Portugal – 3 v Denmark – 2!

June 14th, 2012 | by: Paulo | Comments(39)

That defined nail biter. We looked destined to blow Denmark out of the water after building a 2-0 lead in the opening 35’ after a terrific near post header from Pepe off a corner, and a smart finish from Postiga at the six yard box after being picked out by Nani. But in reality we should have known better. The Danes have caused us so many headaches over the past four years, what’s one more migraine? And of course it had to be Bendtner. An unstoppable ball over the top to the back post by Poulson picked out Krone-Dehli who smartly headed it back across goal to Bendtner to pull one back. Then after we squandered chance after chance on the counter, Pepe made his first and only mistake of the match after Jacobson’s cross was poorly judged by the center back and the ball found it’s way to Bendtner’s head at the back post as he snuck it by Patricio to tie it up at two.

With only ten minutes plus stoppage time remaining, I knew we would have more chances, but we just needed to capitalize. I could already picture the barrage of criticism Ronaldo was about to endure after squandering two glorious one on ones with the keeper. With our hope fading, on stepped our super sub Varela. Even playing on his unnatural right wing position, he commanded the ball right when he stepped on the pitch and attacked the box. With Coentrao now playing all the way down the left wing he created space and whipped in a terrific cross outside the 6 yard box most likely destined for Ronaldo. But, it was the FC Porto winger who got into the right position as he whiffed his first volley with the left, but the ball bounced up nicely for him as he turned and hammered it into the corner. Absolute jubilation ensued and Portugal is alive. Now in second place behind Germany after they took care of business against the Dutch, we have a great chance of moving on out of the group. Once again Portugal played their hearts out and did what they needed to do to get the three points.

Patricio- 5/10: Had a few good saves, but he probably could have saved that second goal on most days.

Pereirra- 6.5/10: Other than Krone-Dehli’s set up for Bendtner I honestly can’t think of one other time Denmark’s left winger had a yard of space. Joao not only stopped krone-dehli, but also their high flying left back Poulson who caused the Dutch so many problems. Joao was also very cool and collected on the ball which helped us play out of the back.

Alves- 6.5/10: Very strong in the air, Alves soared over Bendtner on multiple occasions to keep our attacks alive. His passing was poor tonight, but he was usually well positioned in the back and again kept his cool without making any mistakes.

Pepe- 8/10: He was everywhere tonight. Scoring goals, winning balls, tackling flawlessly, you name it he accomplished it. Probably a ten if he didn’t miss on the second goal. The best centerback in the world proved it again tonight.

Coentrao- 6.5/10: Another strong performance from Coentrao. Didn’t play as strong offensively as he did against Germany, but he defended well and provided the pivotal assist on Varela’s goal. Fabio will have to rest well as he has Robben on tap next.

Veloso- 7/10: Miguel continues to assure Bento that he is the man for the job in central midfield. His passing was precise tonight and after shutting down Ozil, almost completely took another up and coming attacking midfielder in Eriksen out of the game. Veloso’s work rate was also terrific as he pressed high up the pitch and then hustled back to assume his position.

Meireles- 5/10: Defensively an 8, offensively a 2. Solid tackling and a true workman’s performance from Raul, but once again his passing and decision making was noticeably lacking.  If he can bring his offense to the party we there is no ceiling on how well we can play.

Moutinho- 6.5/10: Typical top notch performance from Moutinho. Ran around non stop and forced Agger to uncomfortably launch long balls out of the back. He also launched our counter attacks on multiple occasions as Joao put in a consistent 90 minutes of work.

Nani- 7.5/10: An incredible game from Nani. Beat Poulson down the right wing time and time again, and every one of his crosses were dangerous. Should have had three assists on the night as he played Ronaldo and Postiga in on a few occasions. Nani also back tracked very well to help Pereirra defensively. An all around great game from Nani and since he appears to be fully fit hopefully he can continue his great form.

Postiga- 6.5/10: Postiga shows why he is the guy in the starting eleven up front. Sure his touch isn’t great and he doesn’t have the break away speed, but he reads the game perfectly. His movement on his goal was awesome to overlap Ronaldo ,who the Dane’s were really watching, and find space to hammer home a very important goal. Oliveira looks good, but Postiga’s finishing isn’t matched by any other striker in the squad.

Ronaldo- 3/10: Yikes that was ugly. Two one on one’s with the keeper and Ronaldo completely botched both of them. I can’t possibly begin to understand what his problem is, but the good news is we are still scoring. Ronaldo needs to stop thinking so much and put his Real Madrid jersey on under his national team one. Maybe then he will pull his head out of his ass. Ronny also has to start acting like a captain. His body language is pitiful and his defensive work rate for much of the game was embarrassing. Ronaldo will bounce back though.

Subs
Varela- 7.5/10: I can’t say enough about this guy. Took a lot of heat after not scoring against Germany, and he comes onto the pitch and saves our tournament. Varela has been known to score big goals and this was the biggest yet. He just finds pockets of space and is always in the right place at the right time. You can’t get far in a tournament without a game changer off the bench, and I think we found our super sub ladies and gents.

Oliveira- 6/10: Great play from this youngster. His hold up play was superb, but I wish he was just a bit more aggressive. For example he should have taken that defender on when he forced his pass to Ronaldo on the break. Other than that, Oliveira looks extremely promising and if he continues this progression he will find the score sheet sooner rather than later.

So all that stands between us and the quarterfinals is the reeling Dutch. They lost to Germany 2-1 and controlled the game early on, but were just completely overwhelmed for much of the match. But lets be careful because they are still the Netherlands, world cup runners up two years ago. If Veloso can shackle Sneijder like he has Eriksen and Ozil we have a good chance of stopping their attack. I have a feeling Bert Van Marjwik will make big changes in his side like throwing Huntelaar and Van Persie on together from the opening whistle so we have to be cautious.  Hopefully we can get a big chunk of possession and counter strongly. Oh, and Germany, please crush Denmark. FORCA PORTUGAL!!!