Germany – 1 v Portugal – 0

June 11th, 2012 | by: Paulo | Comments(12)

We deserved a point. It’s as simple as that, but in reality it didn’t happen. Our men played as hard as I’ve ever seen them play and they represented the country well. On another day with luck on our side we could have won comfortably. We had more shots and more chances to score. The scoreline just doesn’t do our team’s performance justice.

Patricio- 6.5/10: He did everything right. Charged out to claim every ball that he could and never made any mistakes. No one could have saved the perfectly placed header by Gomez.

Pereirra- 7/10: The little right back completely shut down Podolski. He couldn’t generate anything from that wing and it was because of Joao’s perfect positioning and hard work. He has no chance against Gomez in the air so he couldn’t do anything on that cross.

Pepe- 7/10 : A terrific performance from Pepe. I still can’t believe that ball didn’t go in. A great first touch and a solid shot from the centerback on the lose ball after a corner rattled the bar and hit the goal line only to bounce the opposite way. I would have liked to see him better positioned on the goal, but the deflection obviously affected that.

Alves- 6.5/10: Alves played extremely hard and left everything out on the pitch. Granted for that one run by Gomez late in the game that Bruno gave up on he played solidly. Some great long balls out of the back gave us some great opportunities in the final third.

Coentrao- 8/10: Man of the match for me. Absolutely brilliant play from the former Benfica man. Always was challenging Mueller, and attacked brilliantly down the left with some unstoppable runs. If he can duplicate that performance for the next few games we will be just fine. Shut down Mueller completely for the most part, let’s just hope he doesn’t pick up a second yellow next game..

Veloso- 6.5/10: A pretty good game from Miguel. Defended well and was always well positioned when someone from the back line was caught in the other end. I would just like his distribution the be a bit more fluid, but regardless he didn’t turn the ball over hardly ever.

Moutinho- 7/10: Joao played a valiant game. Took knock after knock from the bigger German players, but continued to brush himself off and keep battling. That through ball to Ronaldo was something to behold and he defended very well constantly breaking up the German’s passing rhythm.

Meireles- 5/10: Raul played his heart out like everyone else and tirelessly went from one end of the field to the other. He was stout defensively, but his passing and decision making was off.

Nani- 6/10: Nani was our most dangerous winger for the most part in this game. Got in better and better positions as the game wore on and really got his chances at the end once he drifted inside for Varela to take the right wing. His shot in the last few minutes destined for the top corner was also unfortunately blocked away.  I would have only expected that shot that looked like a cross to go in from Nani, but instead it clanged off the bar…

Postiga- 5/10: Postiga tirelessly pressured the German’s back line when they were in possession all night and he was strong in the air, but his hold up play needed to be better. He never combined well with Ronaldo or Nani like he did in recent qualifiers.  Hopefully he’ll get more opportunities at goal next game if he gets the start.

Ronaldo-6/10: He was a marked man most of the night, but he got a few opportunities late in the match. Notably the ball from Moutinho that put him through and he would have slotted home if not for a brilliant last ditch tackle from Boateng. He also set Coentrao and Nani up nice for their chances at the dyeing embers of the game. It’s no secret he needs to be more involved and get more touches against Denmark though.

Substitutes

Varela- 5.5/10: Oh what could have been. Great control from Oliveira ended with a cross that fell to Varela’s right foot. Lahm and Neuer dove head first as Varela attempted to side foot one past them. Most claim he should have hammered it, but a simple touch of the right back to his left would have sent the two German’s sprawling past him and no one else was around so he could have finished into an open net. He will rue that miss, but there will be more opportunities for the Porto winger. All in all he did well in his 15 minutes of action, dribbling past defenders and finding space.

Oliveira- 6/10: A pretty good showing from Nelson. Created a few good opportunities and showed good control on multiple occasions.  Brilliant control on the long ball and did well to square it in the box for Varela’s golden opportunity.

This loss will hurt, but we proved at the end of that game we can attack full force against anyone. You all saw what happened when we pushed our line up and pressured their back line deep in Germany’s half. All they could do was clear and we kept the pressure on. If we press Denmark like that, they will make mistakes and we will pounce. The Dutch really pressed the Danes in the first 25 minutes and as they tried to play out of the back they couldn’t do anything. The Dutch only failed because of their poor finishing and lack of creativity (sounds familiar). We will have our chances, we just need to take advantage of them because the next game is a must win. If we get three points, hopefully Germany will draw or win against Netherlands so we will be in 2nd place. First things first though, WE MUST WIN.