Hang-on to your seats, it’s gona be a bumpy ride!

Well I said we wouldn’t beat Denmark before hand and I was wrong. As Ivan pointed out this is the first time we’ve beaten a direct opponent in a qualifier since 2005 (!!!)

We must now hope Norway loses points (which honestly doesn’t look like it will happen) maybe Denmark will do us a favour.

Posted from  Netherlands

if we focus on every game by itself and win them all (including the norway game of course) then we surely must finish on top, i can’t see norway keeping their level, they are surely going to break soon(fingers crossed )
nice to see the team work together, so many lovely passes by the work is far from done, our next match is difficult, portugal always seem to struggle in away matches….
hopefully the next game we’ll see more fans in the staduim, the team needs every portuguese lung out there.

Posted from  France

Hmm, what happened to the main page of this blog?

Posted from  Portugal

I think Portugal played great. There was a couple of wasted chances, (Postiga & Martins should have scored) but also a lot of really great signs (Nani was man of the match, João Moutinho had the best game i’ve seen from him in a Portugal jersey, Ronaldo played with fire, scored a goal and very easily could have had 4 more…one crossbar and 3 fantastic saves denying him).

We’re ok on freekicks. Martins should have scored after the Denmark goalie fumbled Ronaldo’s shots. Give it time and i think we’ll get results. Our corners have sucked since Figo retired. We use to score a few here and there, but it’s been a weak spot for some time.

Overall i was really happy with Bento’s first game at the helm. I think the team looked better under him then they had during the entire term under Queiroz (with the exception of the North Korea game). If they can follow up with a win in Iceland I think we’ll top the group in the end.

I really loved the pressure that our midfield put on their midfielders and defenders when they had possession.

That really created Nani’s second goal which was brilliant!!! overall i loved the squad chosen and thank God Paulo put pepe and calvalho at centrebacks that made the difference!!! FORÇA PORTUGAL!!!

Posted from  United States

Funny how we’ve beaten our direct opponents for the first time since like 2005 and there’s hardly been any posts.

If we lost or drew…maaaannn people would’ve never stopped commenting.

It’s like that on Internet. People love to whine and complain. If their needs are satisfied, they just don’t post (unless it’s something REALLY big, like winning a Euro or World Cup).

Posted from  Portugal

Can anyone tell me why Miguel hasn’t posted anything of the Portugal and Denmark game? Am I missing anything?

He’s probably waiting for the Iceland game….then possibly do a double review or something?

he could’ve said that as a comment Miggy :/
no match preview of tonight’s game apparently :/

Posted from  France

Come on guys, give Miguel some slack he’s doing this for free. If he doesn’t have time to do a preview or review then so be it.

Posted from  Netherlands

RONALDOOO, free kick! . Yeaa hes back baby. Portugal 1-0 Iceland

Back to the Scolari days, as soon as it’s a corner we concede.

Posted from  Netherlands

Mark my words, this is going to be another 4-4 match.

We really can’t defend set pieces any more, our defence really looked shaky during the Icelandic freekick.

Posted from  Netherlands

Portugal 2- 1 Iceland- Raul Meireiles, whatta goal.

Joao- Agreed. Our defence is still shaky, and i really think we need bruno alves instead of pepe, but thats just my opinion. Our offense is pretty good though. Lets just see what happens today.

Our problems are still the same as in the Denmark match, we’re missing something in the final third e.g. getting the ball into the penalty box.

@Tiago; I also think it’s a problem with confidence, Eduardo looks more like Ricardo then erm Eduardo during the WC, and this was the case ever since the 4-4 match against Cyprus (and perhaps even more so since the loss against Norway).

We should really stop conceding goals, it might come to goal differences and we only have a GD of +1 atm.

In other news: it doesn’t look like Norway nor Denmark will concede points against Cyprus/Iceland.

Posted from  Netherlands

Conceding goals is definitely our main problem right now. And our defense somewhat. But if portugal want to make it through they have to improve a bit more because like Joao said, Norway or Denmark arent likely to concede any goals against Cyprus/ Iceland.

Improve our goalie and defense to how it was in the world cup, and we got a damn good team.

Forca Portugal!

Ronaldo is playing superbly.

Posted from  Czech Republic

We’re definitely back on track.

I was really disappointed by Nani, pretty much invisible he was so much better against Denmark and our game wasn’t as good as during the Denmark match because of it although really C.Ronaldo stepped up and was excellent.

Also what’s up with 2 players walking in each other ways in the penalty box? It looks comical.

Next match is against Spain, a friendly and hopefully FPF will arrange another friendly this time in March.

Posted from  Netherlands

When is our next qualifier match?

4 June 2011 against Norway.

Posted from  Netherlands

Epá João, it’s difficult to play in Iceland for ANYONE in the world. I mean it. Their physical form and temper at home (especially for a country of just over 300.000 people) is nothing short of magnificent. Our two-goal difference win there is actually a bit of impressive result, considering the upsets they have pulled off at home since ever (you can just check them out). They are a VERY tough team in Reykjavik.

Yes, we weren’t a perfect team at defending, but both the goals we conceded with Paulo Bento weren’t too impressive either. An own goal with Denmark and a ball that didn’t go much over the line today, it wasn’t even open play.

BTW, can you tell me please how many games Spain played in Iceland since the ’80s? How many they won? Did they ever win by more than 1 goal, even at home? Thanks.

Posted from  Portugal

Eduardo does look shaky. Hopefully he’ll have a good season in Italy and be ready to go for the next qualifier.

I disagree with playing Alves over Pepe. In open play Pepe is superior. Alves is very strong in the air, but the Carvalho/Pepe partnership is very solid. I can see Alves being an asset if Portugal is up by 1 or 2 goals late in a game and the other team is lobbing balls into the box, then it’d make sense to pull off a midfielder, put Alves as a center back and move Pepe into the defensive midfield role. Solidify the defense at the expense of the offense.

Nani showed some nice speed and awareness today, but his touch was way off. Just an off day, I’m sure he’ll bounce back with another great performance. Ronaldo was man of the match. He deserved another goal.

Almeida & Postiga are our weak links. Both had one on one chances with the goalie and couldn’t score. Those are chances that at this level have to be buried. I’ll give the edge to Postiga because i think he partnered much better with Ronaldo and did clean up with an easy goal, but by the time 2012 roles around I hope we have better striker options. Here’s hoping Sir Alex can mold Bebe into a finished product.

these two qualifiers prove that miereles is perfect at holding midfielder position…he is great at distributing forward and a good enough defender to thwart attacks…plus he still gets to fire from distance from time to time… the pepe and carvalho pair are terrific and we should have bosingwa in the back for the next qualifier and someone tell me if there is a better backline than those three plus coentrao…our only week spot is the position tiago/martins have shared along with striker….i agree with Rui that Bebe is the future however it wont be in time for the euros so almieda needs to step it up…overall couldnt ask for more from theses two games….FORÇA PORTUGAL!!!!!!!

Posted from  United States

I agree completely that carlos martins and hugo almeida are weak links. At times they are pretty solid, but at times doesnt cut it. I really hope paolo bento can get replacements for next qualifier, even though at the time there is not a great striker for us, with the exception of bebe for the future.

Bosingwa is a needed player in this team. He can attack with alot of pase and defend. He is fast which helps the nani and cristiano ronaldo pair to a counter attack. I believe that untill our next game with norway, we will be much stronger.

If Bebe turns out like we all want him to, he is key to succuss in the future.

Forca Portugal!!

Posted from  Canada