Portugal 6 – 2 Bosnia! Better pitch, better results!!

November 19th, 2011 | by: Paulo |

Well, my bags are packed!! If 6 goals wasn’t a wake up call to the rest of Europe, then I don’t know what is. Where has that killer instinct been throughout qualifying? Each and every one of our players rose their game to a new level for this do or die encounter, and they delivered. There is no doubt in my mind that everyone fed off of Ronaldo’s energy from the beginning, and that is what a true captain does. I can’t describe how important that goal was for Portugal because it set the tone for the whole night. And then, just when everyone’s eyes were fixed on Ronaldo to see what other masterpiece he would craft, the forgotten superstar Nani just unleashes a rocket into the top corner! 7 and 17 put the team on their backs early with some real individual showpieces to take the pressure off of the rest of our guys, especially the midfield. That is when everything fell into place. Moutinho started harassing and hitting beautiful passes, Meireles pushed forward hard for a goal, and Veloso truly acted like the backbone for the whole team. Our midfield stepped up in a huge way tonight, and if those three play like they did, our team can definitely lift the trophy next summer.

Player Grades

Patricio: 6/10- Couldn’t fault him on either of the goals (which were both questionable). Other than that he made a few fine stops throughout the night.

Pereira: 7/10: Did much better defensively, and was more active in the attack. He hit a few nice passes out of the back and really made me forget all about Bosingwa.

Pepe: 8/10- Didn’t have to do quite as much defending as last game, but nonetheless was solid again. Pepe is the world’s best defender in my opinion. He probably could have defended Bosnia by himself and they wouldn’t have scored 6.

Alves: 7/10- Another good game by Bruno at the back, especially defending corners and set pieces. I think he has a good partnership with Pepe and hopefully it can become as good as Bruno and Carvalho in the last world cup campaign.

Coentrao: 8/10- Yes, he shouldn’t have had his arm up, but it was a harsh penalty. Fabio made up for his mistake on more than one occasion capping his night with a brilliant assist to Postiga. When he can run up and down the wing as he chooses he definitely creates more chances for Ronaldo.

Meireles: 7/10- Much better game by Raul overall. He was in position for tackles defensively, and distributed the ball very well going forward. I think he should get used to playing on the right side of midfield now.

Veloso: 9/10- May just have cemented his spot in the starting eleven from here on out for the Selecao with back to back stellar games. His performance was undeniably brilliant, and so was his goal.

Moutinho: 8/10- That one through ball to Ronaldo that sprung him for his second goal was the exact pass I’ve been waiting for Joao to hit. Moutinho is our X-factor, if he plays well there’s no telling how far we will go next summer.

Ronaldo: 9/10- Truly a captain’s performance. His free kicks honestly seem to be getting better every time he takes one, and that first one ignited our team. Also pretty much put the game out of reach with his second.

Postiga: 8/10- Two good finishes in a full 90 minutes for Helder. It’s great to see him bounce back quickly after a mediocre first leg.

Nani: 8/10- That laser beam of a goal came out of nowhere and it was just a great reminder of how fast he can change a game. Both Nani and Ronaldo can singlehandedly carry us when they are in top form, they proved that in this game.

Subs

Micael: 7/10- Way better showing by Micael. Terrific assist on Postiga’s goal, and was well positioned many times. Definitely his best game since his debut when he scored twice.

Quaresma: 6/10- Made some nice runs down the wing, but didn’t effect the game too much.

Carlos Martins: 7/10- Came on in the dying minutes, but he had way more important things on his mind and you can’t fault him for that. My thoughts and prayers are with Carlos and his family.

As good as we played, does this performance set this starting 11 in stone for next summer? Or is there still time for Danny or Silvio to bust their way in? Knowing Bento though not much is expected to change and that is fine with me. The most important thing from here on out is that our guys stay healthy. Currently we are very thin at multiple positions, so hopefully some viable subs will come forward over the rest of this season to make our squad deeper and better.

So, where do we go from here? Well the draw is on December 2nd , so we will know our fate then. After that there will be a handful of friendlies to tune up for the tournament. It was a long, bumpy ride, but our place in Euro 2012 is set at last!

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Comments

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By ahmad | November 22nd, 2011 at 7:35 pm

ok emotions aside and all…. what are our chances???
i see us right in between England and Italy… Holland’s defense is too crappy so i expect them to stumble in the quarters. Spain and Germany are clear top contenders and it takes more than good coaching and skillful players to top them off, we need a winning mindset … for the full 90 minutes.
Against Germany in the last Euro, we only thought about the game when we were trailing behind, we never pushed that extra mile to actually win it. All we wanted was to draw Germany and when we accomplished we kinda took things slow (BIG MISTAKE)
This time things are bound to be different. Ronaldo is ten times better than his 2008 version, and so is Nani; the two players that this nation relies the most on. If we avoid injuries then we can definitely do good based on the names we have in our squad. Yet, if we don’t acquire the winning mindset soon then we might as well not qualify from the first round in the first place and save ourselves the heart break of losing in the QFs or SFs.
It’s unlikely we’ll end up in an easy group, so Bento might as well start thinking about the most efficient names to use.

By Greg | November 23rd, 2011 at 11:29 am

Watching this team over the years, with turnover and different managers and the like, I’ve come to a stark realization: Euro 2004 was their best shot at international hardware and they blew it.

The team doesn’t underachieve; it’s simply not deep enough or good enough. Having a top 2 player in the world on your TEAM doesn’t make the TEAM a top 5, 10, or even top 15 team (see a number of African teams with players like Drogba and Eto’o on them).

While Portugal have a handful of excellent players at high profile, excellent clubs, a large amount of them still ply their trade at, for lack of a better term, 2nd tier clubs. Ronaldo wasn’t ‘CR7 SUPER DUPER BANGING MODELS NETTING 513905 GOALS A TERM’ Ronaldo until he moved to ManUre. Nani was viewed, largely, as a one trick pony even in his first few seasons at United until he got broken in by a higher level of competition. Quaresma who was a fucking GOD at Porto proved he isn’t in the same galaxy as the aforementioned wingers because he sucked at Barcelona, Inter, and Chelsea.

Until Portugal have the large majority of their players cutting their teeth and proving themselves at clubs in Spain and England (and Italy when the league isn’t going through the doldrums it is now), they’re going to be Quarter or Semi final burnouts at best.

By Rui | November 23rd, 2011 at 5:21 pm

greg your comment is very vague and I really want you to please not talk about Portugal unless you know at least move information about us than that. that was horrible, honestly we have amazing players other than Ronaldo and Nani that play in big clubs and work there hearts out

By Greg | November 23rd, 2011 at 11:09 pm

Rui, I used to write not only this blog but the Portuguese and Sporting blogs on theoffside until my work commitments required me to stop. I know Portugal football (club and country) inside and out.

My comment isn’t vague whatsoever. It’s quite clear actually: until more players see regular football at BIGGER clubs (England, Spain, and even Germany), Portugal will not win any major tournaments.

Just for argument’s sake, take a position like goalkeeper. England- Joe Hart (1st place Manchester City, Premier League), Spain- Iker Casillas (1st place Real Madrid, La Liga), Germany- Manuel Neuer (1st place Bayern Munich, Bundesliga). See a trend? Now, compare them with Rui Patricio who plays for 3rd place Sporting in the Portuguese Liga. UEFA coefficients have the Portuguese league ranked SIXTH overall behind England, Spain, Germany, Italy, and France. So, the Portuguese keeper is on the third best team in the sixth ‘best’ league in Europe. That’s not going to win you any serious tournaments any time soon.

I could go on with players all over the team but I’ll just say this about Portugal and end this diatribe:

They came SECOND to DENMARK in a group that had ‘giants’ like Cyprus and Iceland in it. That’s horrific for a team that has, according to you, ‘amazing players’ on it. A team of amazing players does not draw against Bosnia, I don’t care if they’re playing on the surface of the moon or a pitch as shitty as the one in Bosnia that night.

On another note, I couldn’t care less what you want regarding my comments about the team. This is a discussion forum, not your playground.

By Tiago | November 24th, 2011 at 9:09 am

Listen here buddy, I dont know if your Portuguese or not but please dont talk about portugal not being able to win any tournaments. Thats completely your opinion, but your making it seem like its a fact. You can talk about the players and such individually but dont talk about the whole team like one.

Using the exact same logic your using,let me explain myself. Your saying only examples about goalkeepers yes. Rui Patricio is not the best and does play in Portugal, but since when does that make us not being able to win a tournament? Are you ok? Look at the world cup. Edurdo played in BRAGA then, and was, for me and many others, one of the most outstanding goalkeepers in the whole world cup. But we didnt make it nbot because of him, but because of Queiroz’s tactics and other things.

I also find it very convinient that you are only giving an example of Rui Patricio. Lets look at Joao Pereira, plays amazingly for Portugal and Sporting, as is being currently tracked by good teams in the Spanish league. Pepe? The best player on our team I think, first place in the Spanish league, and an undisputable starter. Bruno Alves first place Russian league, extreme aerial abilities. Coentrao, first place Spanish league an energetic RB and very versatile for Real Madrid. Our Midfield trio of Meireles who plays on Chelsea, Moutinho who plays on Porto and for me is one of the, if not beside Ronaldo the most important player on our team, and Veloso who plays in Genoa. They have great chemistry as shown in the Bosnia games and can only get better. Moutnho is our deep playing playmaker, and is very important to Portos success, and no matter WHERE he plays, you cant deny them of his and the other talent. Now for the forwards I dont even needa say it. For me we have the best player in the world! And Nani who plays in Manchester. I will also admit that Postiga isnt very consistent or has a great amount of talent, but he CAN score, especially when you have Ronaldo and Nani on the wings.

Now to conlude I want to ask that you not look where these individuals play, thats ridiculous. But rather look at their indiviual skills. If you cant dont that, you still have much to learn and should NOT be writing/written on all those sites to give people the wrong ideas and mindset for our Seleccao. In no way should you ever state that Portugal cant win major tournaments. Its hard, with all the other amazingly talented temas, but never impossible. When Greece won in 2004, if we looked at the individual players WHERE they played, NOBODY on Earth would beleive they would win the Euro. Nobody! But they did, because the team as a WHOLE had great chemistry, and they entered the Euro with the mindset to pull of something amazing. That is what matters.

Posted from Canada

By Tiago | November 24th, 2011 at 9:28 am

Also, let me do the talking for your second point. Let me make you look like the fool you are. Portugal came second? Ah I see we have a dipshit in the house. Yes we came second, but I can see your knowledge is lacking. Really lacking to be honest. Let me remind you that for the first two games, Portugal tied and lost with the help of our coach, who was sacked after those two games. Next comes in Bento, a coach with a huge task ahead of him which in the end who managed to complete. He never lost a game in the group until the final game with Denmark which made us come in second. But let me say something us to bring you back in to reality. Portugal had 6 injuries in that game, 3 were in the starting lineup. So as you can see it was going to be a hard task.

Also let me say something else to you. According to your absolutely absurd logic, Spain is unbelievably good right now right? Well right now Spain are playing like garbage let me tell you. Portugal beat them 4-0. A team, like you said, should not win anything and has players that “Oh my God play in the WORST teams ever”, beat the Champions of everything 4-0, who according to you, “The players play in the BEST teams ever!” Right now Spain are playing bad and dont seem to be winning this Euro, which according to your messed up logic, they should win this Euro hands down. Also Argentina are looking pretty below average right now, and they have AMAZING players right? A team with good players with no cohesion is just a team, nothing more.

Lastly I ask that you get the fuck off this site, get some more knowledge, becuase nobody asked for your biased comments. I also dont speak for everyone on this blog, I speak for myself, because whenever I see completely stupid individuals like yourself, bragging about where they have written, I cant help myself but to talk some sense into them. Go go to your own countries blog there and talk about your absolutely ridiculous opinions there, not here.

Posted from Canada

By ahmad | November 24th, 2011 at 3:25 pm

Jose Murinho took a Portuguese team to glory by winning the Champions league in 2004. He defeated the giants of the European game while he was at it. He didn’t have the best players, but he had the correct mindset. He brought chemistry to the players. And he faced Monaco in the final, another counterexample to your “theory”.
I’m Lebanese and my national team has the worst record in Asia or something like that, until now. We fuckin defeated South Korea, a team filled with players that play in Europe or in major Asian leagues. How did we do it? We finally have a good coach that taught the players how to understand one another.
Same concept can be applied to Portugal; with good coaching and with players’ commitment, we CAN win the Euro.

By Ivan | November 25th, 2011 at 10:37 am

I know that currently the preparation for the Euro is what matters, but our calendar of the qualifying for World Cup 2014 has been agreed:

07/09/2012 Luxembourg – Portugal
11/09/2012 Portugal – Azerbaijan
12/10/2012 Russia – Portugal
16/10/2012 Portugal – Northern Ireland
22/03/2013 Israel – Portugal
26/03/2013 Azerbaijan – Portugal
07/06/2013 Portugal – Russia
06/09/2013 Northern Ireland – Portugal
11/10/2013 Portugal – Israel
15/10/2013 Portugal – Luxembourg

So we’ll be playing mostly away games up until next October… I think the away fixture against Russia will set the tone for the rest of the qualifying.

I also wonder how our line-up will look like at the end of the qualifying. Bruno Alves will hit 32 shortly after the end of the qualifying, Hélder Postiga and Carlos Martins will be 31, Raul Meireles and Pepe will be 30. These may still play, but there should be good players who’ll come up from the U21s: Mika as goalkeeper, Sana and André Martins as midfielders, Nélson Oliveira and Wilson Eduardo as strikers (and probably Abel Camará and Rui Fonte).
I can’t see good defenders in this generation, as they’ve conceded quite a lot of goals in the qualifying for the Euro 2013… in the last game 2 against Albania, and they have been overall poor in the campaign as well.

Posted from Portugal

By Ivan | December 1st, 2011 at 4:00 pm

The draw for the final tournament’s groups is tomorrow… man, I’m so looking forward to it!

Posted from Portugal

By ahmad | December 1st, 2011 at 4:16 pm

i feel we’ll be in the group of the death of the tournament…. and that’s something i’m 100% ok with….. BUT PLEASE GOD… NO DENMARK!!!

By Ivan | December 1st, 2011 at 6:02 pm

My prediction:

Netherlands-England-Portugal-Republic of Ireland

Posted from Portugal

By soares | December 1st, 2011 at 6:59 pm

I don’t know but i have a really good feeling for Portugal this summer. I feel like every tournament people feel like they will win, but in 2012 i think they can fly under the radar and make some noise in the knockout rounds, and hopefully get that elusive championship

Posted from Canada

By Tiago | December 1st, 2011 at 9:27 pm

Guys, Im so excited for this! I hope we get a good draw, but lets not go for too easy of a draw either. Of course we dont want to be in a group filled with powerhouses, but a weak group, good alos be negative because Portugal will go in there thinking they will pass the group easily. There arent going to be any easy games in this tournament. So for me, the best group we can possibly have thats balanced is:

Poland, Italy, Portugal, France

I think this group not only will be freakin exciting as hell, but also isnt going to give Portugal that sense that its an easy group, and they will go in full force. Especially since Portugal in the last few tournaments has not been able to beat France or Italy, so this could be revenge. And lets face it, neither France nor Italy are playing the kind of football they used to play, and Poland well they are just hosts, nothing more. But whatever the case, lets just hope Portugal can go super far in this tournament and maybe even make it to the finals!!

Forca Portugal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Ivan | December 2nd, 2011 at 12:55 pm

We have Netherlands, Germany and Denmark as our opponents, and we play Germany first…

… S***! We’re f*****. *semi-joking and semi-serious*

Posted from Portugal

By João | December 2nd, 2011 at 12:56 pm

Damn it I so wanted group A, Fernando Santos was laughing at Bento.

But yes we’re in the group of death, we’re going against Denmark who utterly outplayed us in the last match and against favourites Germany and Holland (the latter having a weak defence…)

Posted from Netherlands

By Ivan | December 2nd, 2011 at 12:59 pm

Our 2004 and 2008 groups are a joke compared to the one we got for next year.

Posted from Portugal

By Ivan | December 2nd, 2011 at 1:01 pm

Damn, now even if we pass the group (and that’s assuming we do), the players will probably be worn down for the knockout stage.

Posted from Portugal

By Paulo | December 2nd, 2011 at 1:38 pm

Can’t get much tougher than that. We need to have a fully healthy squad to have any real chance of advancing. It’s going to be very interesting indeed.

Posted from United States

By Miguel | December 2nd, 2011 at 2:17 pm

Now we’re talking! Couldn’t have wished for a better group to put in our bid for the title! Wanting this one or that one equals saying we are there to get as far as possible not counting on winning it!
There is no slacking from the get go! Expect high performances… always! If this doesn’t have our boys hyped from the start nothing will!

Posted from Spain

By Miguel | December 2nd, 2011 at 2:21 pm

As long as the Dutch play fair and don’t try and hack our best players down from the get go, they should not better us.
We have proven our worth against Denmark and will again.
The Germans are the toughest nut to crack. But they’ll crack!

Posted from Spain

By Tina | December 2nd, 2011 at 5:42 pm

I’m not that happy about the group because I seriously worry if we’ll advance or not. What I am happy is that this group will truly show if we’re a real European contender or not.

I know Denmark outplayed us but they won’t do so once we get our defense back (we didn’t have Pepe or Coentrao) and start playing more together. I dunno but I feel like we’re getting better and better each game. And Denmark aren’t THAT difficult. We should win against them.

Netherlands are great but even I don’t consider them to be a favourite. They have problems at the back and can lose at any moment. That being said, they’re extremely strong going forward and should be very interesting to see.

Germany…well I don’t think we’ll beat them. Germany I believe will win this group. They’re my favourites to win the entire competition. It’ll be so amazing to see Ronaldo against Ozil. Should be a cracker of a match (as long as we don’t get crushed).

By ahmad | December 2nd, 2011 at 6:08 pm

NOW THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!!! i seriously can’t wait till kickoff…
nothing but full commitment will make us go through the first round…. taking it easy will not be an option at all…

anybody wants to bet on how many red/yellow cards will our match against the netherlands contain?

By ahmad | December 3rd, 2011 at 3:27 am

the good news is that portugal will have a relatively easier QF if they are to progress… facing any team from group A should make as favorites to win…. anybody wants a rematch against greece? i know i’m rushing into things but i can’t help but wonder.

By andre | December 3rd, 2011 at 4:22 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk4nxjwd2rM

Posted from Netherlands

By Greg | December 12th, 2011 at 2:15 pm

I apologize to everyone else who has to read Tiago’s drivel and what will probably amount to my fanning of his flame garbage he started above, but since I revel in fighting with mental patients, I’m going to respond and then go away…

Tiago, you’re hysterical to me. I’ll just leave this here and be on my merry way…

Quote from Tiago: ‘Listen here buddy, I dont know if your Portuguese or not but please dont talk about portugal not being able to win any tournaments. Thats completely your opinion, but your making it seem like its a fact.’

Um. It is a fact. Not winning the World Cup or the Euro ever is not an opinion. Once you lead off with that comment, I find it hard to read anything else you write and respond to it.

Be a fan all you like. Support your country, favorite national team, or whatever. But don’t be dumb. Fact = Portugal have won 0 major international tournaments. Fact = you have a poor grasp of the definition of the word ‘fact’. Opinion = Portugal will continue to underachieve and people will blame everyone but the manager. Opinion = citing a 4-0 FRIENDLY win over Spain as some form of dominance over them is foolish and absurd.

You want Ronaldo to play well? Put a Real Madrid or Manchester United top on him. Then he’ll do wonders. The same applies for Messi. Put an Argentina shirt on him and he’s practically worthless.

Just for your own personal volition, Tiago my love, I wasn’t bragging about writing for a site. It was to give basis and reference to what I had to say. Like when you go to the doctor, he hangs his credentials on the wall, or when they interview people on TV, they state their credentials.

In the end, you’re going to get what you want: I’m going away and I’m sure you couldn’t care less. I tried to point out FACTUAL items and have a DISCUSSION but you decided to get nutty and make ad hominem attacks on someone you don’t even know. Very internet tough of you. I thought Newark or Toronto were the only places where I’d be bothered by chauvanistic, know-it-all Portuguese guys, but I was wrong. I guess you guys have found the internet.

PS – I DO happen to be Portuguese, but being Portuguese and having a brain are apparently mutually exclusive for you. I’ll miss you dearly, as I’m sure you share the same sentiment regarding me.

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