Portugal: 5 – Iceland: 3, Denmark next.

October 11th, 2011 | by: Paulo |

It wasn’t the most convincing of wins but our lacking squad still got the job done against Iceland 5-3. It was a great first half, and a half hearted second half. Poor decisiveness in the opposing teams half of the field and lazy/incompetent defense at times haunted Portugal in my opinion. In the end we prevailed pretty easily, but there are definitely some worrying factors in the squad at this time.

The Alves/Rolando pairing at the back was very shaky on more than one occasion. More towards the side of Eliseu/Rolando there were large gaps at times that any other team better than Iceland (like Denmark) would have exploited. The most head scratching thing of all though has to be defending of corners and set pieces. Come on guys where are your hops? Both Alves and Rolando are guilty for this, and I hope their legs are well rested against Denmark. Nani definitely shined, and so did Eliseu, well kinda.

Player Ratings

Rui Patricio: 6/10- Some very nice saves, but I think he needs to be a little more aggressive to intercept more balls. Really can’t fault him on two of the goals.

Joao Periera: 6/10- Another pretty solid game defensively by Periera. Did his job on the right side, but didn’t have much of an effect on the offensive end.

Bruno Alves: 5/10- Not a great game defensively by Bruno. Did have an assist on Postiga’s goal, but got beat in the air a lot and got caught out of position a few times.

Rolando: 4/10- I lost a little bit of confidence in Rolando. That wasn’t the FC Porto defender was it? Some Uncharacteristic mistakes by him tonight.

Eliseu: 7/10- 1 goal and 2 assists is a great outing by Eliseu. He was really good in the final third, but not quite as astounding at the other end. Wasn’t in sync with Rolando at all, and I think they were both to blame for that. But, I still think it was definitely a positive game for Eliseu.

Carlos Martins: 5/10- He really didn’t effect the game a whole lot in my opinion. He struggled to maintain possession often, and didn’t seem to fit on the pitch. Carlos did have some nice through balls on the counter attack though, I will give him that.

Raul Meireles: 6/10- Had some good tackles along with some nice combinations out there. I still like him playing farther up the field however, and was definitely more involved once Veloso came on, however the defense slouched.

Joao Moutinho: 7/10- A good finish on his first goal in a while, and again won a lot of balls in the midfield. His passing was slightly off though.

Ronaldo: 6/10- Couldn’t get on the score sheet, and another frustrating game for the captain. He still looked better than he did in the Quieroz days though so I’m not worried, he will bounce back. A few nice saves and the woodwork were in his way.

Nani: 8/10- Propelled the team to victory tonight. Nani is definitely starting to get more consistent with his performances and that is great to see. He is definitely the wild card on this team that could carry us far in tournaments to come.

Postiga: 7/10- He scored again which is good to see. Not the best at holding up play, but proved he’s our current best option at striker.

Subs-

Veloso: 6/10- Conceded the penalty, but didn’t look bad in the holding mid role. Could he be used as left back?

Nuno Gomes: 5/10- I’ll be honest I didn’t see the last few minutes of the match, only the goals on highlights. But I don’t think he got a whole lot of opportunities.

Micael: 6/10- I don’t know why, but I just see a slightly younger Carlos Martins when I watch him. He had more of a positive influence on the match though.

So we are left with needing just one point from the Denmark game, and we will win the group and qualify automatically. If we lose, then Norway must make up a goal difference of 9 to jump us in the standings. There is still a great chance that second place in this group will be the best runner up and qualify. The only way our group won’t have the top second placed team is if Sweden is able to beat Netherlands and that is a long shot.

Either way, you have to expect both Portugal and Denmark want to get the win. I don’t see why we should play for a draw when we still have a stronger squad than Denmark. Ronaldo and Paulo Bento have assured us they expect nothing less than a win and neither should we. Bento is undefeated through qualifying and it can be a real confidence boost to keep that record unscathed. We proved we can dominate Denmark when we beat them last time 3-1 at home, but things are a little different this time. Obviously one big change is the injuries to our squad, and the return of some players to the Danish squad like Nicklas Bendtner.

We know that Bento doesn’t like to change up his starting eleven very much , so don’t expect any changes there. He may introduce Veloso in the midfield instead of Martins, or even Micael, but I think Eliseu earned another start at left back. As long as our backline tightens up a bit and we don’t commit any stupid fouls, I expect a 3-2 win for Portugal. Ronaldo will bag a brace, and Nani will get one as well! Forca Portugal!

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 59 comments.

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By ahmad | October 11th, 2011 at 2:59 pm

we cant even do a decent pass in midfield …. fuckin hell!!!

By João | October 11th, 2011 at 2:59 pm

Hahahahaha

Oh oho oh, how is Denmark still winning this with 2-0? It should have 4-0 by now!

Posted from Netherlands

By ahmad | October 11th, 2011 at 3:03 pm

guys … seriously …. dnt u just adore the playoffs??? i mean think about it…. another 2 games where we will be watching our amazing Portugal???

fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

By João | October 11th, 2011 at 3:03 pm

Denmark keep missing the target! Portugal could learn a thing or two from Denmark.

IMO FPF needs to make an ultimatum to Bento, either you pick RC and Bosingwa or you go.

Posted from Netherlands

By Ivan | October 11th, 2011 at 3:05 pm

Netherlands probably heard that Portugal was losing, so they decided to lose too… hehehe.

Posted from Portugal

By Ivan | October 11th, 2011 at 3:05 pm

Yes, guys, we’re GOING INTO THE PLAY-OFFS.

Posted from Portugal

By Ivan | October 11th, 2011 at 3:06 pm

We pulled one back… too late.

Posted from Portugal

By Tiago | October 11th, 2011 at 3:06 pm

LMFAO. Im happy Portugal are losing. Niceeee. Maybe this will show him that he isnt perfect and that hes choices are shit? Ive always said this game would prove exactly what Bento is, would show us if the other games were fluke.

WHAT A GOAL BY RONALDO. Wtf would we do without him?

By ahmad | October 11th, 2011 at 3:09 pm

wtf … he scored???? i turned the tv off when injury time was shown … seriously what was the goal like?

By Alex | October 11th, 2011 at 3:10 pm

C.Ronaldo’s goal was needed to shut up the crowd a little bit but man.. Bentos job should be on the line.

Posted from Canada

By ahmad | October 11th, 2011 at 3:10 pm

in the playoffs…. our beloved playoffs…. we could’ve easily went through today but we decided to have a bit more fun and play another round

By Paulo | October 11th, 2011 at 3:12 pm

Disappointing performance, totally outplayed. Bruno Alves and Periera had their worst games in a Portugal uniform. And now we are in the playoffs. France is currently losing to Bosnia, so they could potentially be an opponent. We are in deep shit.

By Miggy | October 11th, 2011 at 3:15 pm

Right, to the play offs it is then.

Ronaldo’s goal was immense.

At least we’re not the French right now.

Posted from United Kingdom

By João | October 11th, 2011 at 3:17 pm

Absolutely embarrassing, Denmark was running rings around Portugal. Passing the ball around like they’re Barçalona. Portugal was toothless.

Bento’s job should definitely be on the line. So what about replacements? Aragonés is too old by now. I don’t want a Portuguese coach unless he’s called Mourinho or Villas-Boas all the other Portuguese coaches are quacks, who have no idea what they’re doing.

@Paulo

Portugal (and France) will end up in pot one. We have to worry about facing Hiddink’s Turkey and Bosnia.

Posted from Netherlands

By Miggy | October 11th, 2011 at 3:18 pm

And as of right now we’re either going to get one of the following…

Turkey
Scotland
Montenegro
Estonia

Posted from United Kingdom

By Ivan | October 11th, 2011 at 3:27 pm

And to think the day started with me fancing direct qualifying for the Euro… so frustrating what was seen this night.

Posted from Portugal

By João | October 11th, 2011 at 3:33 pm

@Ivan;

Yup.

And in the way we were playing not qualifying doesn’t seem farfetched (especially if we end up facing Turkey or Montenegro)

Posted from Netherlands

By Miggy | October 11th, 2011 at 3:39 pm

@Joao

I don’t think we will ever play that bad again.
Pepe and Coentrao will be back by then, Martins will most likely be pushed out of the team and it will be happy times for all.

Posted from United Kingdom

By João | October 11th, 2011 at 3:54 pm

@Miggy.

Ehh, knowing Real Madrid Pepe, Coentrao or Ronaldo being injured right before the play-off wouldn’t surprise me. Furthermore I’m not sure how the return of our defensive players prevents Martins being called up.
Rolando was poor against Iceland and Bento still used him against Denmark. Martins was poor against Iceland and Bento still used him against Denmark… I really am not sure what goes through Bento’s head.

Anyway play-off pot looks as followed:

Turkey
Czech Republic
Montenegro
Estonia

We only have a chance against Estonia. It also looks like Portugal is the only big named team that didn’t manage to directly qualify…

Posted from Netherlands

By ahmad | October 11th, 2011 at 4:23 pm

what a joke…. i hope the players… and most importantly the coach … take a really deep look into themselves and realize that they are making fools out of themselves…. we have the best talents in the world and we still play like amateurs … grow up!!!!

i hope rolando and martins have played their last game for portugal…. any line up without them is fine by me…. and bento…. quaresma as a LB? r u fuckin kidding me??????????????????????????????????

By ahmad | October 11th, 2011 at 4:27 pm

one more thing to address bento about….. meireles is an attacking beast, he can give passes and organize attacks like no other on the national team… and u place him as DM?? limiting his abilities??

oh yeah and im now 100% absolutely sure that somewhere on this planet, carvalho and bosingwa are sitting together and laughing and carvalho saying concerning bento’s joke of a selection:”ill drink to that!!”

By Paulo | October 11th, 2011 at 5:06 pm

I agree with you Ahmad, but I think Meireles’ game has definitely changed lately since he only plays DM at Chelsea too. I know that he can be very creative with his passes, but he hasn’t played well for Portugal recently and especially not tonight. And I’m not even sure if he is really good enough defensively to stop better attacking teams when he is DM. Bento needs to figure something out fast for a more balanced team.

Does anyone know if they could overturn Carvalho’s one year ban by the FPF or is that final?

By Miggy | October 11th, 2011 at 5:09 pm

@João

I know that our defensive players coming back doens;t directly mean the end of Martins in the team, but I think Bento’s come to term with it. That Martins has one good game and 15 less than average games. Eliseu won’t get another sniff in the squad. Nor will Rolando, not that I want him to pick Ricardo Costa or anything. Sereno was never really going to play, but there most be another good Portuguese center back out there. He doesn’t nessarily have to play for a top, top team but still.
Shit, I almost wish he picked Fernando Meira.
Also would like to add my personal opinion of what Bento’s next starting XI should look like….I know it won’t look like this but still.

Patricio
Silvio – Pepe – Alves – Coentrao
Velso
Meireles
Moutinho
Rolando – N.Gomes – Nani

I know there is no Bosingwa there but it’s not like Bento is going to pick him anytime soon.
Then as subs:
Danny, Varela, Andre Santos, Almeida/Postiga, Pereira/Nelson (f the latter is fit) and Sereno, I guess.

No more Duda, Eliseu, Quaresma (the trivela must be this guy’s gift and curse), Rolando, Ricardo Costa & Martins.

Posted from United Kingdom

By Tina | October 11th, 2011 at 6:26 pm

@Miggy, I hope you mean Ronaldo rather than RoLando…

Anyways, this game was just..like no words for how bad we played. It’s seriously amazing. I consider Portugal to have one of the most talented squads in the world and yet, we have such shitty coaches who do not know how to use the players they have properly and instead just get pissed off at everyone (cough Carvalho/Bosingwa). Bento man..I had such huge hopes for you but you just crashed in this game. Guys, we could have qualified had we not gone out with such a SHITTY line-up my god.

Although we dearly missed Pepe and Coentrao. I partly blame the loss of them not being there. Ronaldo NEEDS the support on the left wing to truly do some magic and we lacked that with the absence of Ceontrao. We need Carvalho, ASAP. He wants to come back, please let him. We will not, I repeat, will not get anywhere with Euro 2012 without Carvalho and Pepe as a pair.

I hope Bento either gets his act together or gets shown the door. Ugh, why is Mourinho not a national team coach!?!? We would have seriously competed for the WC and done an automatic qualification had we had a SENSIBLE coach. Ugh, this is SO FRUSTRATING! I wouldn’t be so upset had we had shitty players, but it’s the coach. Ugh.

By Ivan | October 11th, 2011 at 6:48 pm

I HATE, HATE, HATE going into the play-offs. We just needed to draw here, but Bento’s poor selection has made us go into the trouble of 2 more November games. We had the best players in the group, we SHOULD have won the group instead of letting Denmark win. Very dissapointed, but it doesn’t look like PB will learn much from this game (though I hope he really does). He’ll probably call up the same players and we’ll go through hard times next month again. Boy, how I wish I was wrong. Showing a convincing display in the 2 next games is the only way it’ll restore SOME of my confidence. But the damage that was done this night can’t be repaired entirely. It’ll also hurt our FIFA and UEFA rankings.

*Sigh*

Posted from Portugal

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