nelson | March 19th, 2007 at 10:16 am

This really SUCKS!!! My bet is that he puts Tiago in his place. Will/Can Maniche be called to give us 45 minutes?

By OGrandeTrinco | March 19th, 2007 at 10:51 am

Yeah Tiago seems like the most probable pick. We all know Viana is natural substitute, so this is possible too. In bolder strategy, Scolari could pick Nani to play there!

Posted from Canada

By Nelson | March 19th, 2007 at 11:14 am

I was just thinking that as well, might be a little too ambitious especially since these games are so important.

By Pedro P | March 19th, 2007 at 2:43 pm

Nani is a good attaking mid, but I don’t see him as playmaker. In Sporting he doesn’t usually go there. But Yannick does, when not playing as striker…

Current football, and also the features of our players, kinda pushes for 3 mids + 1 striker and 2 wingers. I still wonder, when we don’t have guys like Rui Costa, or Deco, if it wouldn’t be better to just put a striker there and use exclusivelly 2 more defensive mids – which we already do, most of the times, although they usually push forward. Of course, WHO, in that case…?

I am very affraid of these 2 matches…

Posted from Netherlands

By Luis | March 19th, 2007 at 3:37 pm

Pedro – I can feel your nerves. It’s time to step up and do the job for this new side. Both matches will be very physical. In the end, the team will either show the same depth and composure that they showed against BR or they won’t. If they don’t Belgium and Serbia may take away critical points and we’ll be forced to depend on others for qualification. If they should fail to qualify, well then, Scolari will resign and we get to enjoy Euro 2008 with nothing on the line. Personally, I prefer the sleepless nights before tournament games so…Forca Portugal!

Posted from United States

By Luis | March 19th, 2007 at 5:05 pm

Uh oh. Manchester just defeated Middlesborough on a Ronaldo penalty. Ronaldo broke into the box and was brought down by Woodgate. Middlesborough lost their heads and Morrison was ejected for a hard tackle on Ronaldo.

The media reaction should be interesting. Southgate and Middlesborough where at the center of the last diving controversy. Match reporters are calling it a legitimate penalty, but lets see what emerges in the post match interviews.

Posted from United States

By Luis | March 20th, 2007 at 12:13 am

Ronaldo better then Best?

Posted from United States

By Luis | March 20th, 2007 at 12:24 am

The post game interview that pissed off Fergie Youtube

Pretty pathetic and then he finishes by giving him the man of the match award…too funny.

Posted from United States

By Pedro P | March 20th, 2007 at 5:27 am

Saw bit of Chelsea vs Tottenham, and man, great goal from Schevchenko, lousy game for Ricardo Rocha, at least the second half… Was substituted anyway…

Luis, Portugal MUST qualify, no matter what! Don’t you remember Churchill’s speach…? “We shall defend our island, no matter the cost might be, we shall never surrender”! This is the spirit! FORCA PORTUGAL!!!

Posted from Netherlands

By Pedro P | March 20th, 2007 at 5:46 am

Looking at the CR interview again, I think what he’s clearly saying is this: “guys, if you touch me in the box, I’m down and the ref’s gonna give me a penalty 3 or 4 out of 5 times. So, you had your fun bashing me half a year, now I’m in a win-win situation, moreover cos I’m gonna be called the diver, whether I dive or not.” But of course, he never really said it… I didn’t see the match, so I really don’t know.

Posted from Netherlands

By Pedro P | March 20th, 2007 at 8:11 am

Spanish newspaper “La Marca” says Man Utd refused a swap deal, involving Deco moving to Old Trafford and C Ronaldo to Barcelona. They say, although the coaches like Deco and he’d fit like a glove in Man Utd’s style, the reasons for declining were of an “extrasport nature” and they also say SAF values the players personal life, as well as their performance (?). http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/1a_division/barcelona/es/desarrollo/751575.html

Seems to me SAF isn’t gonna let CR go AT ALL… Who wouldn’t want to have Deco…?

Posted from Netherlands

By Pedro P | March 20th, 2007 at 8:18 am

Deco, who’s apparently being hunted also by Milan and Inter… He did say he wants to move out of Barcelona, after the summer… (PT) http://www.ojogo.pt/23-27/artigo618631.asp

Posted from Netherlands

By Pedro P | March 20th, 2007 at 8:33 am

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/6589746
http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/6589740
http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/6588366
http://www.rte.ie/sport/2007/0320/ronaldoc.html
http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2007/3/19/sports/17184254&sec=sports
Although I have no doubts he will still grow and develope, I’m serioulsly wondering whether he’ll have another season like this one… Brilliant performace after brilliant performance… This is starting to give the impresion ALL super-stars put up performances like these every weekend…

Posted from Netherlands

By Luis | March 20th, 2007 at 8:46 am

Manchester vs Middlesborough FA replay highlights Youtube

Posted from United States

By Daria | March 20th, 2007 at 11:48 pm

I know this is completely off topic but it has been really annoying me for quite some time. Here in Canada I pay extra for Fox Sports World Canada so that I get the chance to watch football related programming for more than like 15 minutes on Sportsworld (the Score) and the 3 Saturday EPL games on SportsNet. While I appreciate the opportunity I am totally fed up with the Fox Soccer Report. I watch it because it is all that is available but is it really so hard for them to find hosts who actually know anything about the sport??? They never offer any insight into anything, frequently mispronounce team and player names (Man Utd’s Park, Eto’o and the one that sent me off on this rant tonight- Deco- among others) and at times almost seem to be making fun of how totally ignorant they really are towards world football. Seriously, how hard can it be to find some people who are truly passionate and knowledgeable about the game and who possess the skill set necessary to be on TV. I might be totally off base here but I really just needed to get that off my chest. Thanks for indulging my rant!!

Posted from Canada

By Carlos | March 21st, 2007 at 11:13 am

You’re welcome…
We have a similar problem here in Austria, but at least one person (Herbert Prohaska) is able to talk about football. Due to my job, I can only spend a few months in Italy and Spain every year where things get on perfectly well.

Posted from Austria

By Luis | March 21st, 2007 at 2:39 pm

Daria – I watch FSC in the US regularly. I agree that some of the hosts like Jeremy St. Louis are pretty clueless and still harbor certain obvious resentments toward some players and teams. I’m impressed however by Bobby McMahon’s knowledge of the game. Unfortunately, he’s just a co-host once or twice per week. FSC has an obvious EPL and England national team bias, which I guess is fine. We can’t expect them to get all excited about Portugal they way we do. Hey at least we have one of our own, Carlos Machado, as a host. He’s a Portugal and SP. Braga fan. Although he hides it very well for fear of being taunted by his colleagues. Look on the bright side. At least they now cover the weekly happenings in the SuperLiga. This is the first year they have done that and shows the reach of Portuguese football in recent years.

Posted from United States

By Daria | March 21st, 2007 at 3:49 pm

Luis, I totally agree with what you just said. I should have clarified, it is Mitch Peacock and Jeremy St Louis in particular who just make we want to throw things at the TV. Bobby McMahon does do a very decent job when he is on but that is the only real time there is any sort of intelligent discussion. I find it funny (in a sad way) that it is necessary to bring on a token English presenter in order to have any real insightful content. I know I should stop complaining because we are lucky to have any sort of football coverage let alone an entire channel, but having just come back from England and Portugal it is the quality more than the quantity of the programming that is frustrating (and that is not to say that all programming overseas is spectacular but at least they care). Also as much as I dislike it I do understand why the international games and commentary tends to focus on the EPL and the England National Team. During the World Cup most people around me cheered for England because they felt it was the next closest thing to Canada, especially with Hargreaves putting in such great performances. FSC is obviously just giving what they think people want to see and you can’t really blame them for that. However it is nice to actually see highlights from the SuperLiga and really if they can show Estonia vs. Russia and Norway vs. Bosnia on Saturday than why not a Portugal game!!

Posted from Canada

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