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Portugal
The thugs are out for Ronaldo
Comments(16)
It looks like Ronaldo will have to increase his accidental injury insurance soon. It seems a few of his opponents aren’t too keen on his silky step overs. The online e-zine, Thisislondon.co.uk, is reporting that Middlesbrough captain, George Boateng, has offered Ronaldo a bit of advice – stop show boating or you may get hurt! Boateng was commenting after Middlesbrough suffered a 1 – nil defeat to Manchester on a Ronaldo penalty kick. Boateng, it seems, didn’t take a liking to Ronaldo’s trickery after United took the lead.
“We know he can do his tricks, but don’t do it when you’re winning 1-0 and there’s only two minutes to go. When you’re playing Sunday football with your mates it’s great, but not at top level.” said Boateng.
He went on to comment on the harsh foul committed by James Morrison against Ronaldo in the dying minutes of the match.
“A lot of players want to do what Morrison did. Why didn’t Ronaldo do his tricks when it was 0-0 and people were fighting to get a goal? It annoys people.”
It seems Mr. Boateng doesn’t watch many United games. If he did he would realize that Ronaldo has tricks enough for ninety minutes. And he obviously hasn’t noticed how many fans pack stadiums in England just to watch Ronaldo at his best. Fortunately, Jonathan Woodgate, who committed the penalty on Ronaldo, has more sense then his captain.
Not to be outdone by Boateng’s ridiculous statements Belgian keeper, Stijn Stijnen, recently suggested that the only way to deal with Ronaldo was to take him out of the game early.
“On the 2nd minute of the match, we should act in such a way that Ronaldo leaves the pitch on a stretcher,” declared Stijnen.
Hopefully this is just a case of poor pre-match gamesmanship. The Belgian football federation quickly moved to contain the situation by declaring that the comments were misunderstood and taken out of context. Check this thread for a translation from the original Dutch by one of our bloggers. It’s possible that Stijnen was paying the star winger a cloaked compliment, but if not, let me remind Mr. Stijnen that the upcoming match takes place in Lisbon, in front of a crowd that won’t be too pleased if anything should happen to their rising star. How’s that for thuggery? FPF president, Gilberto Madaíl, insists he will look into Stijnen’s alleged statements and, if verified, would request an UEFA inquiry.
Let’s just hope cooler heads prevail and we don’t have a repeat of the Portugal vs Holland match during the World Cup. We all know that match didn’t turn out so well for Holland.
F Meira says the team was not intimidated by the Belgiums and that will face the match with fair-play and will do their best in order to win.
http://www.maiseuro2008.iol.pt/noticia.php?id=788411&div_id=1391
When asked what does a defender feel when confronted with a skillfull forward like CR, he says +/- this: “It’s a duel, when you steal the ball you gain confidence; when you don’t, you loose it and start fouling more. I believe this is what will happen in Alvalade, cos our forwards are currently playing very well, especially Ronaldo. SO I understand they are worried about him but he’s not a kid anymore and he’ll help PT win the match!”
I hope we do win it! 
Posted from 
Netherlands
here’s an article in english about the incident
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/euro_2008/article1550893.ece
This isn’t new in regards to CR, what is new is the fact that players are saying it to the media. CR (especially when he was younger) was constantly threatened by players stating if you keep it up your gonna get it, his response has always been try and stop me.
here is a small example from the 2004 FA cup, Man U vs Millwall. A 19 year old CR, and what Denis Wise does at the end.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=31prUusENcM
With a threat being displayed in the media, would this not opens up the doors for a lawsuit if something indeed happened to CR.
Hopefully this is all bravado, because I would not want to see another Holland incident (where you could tell they were intent on eliminating him from the game, and the result thereafter)
This is totally off topic, but here’s a little something to add to your historical narrative Pedro.
Posted from 
United States
Luis, if I start writing you won’t be happy… 
You’ll probably fall asleep… Thanks for putting it here.
I find portuguese, unlike french, english, etc, to be terrible in defending their heritage. Also in football Just look at the blog! How many people that were born and live in Portugal write here now…? We’re all living abroad, maybe some havent’t even been to Portugal… It’s still our country!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Discovery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal
http://www.historyguide.org/earlymod/lecture2c.html
Posted from Netherlands
Cool theory, it makes us proud… though it’s a bit funny that they call Cristóvão de Mendonça “Christopher Mendonca” because the only Christopher Mendonca I’ve ever heard of has something to do with Indian religions and mantras…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crist%C3%B3v%C3%A3o_de_Mendon%C3%A7a
La versión española es un poco más extensa:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crist%C3%B3v%C3%A3o_de_Mendon%C3%A7a
Posted from 
Austria
No, I’m sorry, the Spanish link doesn’t work. They have deleted it all of sudden. Lo siento…
Posted from Austria
That’s Great, but…….
Isn’t this a soccer blog???
OK, let’s start a history blog, Carlos…
Posted from Netherlands
Beto – Like I said, it is off topic and I was referring to a commentary that Pedro wrote a while back on another thread. That source would go nicely with it.
Posted from United States
I meant no offense. I actually enjoyed the linked story very much but just thought it was funny that the focus on any given subject can change so easily.
You do great work here, Luis
No offense taken, just clarification. We’re an eclectic bunch around here…or..uh, is that schizophrenic?
Luis…
I’ve been around since day one and have only commented once (I came to the defence of SCP of course…lol) but I’ve gotta ask, how long will this blog exist? Will there be a Euro 2008 blog? Will you be involved?
I’ve also noticed that only a handfull of other nation’s blogs are being updated on a regular/semi-regular basis. Does this mean we love the game more or are we just nerds? Regardless…Viva Portugal!!!
Pedro… You are so right, I was born and raised in Canada, but I am PORTUGUESE!! My Canadian friends give me grief, but I know they wish they too were fluent in more than one language.
Keep up the damn good work Luis!!!And be sure to give us a heads up before things change.
Posted from 
Canada
LusoCanuck – it means we believe! This blog will most certainly continue and yes, I have a dedicated project in the works, just Stay tuned. You must be patient with me. I still have to pay the mortgage
Posted from United States
I was so happy that Portugal won 4-0 agaisnt belgium. I was a little worried becasue we haven’t beat belgium in 20 years but thanks to Ronaldo and the rest of the team we are going to win the Euro 2008. Viva meu Portugaoooooooooool !
Posted from United States
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I didn’t see this until now…
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_2006994,00.html
Brilliant…
Posted from
Netherlands