Goal! Goal! Goal!

Sorry Luis, donth think so.

Its harde enought to think that Portugal will score 6 goals, considering you’re playing Argentina or Netherlands in the second round.

If you do score 6 or more goals, credit 1 or 2 to Cristiano Ronaldo, and another 1-2 to Figo or Deco or any good midfielder you have outthere.

I don’t think Portugal strenghts is its defense, but their midfielders. Carvahlo is good, but C. Ronaldo, Deco, Figo, those are the players you should rely on.

And yes, you do have some issues in the Striker position. Although PAuleta was the leader striker in the Europe califications, I think with Nuno Gomez injured you’re going to put too much presure on Pauleta.

Anyway, those are my thoughts, good luck.

Posted from  Mexico

I agree with you, Luis Carlos. Portugal has always had poor goal scoring abilities - still does - and, although our defense is, in my view, one of the strongest around, our strength really lies in the midfield.

On the other hand:

1) I’m not so sure it’s ARG or HOL we’ll play. IF WE GO THROUGH GROUPO STAGE.
2) POR has higher chances of beating HOL than the other way aroung - although it’ll all depend of the current form at the time.
3) It’s more likely to score 5 or 6 against HOL or ARG than against SM.

Posted from  Netherlands

Pauleta has a date with history. It’s his time to shine. If he doesn’t, he’ll be remembered forever as the greatest player that never delivered when it counted. I disagree with the characterization that PT has no striker options. I hope Gomez is fit for the tourney, but Postiga and Almeida (U21 team) are viable options. At any rate, I have confidence in Scolari’s ability to use his options wisely and at the right moment. By the way, Pauleta would eat Ronaldo’s lunch in his current form. They play with very different styles, but at the moment, I’d rather have Pauleta.

Posted from  United States

The bottom line with PT at the WC will be goal scoring. Without it we will be going home early. Brasil has always been noted for playing “jugo bonito” but it would have ment nothing if they hadn’t been able to put the ball in the net. They have always had players capable of scoring in the big games..
We on the otherhand have never (except for Eusebio) had it. So we need a true striker, whether that ends up being Pauleta, Postiga or Mourihno’s grandmother makes no difference. With out it we will not preceed deep into the WC..

Posted from  Canada

Agreed!

Posted from  United States

Ceaser, I agree with you. I’m tired of, since the past 10 years, seeing Portugal playing better and loosing. Because we couldn’t score. What we called, the “moral victories”.

We didn’t go to WC 94 (I won’t even comment 98), because we’d lost points against easier teams - failing to score, as usual -, leave it to the last match against Italy, get the leggs kicked and being forgotten by the world. Fortunatelly, virtually all of those players went abroad. Paulo Sousa, for example, still won the champs league twice (Juventus and B. Dortmund)… And he was not even Figo or Rui Costa…

Truth is, you don’t score, it doesn’t matter if you play better or prettier. How pretty have Germany, Italy or any scandinavian teams played in the past centuries? I agree Italy does it by choice. Not by lack of tallent.

And then, years go by, and I’m watching POR playing ENG (EC2004) in a dutch bar, and NOBODY gives POR any credit at all… We’re just “wanna be’s”, with flashy moves to impress the teanagers and a pashion for diving; while ENG, who with all due respect, never really did much when comparing it to the credit they have. The same for Spain. The same for Holland. At least the world recognizes them as good… I’d be happy to, should Portugal leave WC2006 early, leave a good image.

No goals, no win. No win, no existance.

In 2000 Zidane, when asked about the Portuguese team said: “They’re usually very good, but usually fail to score. Now it seems that problem is beeing fixed”. Everything changed with Pauleta. OK, he’s not one of the top 10 strikers in the world. He’s not as a striker, like Figo is/was as a winger. Not like Deco, the sole #10 in the best european team currently, or a god given talent like C Ronaldo.

But he still scores a lot. Look what he does in PSG and Portugal’s score sheet in the qualifiers. I know you need to score when it counts. But the point is: He’s not the best but he’s what we have and I, for myself, am very proud. How many in the world do what he does? If one thing we must learn from WC history, is that IT’S THE TEAM WHO WINS. You only have one Pele or Maradona every 10/20 years… Germany and Italy prove you can win without playing good.

OK, they are very good in their way and every team needs discipline, tactics, collective strength, consistency, backbone, etc… Sure. No arguments there.

More… Due to Portugal’s style, it’s more likely goals come from everytwhere than from just one man…

I also couldn’t care less if it’s Mourinho’s granny scoring… FORCA PORTUGAL!

Posted from  Netherlands

Pedro - nicely said. Goals start with a great striker, but in PT’s case it’s a strategy of multiple goal threats. Ronaldo isn’t a pure winger, he can shift to the middle and play a more direct striker role, usually creating chances for Pauleta to clean up. Maniche, Deco, Figo and others know how to find the net as well. To be successful everyone has to contribute.

We as PT fans know that this will be a serious gut check. To be respected, we must seize our moment in history. Show me the goals!!!

Posted from  United States

I already said my piece about Pauleta’s goal scoring a few days ago. I just wanted to add that I agree that Pauleta’s scoring abilities will be much in need. However, in the big games, he tends to disappear.

Why? I think he has a hard time playing against the disciplined, big central defenders. France isn’t known for being a bastion of awesome defenders, and he has taken full advantage. But when he is the focal point of the Portuguese attack, people mark him with their best defender, and then roll the 2nd defender over the top during his runs.

To counter this, Portugal should allow Ronaldo to float closer to the front. This will force other teams to keep honest, as the 2nd central defender will have to remain close to base to spy on Ronaldo. In my opinion, having Ronaldo floating up front will open more goal scoring opportunities for both Pauleta and Ronaldo. If they don’t follow this strategy, I fear it will be another big tournament without the goals from Pauleta.

Posted from  Canada

GUYS:

You misunderstood me, I didn’t mean Pauleta sucks and you will lose!

I meant that you have a good team, with a good striker, great defender and excellent nearly perfect midfield.

I don’t think Pauleta wil score 6 goals, that doesn’t mean he is bad. I mean Mexico, has been in 14 world cupss, being in the cuarter finals twice and in the second round the last 3 world cups, our top scorer in 1 world cup: Luis Hernandez, with 4.

Its hard to score 6 goals in a World Cup, and you don’t need to. You have good strategy and abilities to beat a team with a 1-0 or 2-1 final scores wich is good enough.

Good Luck.

Posted from  Mexico

I know a lot of people will disagree… But for me, it’s also a question of mentality. I mean, it’s just not in those guys blood to be as good a scorer as winger, etc… The team has never really adjusted to 2 strikers. The midfield gets too empty for the game they like to play. With another guy supporting the striker - like it used to be, the team lacks consistency and can either play very good or very poorly - it’ll depend on the other 11. That’s not what you want.

So, 1 striker… The other 2 guys up front are usually wingers, but if you look well, how much can Figo score or how much can he do with his head (apart from thinking)? Right, not much… He’s the guy to assist. This means we need the other winger to score.

Well… NOW it so happens we also have C Ronaldo… And I’ve already seen the guy playing as a second striker when the ball in on the other side, ready to be delivered by Figo… Even if it doesn’t work, it’ll always pull men from the other side… And yeah, 6 goals is quite a lot…

I just hope it wont be 6 goals in 3 matches and then home… FORCA PORTUGAL!

Posted from  Netherlands