Portugal vs Iceland Preview

October 4th, 2011 | by: Paulo |

The injury list is growing by the day, and Paulo Bento is quickly running out of options in various positions. We started with Hugo Almeida, Pepe, and Fabio Coentrao all out due to injury. Therefore Paulo Bento named this squad.

Goalkeepers: Eduardo (Benfica), Beto (CFR 1907 Cluj), Rui Patrício (Sporting).

Defenders: Bruno Alves (FC Zenit St Petersburg), Eliseu (Málaga CF), Sereno (1. FC Köln), João Pereira (Sporting), Ricardo Costa (Valencia CF), Rolando (FC Porto), Sílvio (Atlético Madrid).

Midfielders: Carlos Martins (Granada CF), João Moutinho (FC Porto), Miguel Veloso (Genoa CFC), Paulo Machado (Toulouse FC), Raul Meireles (Chelsea FC), Ruben Amorim (SL Benfica), Ruben Micael (Real Zaragoza).

Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid CF), Danny (FC Zenit St Petersburg), Hélder Postiga (Real Zaragoza), Nani (Manchester United FC), Nuno Gomes (SC Braga), Ricardo Quaresma (Beşiktaş JK)

However, after a few days Danny pulled out of the squad for an unknown reason, and Varela has been called to replace him. But, that is not all, it appears Silvio has picked up an injury and will now most likely miss the Iceland game, and possibly the game against Denmark. So, should Bento call up Nelson or Bosingwa? Or I’m guessing Eliseu will in fact start at left back for Portugal, which absolutely none of us thought would happen a mere week ago.

As for the Danny situation, I don’t think it has anything to do with him and the coach, he made that very clear. But, it means that Quaresma will be our immediate substitute for these games. Varela has barely been featured this year for Porto, so I doubt he will play. I am anxious to see Quaresma play again. He has been in good form in my opinion, and maybe he can sparkle.

Postiga or Gomes? I say Gomes, just because I believe in playing the striker that is in the best form. And Gomes is by a long shot when it comes to statistics. However deep down I am sure Bento will pick Postiga. I hope Helder plays like he has lately for us, and not like he has at his club. I expect G 6406598 omes to at the least a solid 20 minutes against Iceland and a good chance to impress Bento. It would be interesting to see him play with Ronaldo and Nani.

Iceland will almost certainly sit back and try to counter, and it would be nice to get an early goal like last time we played them. This will definitely be an unfamiliar Portugal starting eleven, and it may take a while to get the timing down on the pitch. This is my predicted starting eleven.

——–Rui Patricio——

Joao Pereira—–Bruno Alves—-Rolando—–Eliseu

Joao Moutinho—-Miguel Veloso—-Raul Meireles

Nani—–Posiga—-Ronaldo

Miguel Veloso played during the end of the last game against Cyprus and looked decent. It’s a bit complicated now because Meireles hasn’t played anywhere else for Chelsea other than holding midfielder (he played higher up the field for Liverpool), so I don’t know if Bento will play him slightly out of position or not. The truth is Martins, Micael, and Amorim haven’t really played well this year for their club, and they haven’t performed well in a Portgal jersey in their latest appearances either.

It’s no secret Iceland poses their biggest threat in the air on set pieces and corners. Alves and Rolando are great in the air, so the match up is in our favor. This back line worries me, but I am glad we are playing Iceland before Denmark and not the other way around, so our defense can gel at least for 90 minutes without substantial pressure. I still have confidence in Rolando and Alves, we know they can play great, and Nani/Ronaldo up front should dominate. I expect a smooth 4-0 win for the Sellecao! Forca Portugal!!

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 32 comments.

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By João | October 7th, 2011 at 4:47 am

Apparently Danny had a cyst in his abdominal region region and he wanted an immediate biopsy. Damn I really feel bad for suspecting him, I hope it’s non-malignant and I wish best of luck.

Posted from Netherlands

By Ivan | October 7th, 2011 at 7:49 am

So it’s just a coincidence after all. Hope he recovers soon.

Posted from Portugal

By ahmad | October 7th, 2011 at 11:10 am

let’s hope cyprus can help us win against denmark…. boy that would be amazing.

By Ivan | October 7th, 2011 at 1:01 pm

I don’t think that’s an entirely good idea… The danes would probably get more pumped up for the game in Copenhagen, knowing that they’ll have to give 100% in order to win.

Posted from Portugal

By Ivan | October 7th, 2011 at 1:46 pm

They’re already winning 2-0, with just 14 minutes gone… we can’t afford to lose in Denmark if we want to keep the 1st place.

Posted from Portugal

By Ivan | October 7th, 2011 at 1:55 pm

0-4 O_o

They’re really going all out before Portugal.

Posted from Portugal

By Tina | October 7th, 2011 at 3:17 pm

What a header from Nani!

By João | October 7th, 2011 at 3:56 pm

I only watched the last 15 minutes of the first half glad to see we’re winning.

Posted from Netherlands

By Ivan | October 7th, 2011 at 4:30 pm

Can’t believe how awful the defending is… 3-2.

Posted from Portugal

By João | October 7th, 2011 at 4:30 pm

3-2

hahahahahhaha

oh god, the defence is awful. Rolando can’t jump if his life depends on it.

Posted from Netherlands

By Tina | October 7th, 2011 at 4:30 pm

You’re joking. 3-2. Defense is a joke.

By João | October 7th, 2011 at 4:35 pm

I think we need to get Bosingwa and RC to Copenhagen ASAP because there’s no way we won’t concede a goal against Denmark with this defence…

Posted from Netherlands

By Ivan | October 7th, 2011 at 4:36 pm

@João, same from me!

Posted from Portugal

By ahmad | October 7th, 2011 at 4:55 pm

our defense is an embarrassment. enough said.

By ahmad | October 7th, 2011 at 4:57 pm

just watching the Iceland coach getting excited after a 5-3 loss emphasizes how weak Iceland are… and yet they scored 3…. let’s just beat denmark and get this over with because Bento has alot of work to do.

By Tina | October 7th, 2011 at 4:57 pm

My god. We are not going to advance if we play with this defense against Denmark. Ughhh why oh why did Carvalho have to goooo???

By João | October 7th, 2011 at 5:00 pm

I knew we would get a last minute penalty against us, I knew it. I’m glad Portugal scored two more goals :\

Still, WTH @ Rolando, he was at fault for the two goals and penalty. Eliseu while really great going forward was poor at defending. Perhaps using him as a secondary left winger (over Queresma) wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Posted from Netherlands

By João | October 7th, 2011 at 5:04 pm

Also congratulations to Iceland for doubling their total number of goals scored for this qualification in a single match.

Posted from Netherlands

By ahmad | October 7th, 2011 at 5:42 pm

this was by no means an easy match for us…. we could have easily drew or lost the match and not by Iceland’s offense, but by our laughing stock defense. Is there any real chance we might not even qualify to the Euros? I mean can Norway beat us to it?

By Ivan | October 7th, 2011 at 6:09 pm

@ahmad, we can finish 3rd if we lose in Denmark, Norway beats Cyprus and Norway’s overall goal difference surpasses ours. Currently ours is 20-10 (+10), while Norway’s is 7-6 (+1).

I still think it’s quite unlikely Norway will pull that off.

Posted from Portugal

By Ivan | October 7th, 2011 at 6:29 pm

However, if we have a disaster in Denmark (like losing by 3 or 4 goals of difference) and Norway goes wild on Cyprus and scores at least 6 goals, it might actually be a catastrophe.

Posted from Portugal

By ahmad | October 8th, 2011 at 2:33 am

thank you Ivan for the encouragement :S

now seriously … jokes aside, i think we will have a very tough match but it’s much easier if the boys implement their speed better, Denmark will definitely attack more, and try to squeeze us in our own area, that should leave room for us to counter attack, and with nani and ronaldo on the wings, we might pull off a decent one.
Denmark should not park the bus (logically), they are comfortably sitting in second place and aiming for a draw will not help them, so they might as well go for that first spot especially since they have the home soil factor to their advantage.

By Ivan | October 8th, 2011 at 7:37 am

To be fair, the Iceland penalty should never have been given. It was commited on the 3rd minute of injury time, when the 4th referee gave just 1 minute of it.

Posted from Portugal

By Jon | October 8th, 2011 at 7:47 am

Even though our defense was terrible yesterday, we were missing our 3 best defenders (including Carvalho since he may return) so I wouldn’t be too worried about our defense in the Euro. What I am more worried about is the midfield. Raul Meireles is a good passer and he is a very good goal scorer when played in an advanced position so I still don’t see why he is consistently a defensive midfielder.

Veloso isn’t a world class holding mid but he is a better tackler than Raul and he is an intelligent passer. I think that they definitely gained control of the match when Veloso was introduced. Martins can be great at throughballs during counterattacks, but he is extremely wasteful when he is trying to break down a defense.

I think that there are 3 midfield combinations Bento should consider using in the pre-euro friendlies and the euros depending on who we are playing: Danny, Moutinho, Meireles. Moutinho,Meireles, Veloso/Santos. And Moutinho,Meireles,Pepe.

Danny would be used as an attacking option against a stubborn defense. Moutinho, Meireles, and Veloso/Santos would be great when we want to maintain possession and control a game. Pepe would be used when we are playing more defensively or against a physically strong world class opponent like Germany or Holland.

By Ivan | October 11th, 2011 at 6:02 am

Today is the big game… I can’t stand a loss today.

Posted from Portugal

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