U20 World Cup 2007: Portugal 2 – 0 New Zealand

Luis, great vids.. I can hardly wait till Portugal’s next game here in Toronto. Thursday against Mexico. That will be a tough game. Mexico looked good.

Also I got to see the Chili-Canada game and there is a young Chilean named Mathias Vidangossy who looked incredible. This is definitely a young player to watch….

Posted from  Canada

Portugal – Mexico will be the big match for the group and potentially for the tournament. Remember that this Mexican team is essentially the same team that defeated Brazil in the U17 World Cup final. The winner of this match will be a major contender to go all the way.

Forca Portugal!

Posted from  United States

Your right Luis, and they looked good in the Gambia-Mexico game.
But to tell you the truth, Gambia looked like they were going to win that game in the first half.
They had most of the possession and were the better team by far. It wasn’t till Mexico scored their first goal that the game switched.
Unfortunately like most African teams, they have great individual skills and play with passion but don’t seem to have the discipline and cohesion it takes to win consistently…
Portugal will need to be carefully with Gambia..

Posted from  Canada

I thought Coentrao played excellently, however I was disappointed at his 2nd half theatrics. The team is up 2-0 vs New Zealand, and he tries a blatantly obvious dive! Terrible judgement, hopefully the kid smartens up. We all know that professional players will dive in marginal situations, but Portuguese players seem to not show enough judgement in this regard and we get black labelled by refs and the media. Now certainly by nature of our players (gifted wingers and dribblers of the ball) we are certainly going to get fouled more than average, which is what many don’t take into account when they criticize, but incidents like discussed certainly do not help the perception of the team any.

Posted from  Canada

On a more positive note, yes Coentrao showed alot, but he needs to bring that vs a good defence. We shall see. I was pleasantly surprised at the game though.

Pele was a masterclass performer in holder position.

The team seems overall quite good, but they will need better finishing cause they will not get as many chances vs Mexico, or they might need more than a couple of goals. Vela is masterclass striker and Gio is capable of brilliance.

Posted from  Canada

I agree that the biggest problem in this game was the finishing. They were playing some beautiful football and opening up the New Zeland defense at will sometimes but they never seemed to be able to put the ball in the net. That game should have been out of reach long before even the first goal was scored.
While I in no way condone it, I think that it is too bad that such a focus in the Canadian press is on diving. There have been moments in almost every game so far where the theatrics have been on display but as usual it is the portuguese team who is lambasted in the press. Every time I see a possible dive by a portuguese player I cringe because I know that it will become a talking point about the game rather than some of the beautiful slick passing and amazing individual skill. In any case I am looking forward to the Mexico game as it should be a real challange for both teams. Good luck boys, lets put the ball in the back of the net!! Forca Portugal!!!

Posted from  Canada

I’m just now recovering from last nights loss to Mexico. It was a very exciting game and Mexico definitely deserved to win.
It’s the same old story, we play well but can’t seem to score! Coentrao had another super game (even though there wasn’t any reason to get the yellow card. Played his heart out.
Gama was very quiet and Pele was totally ineffective. He looked slow and lethargic.

So now we have our work cut out for us against Gambia who are a dangerous team.

The positives I take from the game is that the team didn’t panic or fall apart. They stayed focused as a group and battled right till the end. Very exciting indeed.

Secondly, this Mexican team is a very very talented team. This may be the best team Mexico has ever had, at any age. These same group of players won the U17 WC so they can play. Plus Dos Santos looked very good, again. He was a danger every time he touched the ball. Joao Pedro did a fantastic job of marking him I thought.
Well that’s it from someone who was there. I’m very proud of the boys. We’ll meet Mexico in the final and see if we can’t make the outcome a little different…

Posted from  Canada

I know you shouldn’t cry over spilt milk, but either I’m going crazy or that was certainly not a penalty (mexico’s first goal). I guess im a sore loser, but come on!!!The officiating has been brutal thus far and it’s really starting to tick me off.

Posted from  United States

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention how much of a dork Couceiro is.

Posted from  United States

LusoCanuck
Haha, no comment on the penalty. I’m also a bit biased.
But I agree that as usual the ref’s haven’t been our friends.

Posted from  Canada

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Posted from  Slovakia