However… Portugal will make it in South Africa!!! I’m sure about that!
Good Luck!

ALL TIME LEADING SCORER
he has scored impressive goals but look at the teams he has scored against. he scores big against the small teams and does diddly squat against bigger teams. proof of that lies in the last EURO. He is the ultimate choke artist. yes he scored a hattrick against who? CAPE VERDE no offense to them but they are no France, Brazil or even England. who cares about these friendlies. WHEN IT COUNTS DONT COUNT ON PAULETA

LEADING SCORER IN FRANCE
ok he i give him that. but dont make it like it was amazing. the french league isn’t much. it is not as competitive as the english or italian league (or portuguese for that matter).

Im just tired of hearing how amazing he is when to me he is the biggest choke artist.

Again, it’s not for no reason Costinha’s nickname is “The Minister”. I mean, there is no other poossible “trinco” as good and as tactical as him. Just look at the difference in Petit’s performance between 1st and 2nd half.

I actually liked Hugo Viana, kinda “forced” to actually be the playmaker – he is “discrete” but the guy has a lot of insight. However, the poor guy had to do it with 2 strikers and (basicly) no wingers. A rather atypical system for Portugal, with only Simao between him and strikers (flowing loose) and a crowded midfield of 5, when with the ball!

THIS can actually be our salvation if we want to play supported, against teams that are good on the counter.

Opinions…?

Pauleta was very clinical and actually scored 5 goals (2 being disallowed) – It’s good to see our main striker in form at this stage.. I love his goal celebrations.

I’ve never seen anyone sweat like Figo did yesterday. He seemed rather sluggish however he’s got such ability with ball control and passing + vision that compensate the sluggishness.

Ronaldo was a no-show.. DID YOU SEE his girlfriend in the crowd? not bad ronnie! anyways.. i think they handled ronaldo very well. Their left back was awesome and very little danger came though that side.

Petit – nice goal.. “Encheu o pe” and buried it! I don’t think he played particularly well. He should be more careful with his tackles.. i have nightmares of the Joao Pinto red card type when i see Petit going in for the ball.

I think Caneira was awful.. no confidence.. and very hesitant and not really meshing with the team.

Deco had some nice moves however didn’t find the key to unlock the defence… He’ll be very important to our success…

Carvalho – brilliant and typical carvalho.

Meira – unlucky on the OG but i think overall performed well.

Miguel was impressive.

Second half was much better in terms of control and flow. I think the main difference was the introduction of Costinha.. I really hope he can find his form for this world cup.. Tiago also provided good control. I really like him as a player.. i wish he had more pace but definitely a player to bring on to finish the game.

I think Ferreira brought much more confidence in the second half to the back of the squad. Also he’s great gooing forward and very reliable.. Definitely a starting X1.

COCKSTER POSTIGA & QUIET VIANA? I just don’t see it yet..

Anyways.. overall i think it was an ok game.. It’s good to see them trying out new systems for different scenarios..

I’d like to see Portugal stop giving away first half erroneous goals. I would prefer to see portugal start more conservative and build up the game…

NEXT STOP: Luxembourg!

Cheers

Anyway, the one I really didn’t like was Caneira. As well as CRonaldo’s (who actually produced zero) little maniphestation, that would certainly give him acess to win the prize for “child of tournement”. And yeah, everybody’s going to tae advantage of that. On the other hand, absolutelly loved Miguel. The guy is always supporting the attack, but he’s so fast, he gets back to the the defense before anybody else.

In my opinion, in the first half we saw Petit kinda lost, running up and down. This changed with the entry of Costinha (never runs cos he’s always there already), liberating him. Petit also showed to be, like Maniche, the danger guys for that “rebound ball”, or the leftovers ball… Anytime one of them is around, they shoot to kill. They both have the most powerfull kick in the squad.

It also seemed to me that in the 2nd half, not only did Scolari put 2 strikers, we also saw the team with 3 defenders (Ferreira, Miguel and Meira), while R Carvalho would go up, acting as a midfielder. This also means a full change of strategy, as in the 1st half, with the usual team trying to go through the wings, CR and Figo produced nothing there and Deco was neutralized by CV’s midfield. This also means a game shifting to almost entirely through the centre.

Cape Verde surprised me(specially their winger #11, their #9 and their #8) and I expect Angola to be better. Their goal happened as a replay of a play they had done, only minutes before. Also loved CV’s hairstyles…:-) 4-1 isn’t that bad…