My Final Euro2008 Recap: Portugal 2 – 3 Germany

This match just goes to show you… If you want to spend a small percentage of a game in attack, you had better make it count. Germany did just that and had the following line up to contend with at the beginning of the match…

Cristiano Ronaldo – Nuno Gomes – Simão
Deco – João Moutinho – Petit
Paulo Ferreira – Ricardo Carvalho – Pepe – Bosingwa
Ricardo

First Half Analysis / Notes
From the outset, the Germans showed that they were a class above any other team we had faced so far in the tournament by not allowing a thousand passes to be strung together and maintaining some effective possession of their own. As was the case throughout the majority of the tournament, Deco was a calming influence on the midfield, receiving passes and looking for a few options before choosing the best means of distribution. Bosingwa went forward effectively as usual and had a particularly pinpoint accurate cross to Moutinho who botched it up rather nicely.

Bastian Schweinsteiger’s sliding opener was nothing less than pure brilliance. After the multiple give-and-goes down the sideline, Schweinsteiger came marauding in with a helpless Paulo Ferreira in tow to slam home a well placed cross. A few minutes later, Petit gave up a stupid foul that led to a Schweinsteiger cross onto German forward Miroslav Klose’s neck/shoulder/head which he put past Ricardo to give Germany an early, commanding, and extremely deflating 2-0 lead before a half hour had gone by. Raul Meireles was Scolari’s first sub, in for Moutinho who took a pretty bad knock and wasn’t playing so hot as it was. Crissy then decided to join in the festivites and produced a run and shoot which Nuno Gomes smartly turned to fire the rebound in past German keeper Jens Lehmann. Going into the half, Portugal dominated possession as well as attacking presence. Germany simply made better, more efficient use of the chances they had made.

Intermission changes / Thoughts
I understand that conventional wisdom has some sort of grip on coaching where the sixty minute mark in a match is when it becomes “generally acceptable” or more likely that a change is about to be made. Regardless of the 2-1 scoreline going into the half, it was clear that Portugal were not necessarily capable of imposing their cohesive attacking will on the Germans. With quality huge guys like Ballack in the middle of the German unit (hehe, ‘unit’), Portugal should have looked to try a different approach than frustratingly awful shots from 30+ meters out. Especially by guys like Petit. If Portugal would have made it through I have no idea how Scolari would have been able to justify sticking with Simão and Petit as starters going forward.

Second Half Analysis / Notes
Down 2-1 Portugal played with a bit more attacking impetus and kept committing Bosingwa and Pepe forward as much as was humanly possible. Pepe went close and probably should have converted a cross but sure enough, the Germans got another one of their small handful of chances just after the hour mark and were capable of capitalizing. Schweinsteiger zipped in a cross and Ballack made a bit of room for himself by pushing Paulo Ferreira out of the way and converted the header past Ricardo who looked as though he was holding out a pair of shit filled underpants with his hands. Ferreira shouldn’t have been on Ballack, and Ricardo should have been a little more decisive with how he wanted to handle the cross. At 3-1 Germany, it was time for Nani to come on for Nuno Gomes. Postiga got up and on the pitch moments later and the Portuguese now had around twenty minutes to score two goals.

Cue further wild shots from six hundred yards out which yielded shit. Ronaldo never really got into the flow of the game after the end of the first half where he showed a few flashes of brilliance, but when Nani came on he produced a run through about half of the German midfield which ended in squadoosh. Then, in the waning moments, he managed to get to the wing and serve a textbook ball to Postiga who hammered it home with his head from about three yards out. Portugal were gifted four minutes of injury time but couldn’t put together a final game tying strike.

Individual Player Rankings:
Goalkeeper:
Ricardo: 1 – Why couldn’t it have been him who broke his wrist and not Quim? We were saying it before the tournament started and even before Ricky started looking lost on corners and set pieces: he’s a shadow of his former self. Not that his former self was that big of a shadow to begin with. He’s almost certainly played his last meaningful match in between the pipes for Portugal.

Defenders / Wingbacks / Attacking Centerbacks:
Paulo Ferreira: 3 – Abysmal. He was out of position for the whole tournament and he was playing left back as if he were a right back. His assertion on set pieces and the manner in which he defended attacks were all backwards, which is not necessarily his fault, but why not let someone else like Miguel play out of position or even have the only true left back on the team, Jorge Ribeiro, get some burn?

Ricardo Carvalho: 6 – He played? Could have used his usually beastly aerial presence on that second goal. Why wasn’t he covering Ballack when the big guy shoved the diminutive Ferreira out of the way to put home the game winner?

Pepe: 7 -Not awful, but not what we’ve come to expect. There was a point there in the second half where I thought he was ready to start taking over and score another one. He’s hardly anywhere near the proverbial “blame” radar here.

Jose Bosingwa: 7.25 - He played Simão’s wing position better than Simão did. I know, given how shitty Simão was this tournament that this isn’t saying much, but Bossie should take that as a compliment.

Midfielders
Petit: 0.25 – Worthless foul led to the second goal. He started the parade of players taking shots from seventeen miles away in desperation. I wouldn’t want him to shoot from seventeen inches away. One of the gaping holes in the side but Scolari’s stubbornness kept him in.

Deco: 10 – This rating is not for this match. No one on this team deserves a ‘10.’ This rating is for a player who had a solid game and was the best Portuguese man in the tournament. He played like the only guy who truly gave a shit 100% of the time. That’s a sad fact to consider since Portugal is his adopted country.

João Moutinho: 3 – The most we saw of him was not converting Bosingwa’s cross. After that he got hurt and was ineffective.

Attack
Cristiano Ronaldo: 5 – Nice acting job after you realized that a German player was about to take the ball and you weren’t getting the foul. I’m sure it hurt getting stepped on by a big dude with cleats, but why did you get a chance to look around and then start writhing in pain? At any rate, Ronaldo’s play embodied everything that Portuguese players have been criticized for in the past: selfishness, diving/simulating, and becoming easily frustrated to the point that they feel the need to shoot from outside the stadium.

Nuno Gomes: 7 – I took such a shit on this guy going into the tournament. I still don’t think he’s the best striker we have. However, he managed to spin and left foot in a ball to give Portugal hope going into the second half. He facilitated a number of other tallies throughout the tourney and always looked like he left his all on the field. I may not have much respect for his game, but I have loads of respect for him as a man who put his heart in soul out there on the pitch match in and match out for his country.

Simão: 2.5 – Was happy to let Bosingwa show him how a proper winger plays. Simão had no creativity, shitty on the ball, and terrible service on crosses. Quaresma and Nani were clearly more in form and would have provided another dimension to the attack. Simão, along with Petit, can not be considered a first team player any longer… If either of them even makes the team for 2010.

Substitutes:
Raul Meireles – 5.5 – Another culprit of the wild midfield shot. He didn’t play too poorly and was more of a defensive minded player than Moutinho, who he came on for.

Nani – 6.5 – Great cross to nail Postiga right on the head for a goal. Had a few other runs that he should have picked his head up on to try and find the open man. Instead he decided to turn the ball over or simply take a wild low percentage shot.

Helder Postiga – 7.75 – Should have probably started this entire tournament. If not, then should have been subbed in more frequently and earlier for Gomes. A fiery guy who has to keep his temper in check a bit but at least he played like the tournament was on the line (unlike the majority of the rest of his teammates.) If he continues this type of play, Sporting will be super dangerous this upcoming season in Portugal.

Conclusion:
I enjoyed thoroughly the interactions and the discussion with all of you. I’m going to miss writing these recaps and previews for this particular tournament. As I’ve mentioned a million times before, I’m also the writer for the Portuguese Liga blog on this joint’s sister site, The Offside. I’ll be giving more time to that now that the Selecção are Selecç-out. However, the push to qualify for the 2010 World Cup is now the focus and as newsworthy things happen on the International scene (Selecção players abroad, junior teams, and other random tidbits) I’ll be sure to keep you guys updated on those as well as the qualification matches for South Africa.

Check back sometime early next week for a full tournament summation and conclusion to put the proverbial bow on this stink box that was a Portuguese quarterfinal exit.