Video Highlights – Euro 2oo8 Qualification, International friendly, Under 21 Euro 2007

Here’s the 21 names, for the U20 World-Cup:
http://www.maisfutebol.iol.pt/noticia.php?div_id=1194&id=821654

Darlan Schneider (Murtosa), gives the kids a hand in preparing and comments…
http://www.maisfutebol.iol.pt/noticia.php?id=821832&div_id=1194

Posted from  Netherlands

Brazilian 22 year old c. defender Gladstone heading Sporting’s way… http://www.ojogo.pt/23-116/artigo639644.asp
Apparently he has already played for Brasil – always a good sign – both with the kids and the big boys. Hopefully this will be a good transfer and will help filling the holes left by the wave of departures (Nani, Tello, Alecs, etc) seen in Sporting.

Sooner or later, I suspect this one will also be leaving… http://www.footballtransferleague.co.uk/football_player.aspx?football_player=Miguel+Veloso

Any news on Tiago, anybody…?

And could this be Cristiano Ronaldo’s new girl…? http://www.ojogo.pt/jogo_revista.asp Any news, Laurie…? Here she says she’s single… http://ego.globo.com/Entretenimento/Paparazzo/0,,AA1349560-7195,00.html

Posted from  Netherlands

Russian 18 year old international, Izmailov, to sign for Sporting. http://www.ojogo.pt/23-117/artigo639842.asp
Izmailov is an attacking mid, that can play both as #10 as well as inner mid. Second signing, from the 6 requested by Paulo Bento, to attack this years…

PT to play with Italy (great, he…?) for a spot in the Olimpics… http://www.ojogo.pt/23-117/artigo639908.asp

Posted from  Netherlands

Yeah, Gladstone is on loan for one year from Cruzeiro, I think.
He was called up against Switzerland in autumn but didn’t debute so far. However, he is still young and surely has a lot of potential. Cruzeiro don’t seem to pay much attention to Gladstone, so he’s probably worth being bought next year.

A French paper wrote about Tiago’s wishing to join Pauleta in Paris, but this isn’t a good idea and Tiago isn’t famous for being stupid.

Posted from  Austria

Putting the finger, where it hurts…:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/6766293.stm

Posted from  Netherlands

Yeah, right… http://www.fpf.pt/portal/page/portal/PORTAL_FUTEBOL/SELECCOES/NOTICIA?notid=3374545

Posted from  Netherlands

Scolari on PT’s U21 defat against ITA (he went to Holland): http://www.maissub21.iol.pt/noticia.php?id=824084&div_id=3275

“It wasn’t such a big diappointment, on penalties you know how it goes, remember strong teams like Spain and France weren’t even there and that we didn’t play against one-legged teams”…

The usual Scolari ego massage, but essential in such cases…

I’d say, appart from coach “things”, that PT’s problem will always be the absence of a pure striker, or even a mentality where a pure striker almost doesn’t fit… It’s defense and midfield, where all the attack happens. It’s bringing the ball to the sides to generate space, but never the killer counter, never the killer instinct stright towards goal…

With it, we could be “gods”. I guess it’s “PT’s cross”, our fate… Cos honeslty, I didn’t see any team that could come close…

Posted from  Netherlands

pedro – it really is a shame. I kept thinking to myself during the U21 matches. If we only had a strong direct striker. Hugo Almeida is so alone in the box like that and our attack more often then not, comes from just outside the box. I would have given anything to see one of them drive into the box and take the goalie one-on-one.

Posted from  United States

http://www.fifa.com/u20worldcup/news/newsid=540497.html#condesso+portugals+globetrotter

Posted from  Netherlands

Luis, man… I don’t know what to tell you anymore, dude…

It hurts my soul as much as it hurts yours…

I really think it’s a question of mentality. If one looks at Brasil it’s not so different. Only they have a ton more of guys, amongst which they can always find super-divine-brilliance but their strikers aren’t the Batistuta type. They are very good, maybe even too good, with the ball to be a pure “area-killer-matador”.

Although, in spite of the stolen penalty against NL, they (PT U21) really deserved to loose. Even more cos they are far better than what they looked. But to me, it was going back in time… To see them paralised against NL, waiting for something to happen…

That and to be able to hear, even on TV, the massive support of the crowd in the ITA match (it looked they were at home) while at the same time, that idiot Couceiro and his big mouth shouting to the team, whenever they had the ball, the player whom to pass it. Man, they’re the U21, playing against ITA, after missing the train…

They’re not the U-12…

Anmyway… Maybe Sporting will start picking up kids that aren’t necessarily skiled but just have the GOAL hunger… You know, those kids who don’t give a shit and just run towards goal, even “when the ref’s blown the whistle”…

They only seem to catch brilliant kids, with touchline and ball hunger, true wizards, that run on the right way, but a bit on the side…

We need a guy who cannot play ball (otherwhise, being portuguese, he will always find some kind of nice but unnecessary trick to do with it and consequently loose the chance) but can run more than the others, in a straight line, straight towards goal, who can get easy fouls in and out the box, who can score and make it look easy.

Yeah, dude… We need an Inzaghi…

Posted from  Netherlands

Haha Pedro, the Inzaghi finish was brilliant. Excellent Post!

Posted from  Canada

Yep, any chance Inzaghi has some Portuguese blood in him? haha
Throw Van Nestroy, Drogba, and maybe Shevchenko into that list also…

Maybe a ruthless striker will come from one of the many immigrants abroad?? But first the Portuguese establishments will have to overlook pure ball skills and focus on natural goal scoring??

Posted from  Canada

If I could pick one player in the world to be the striker on the NT right now, it would be Ibrahimovic. 6′4, and clinical in the box.

Posted from  Canada

Just a quick note to say how excited I am for our young boys to be here in Toronto!! I am sure they will have so much support it will feel like a home crowd and while I was unable to get tickets (stupid changing work schedule!) I will be in a bar or my living room with my scarf cheering them on! I know I always say this and have been proven wrong quite a bit lately but I really have faith that they will do really well and even if they don’t I know they will entertain us! Forca Portugal!!

Posted from  Canada

Zlatan, Zlatan, Zlatan!!! Zlatan’s very good. He had some problems with the coach, or something like that…

Zlatan, considering Figo’s wife is swedish, and cute, we adopt you dude… Eventhough you’ve already been adopted by Sweden…

Not such a big fan of Sheva…

Drogba – This a real striker… Considering PT’s past in Africa, we might just find a way for Drogba to get a PT passport… I’m sure there’s gotta be some tuga genes somwehere… There’s probably no place in Africa without them, for the better or for the worse…

A bit of free musical pub (she’s very, very, very good – if you find the CD, BUY it… Singing both in portuguese and crioulo cabo verdiano):

http://www.worldconnection.nl/wclayout/biografy.php?site_id=25&PHPSESSID=162f08fb1d42caa67e15ae3bcac90c8f

FORCA PT!!!

CANADA IS WITH YOU AND SO ARE WE!

TODAY AGAINST NEW ZEELAND!

(…)

ENTRE AS BRUMAS DA MEMORIA,
OH PATRIA SENTE-SE A VOZ,
DOS TEUS EGREGIOS AVOS

QUE TE HA-DE GUIAR A VITORIA…

AS ARMAS, AS ARMAS
SOBRE A TERRA, SOBRE O MAR!

AS AMRMAS, AS ARMAS
PELA PATRIA LUTAR

CONTRA OS CANHOES MARCHAR, MARCHAR!!!

I always cry when I hear the anthem…

Posted from  Netherlands

Pedro – you’re such a sentimentalist! The work on the new blog continues late at night and between work tasks.

I’ll try to post some highlights from the U20 matches when they become available. Lets hope Couceiro can manage to show some real leadership this time around. I have to believe his goose is cooked if he doesn’t manage to get to the quarters at least.

Posted from  United States

There are reports that Quaresma is on his way to Atletico Madrid.

Link

Posted from  United States

Mourinho keeps the door to national team duty open. Stating that his biggest wish is to coach the national team one day. While he spoke of possibly returning to PT to coach another club, he also stated that he doesn’t necessarily see national team duty as the final step in his career. In other words, maybe he’ll take some time to coach the national team and then return to club duty. Does anyone get the feeling that Mourinho is setting himself up to potentially take over from Scolari? We can only hope!

Link

Posted from  United States

It’s official.

ESPNSOCCERNET

Posted from  United States

Actually, I’d like to keep Scolari, Luis… Mourinho… He’s naturally wonderfull, but “gods” come and go… Scolari delivers… Let Mourinho mature, let him loose and toughen up, let’s just see…

On the other hand, if Scolari does go, OK, Mourinho becames a luxury one cannot afford to waste…

In the meantime, PT starts the U20 WC with a Victory, against New Zealand…

Posted from  Netherlands

Scolari does deliver, but would anyone argue that Mourinho does not? I agree with your point however. A few tough seasons wouldn’t hurt Mourinho at all. Scolari delivers wins, but no titles yet. Lets hope 2008 changes that. I don’t think Scolari will stay past the Euro but stranger things have happened. If he has no other offers on the table, he may be tempted to stick around for another World Cup. Only time will tell.

PT started with a pretty good game against NZ. I saw some minimal highlights on Fox Soccer. The commentators were complaining about some pretty bad diving by PT. The game wasn’t covered here in the US, so I don’t know for sure what transpired, but it wouldn’t surprise me. There has to be something in the youth system that promotes this stuff and sooner or later someone has to deal with it.

Posted from  United States

Yesterdays U20 Portugal New Zealand game was great.. Bruna Gama had a very good game and they run the ball thru him allot. But the 2 players that realy impressed me were:
Fabio Coentrao, he looks like a young Figo. He had a superb game.
Pele was very impossing in the mid field. Amazing bal control. A real general in the middle.

We Portuguese took over the stadium and made the boys feel at home. It was great!! Gave me goose bump..

Posted from  Canada

Ceasar – I’m jealous. I’m thinking of taking off to PT for a week this fall to take in one of the qualifying matches. I’m looking forward to those goose bumps!

Posted from  United States

I saw the 2nd half and indeed, the PT presence was felt, there… Thanks guys!

There was no indecent diving. Coentrao got a card, after a real foul, but because he made a bit of it, he got the card. It would have been a penalty. Not so sure about the one that actually was given.

The goalie was also good. I was also impressed with Coentrao, which in portuguese means big coriander ))))) The team looked a bt shaky in defense. NZ could, maybe should, have scored. But PT was stronger. Alhtough, if NZ HAD scored, they’d have grown and they had more than they showed. I’m sure of it.

Now it’s Gambia, I think, who lost. So for them it’ll be an all-or-nothing and the worse is the 3rd match. Nothing is yet achieved. Only one victory.

Posted from  Netherlands

Does being in the stadium really give you goose bumps??? I usually feel terribly hot, owing to the adrenalin rushes…

Luis – if you can take off a week, please do. The two EURO qualification matches I’ve seen so far this season were absolutely splashy GREAT.

Posted from  Austria