Albania
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
England
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Scotland
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
Wales
Home 
World
Portugal
Portugal 0 – 1 Spain: Spain through with offside goal
And so ends a dream. The boys are coming home. Lets welcome them back with warmth in our hearts, they fought hard and well.
Spain kept true to their game and their title of European Champions won with flare and style. Taking advantage of Portugal’s shortcomings so explicitly exposed by Queiroz the inevitable Villa struck once again albeit aided by another Spanish speaking team on the pitch. Even with an inapt right-back and an out-of-form holding midfielder we dared to challenge La Roja and sat in the driver seat for some periods of the game. Then we subbed Almeida for worthless Danny, witnessed Ricardo Costa forget he played right-back allowing Villa all the time in the world to score from an off-side position. This boosted their confidence and shook our foundations. The rest is history. One that should be scrutinized extensively. And probably will.
The more I think of the game the more I want to bash Queiroz’s head. What was he thinking when he went for Ricardo Costa as right-back? He had tried Paulo Ferreira and Miguel before. Surely they were both better suited for the job?! Will he take any responsibility for this loss or simply blame the ref, FIFA, the grass. Or worse. Say we played wonderfully but were simply outplayed by a better Spain.
The first five minutes of the game were awful. Villa trampled Costa twice as he tried to get a grip on his new role as right-back. Our fantastic goalkeeper kept the scoreboard locked at 0-0. We managed to even the game but at the end of 20 minutes Spain showed 62% possession against our 38%. Xavi and Iniesta clearly ruled in midfield. Tiago and Meireles managed the odd recovery but linking up with our front-line seemed at times a hopeless task. We did manage to show some danger upfront through a shot from Tiago defended by Casillas and later on a header by the same player. Ronaldo looked ever so helpless upfront. Granted he was rarely serviced but when he got the ball he immediately tried his runs inevitably losing possession. They know him well.
The second half is somewhat of a mess. Almeida was providing the team’s only flare when Queiroz took him out of the equation. On came Danny as Ronaldo moved into the lone-striker position. Unfortunately for Queiroz his new tactical insight into the game never got off the ground as 5 minutes later Spain scored their off-side goal. This changed everything. We now needed to press Spain hard, seize the reins of the game and go for the equalizer. 27 Minutes left on the clock. There was time.
With the goal came confidence to the Spanish side as they kept us chasing after the ball. With midfielders the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets it seems so easy to just flawlessly pass the ball around making the other team look so helpless. Portugal wasn’t able to act as a team when applying the needed pressure and much to Spain’s delight you could see the strength flee from our players’ legs.
When Queiroz subbed Pepe for Pedro Mender I was rattled at first. But as it was evident we lost midfield and Liedson was our only striker available it made some sense. I would have preferred Deco or Miguel Veloso as they might offer better support to our strikers but what do I know…
Liedson for invisible Simão was a good call. No mater how good a player is on paper if he is invisible for 72 minutes don’t expect him to suddenly pull a master-piece out of his ass and make everything right in the last minute. At this level a coach can’t afford to wait that long.
In the end Spain got off 19 shots, 10 of which were on goal. Thank Eduardo for the narrow margin on the scoreboard! We only had 9 shots, 3 on goal. Spain was/is the better team. Congrats are in order.
As for the referee he never failed to call out any of the fouls we committed. Almost all well called. On the other hand several of the fouls committed on our players went uncalled, particularly the ones on Ronaldo. Very irritating. He’s still paying for the WC 2006 dives (yes I admit to a few). I wonder when this will end. The off-side goal had a serious impact on the game as it allowed the Spaniards to showcase their passing game and expose our lack of a plan B. The mitigating factor is the linesman probably didn’t see Villa’s offside position due to his own positioning.
Great to see the fans on both side participate together in such an amicable way!
Good luck to Spain in the remainder of their campaign.
We will be back in full force at the start of the Euro 2012 qualifiers. Nani and Bosingwa should be fit and provide some of what we lacked at this World Cup. They were both sorely missed and would have made a big difference.
We say goodbye to Deco and thank his contribution along the past 7 years. To bad he voiced his disagreement with Queiroz to the press ending his world cup prematurely (or was it because of a hip injury?).
The good things that came out of this World Cup:
Eduardo and Fábio Coentrão (the Carvalho+Alves duo should perhaps be included)
The bad:
Queiroz, Danny and Ricardo Costa
I’m not asking for Queiroz’s head. I still think we have a great coach. Unfortunately he had a bad day today. So did a lot of our players.
I’m not sure if I can enjoy the remainder of the world cup now Portugal is out but I’ll try.
Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 79 comments.
Read the rest of the comments
Luis,
it´s a bit more serious than the trend…
In 94 we failed qualifying, also with CQ coaching (like now, it all depended on the last match, only then we needed a draw and now we had to fight with powerhouse Bosnia);
in 96 we went to England with A Oliveira and were eliminated by Poborski´s great goal, because we´d reached the quarters and everybody sort of thought it was good enough and was affraid of going for it;
In 98 we failed to qualify.
During this period, we had the best of the best players. Best wingers and good subs, best midfielders and good subs, some decent options for the strikers, plus a solid FC Porto defense.
Two things were strongly against us: little international prestige (which counts a lot when it boils down to ref decisions), immaturity (not just players, everybody and specially the technical staff) and low-self confidence. To qualify was a victory, to be there was enough, etc, and through it all, we were the laughing stock and had no respect, because although we had superb players, we didn´t really have a winning mentality.
While other teams try to make themselves look bigger and better (England is just an obvious pick amongst others) than what they really are, the portuguese always thought they were there “just to learn”.
Then came 2000 and it was the players, more than anything else, that realized their team was actually one of the best. That´s why the match against ENG was so important. We were dominating the match, ENG was dreadfull but scored 2 out of defensive errors from us. Rui Costa looked at Figo, Figo looked at Rui Costa, they said “no way this ends like this again, we´re gonna win this and we´re gonna win this easy” and so they did. The rest is history. And it was, together with France, the best team in 2000. By a long margin.
In 2002, it reverted to the old portuguese style of amateurism, with arguably the best team/players of the tournement. Again with A Oliveira – remember him from 98? Great shame, in 2002 in Asia. S Korea didn´t even need the ref (like against Spain and Italy) to get pass us. Again we needed just a draw, but couldn´t get even that.
We don´t get these opurtunities for free. One doesn´t go to a WC to do what CQ did. It´s OK if you´re NK. Or England. Not if you´re POR, not with these players.
After that, the quality of our teams has slowly decreased, you don´t make Figos and Rui Costas and Paulo Sousas or even Pauletas every 10 years. But we still had very good players. The only thing that changed was the coach. Scolari brought to the portuguese national team, the professionalism the players already had from playing abroad in the best clubs, where they proved themselves as some of the best players in the world. That´s why the people still love him, and some minority who think they know a lot of theory but actually know nothing of what football is all about, prefer CQ regardless of his super poor record. And dislike Scolari because he doesn´t fit in what they imagine will work in theory.
C´mon…
OK, 2008 wasn´t brilliant. But when I see an idiot leading the team, making ridiculous mistakes, pushing the team into believing that in a WC playing for a draw is always good if we´re playing somebody other than North Korea, destrying a team when it´s actually playing OK (like removing Almeida), I´m sorry, this is clearly a person that is only going to bring us down.
Is it so difficult to make a winning team with Eduardo, Carvalho, Alves, Coentrão, C Ronaldo, Simão, Almeida, etc…? OK, only CR is the best in his position. So what…? Does this mean we cannot win? Sorry, Scolari showed, with results, that this type of thinking is not just coward, it´s also bullshit.
There is a problem in finding a proper replacement for CQ. And that was the original reason for having CQ. But is it my fault that the FPF has chosen to burn the bridges with the portuguese coaches that are actually good (like Manuel José, most of them are abroad and ignored by POR, who fiercly continues to invest in sh*te)? Or that other good options are currently busy (Mourinho and Jesus)?
And BTW, our weakness in right-back was not Ric Costa. Costa is a centre back put there by CQ own free decision, we had right backs or right wing back in the bench. CQ was affraid of Villa, who explored it to the max. Like any normal human being would. Ricardo Costa did very well, given the circumstances, it was just a casting mistake.
The way to play Spain is not to run away from them. Is to face them. Their defense was miles worse than ours. We´ve done it before, we know that play with our eyes closed. We do it too, remember…? This tika-taka bullshit is Spain finally doing what we were doing from 91 to 04, WTF…
You start the match with 4 defenders, 2 holding mids, 2 wingers, 1 back winger (not allowed to push fwd) and 1 striker, what are you seriously expecting to happen if you´re playing against Spain…? This 11 speaks for itself and it says: “we are here not to loose by too many goals”. At the end, CQ is home happy because we made a “dignifying performance”, CR is on holdays disgusted but he´ll get over it, Deco´s selecção days are over and Eduardo left the pitch crying.
I´m sorry for the 60 pages… I´m just disgusted with the whole thing PLUS the certainty that those silly idiots back in Lisbon are not going to sack CQ.
Posted from 
Netherlands
And BTW Juan,
don´t get me wrong. I like Spain a lot (I really do) and also your football team. But I´m always for Brasil, before I´m for Spain. Sorry… POR and Castilla are cousins since 900 years (Spain wasn´t born yet then, remember). Brasil was US since 500 years ago and now is our kid brother, since 200… Hell, some countries aren´t even that old… 
Plus, Brasil also speaks Portuguese.
Anyway, if not Brasil then Spain or Argentina. 
Posted from Netherlands
para bom entendedor, meia palavra basta. e mais nada…
Posted from Netherlands
@Alex
I feel your pain brother, but I don’t have as much affinity for the “golden generation”. They came up short and proved to be just as selfish and self-absorbed as most claim C. Ronaldo is.
I’ll agree that Scolari changed the mentality and expectations of the national team, however. That’s why the wreckage is so difficult to stomach.
I also agree that CQ made some poor decisions – R. Costa etc. Not his fault he was right back but he still sucks. But where do we go from here? Mourinho is already busy building CR back up for the La Liga season. What positive can we take from this failure? How can we become stronger? CQ sacked? Perhaps, but who then? Sorry but the only worthy Portuguese replacement would be Mourinho, the rest are not up to the task.
Posted from 
United States
It’s only natural Mourinho coming out to defend his players. Venomous criticism towards Simão… not nice.
Posted from 
Portugal
Where do we go…? Pá, we go home Luis… And you can thank that to the kitch poetry of mr CQ, who should have been a fisherman or something else, cuz he clearly doesn´t understand what the game is about. Maybe he´s good with tactics, training, etc. But about strategy and about football, man, my grandpa knew more than him…
And it´s very simple, if you mean where do we go after we arrived home, well, I can only tell you that with CQ you´re gonna stay home…
Unless the players come forward and say it´s him or all of us. And believe me, I´m praying for this to happen, cuz it´s sooooo obvious they´re not happy with him.
Posted from Netherlands
I don’t agree Scolari changed the mentality and expectations of the national team. It started with the great Euro 2000 achievement with Humberto Coelho. Everybody (ie soccer fans around the globe) loved Portugal and our style of play. After that Oliveira qualified us with great flare to the WC 2002 scoring 33 goals. We got there as 4th in the ranking and many considered us the dark horse to win the title. The mentality was present but instead of training to prepare for the event they went on a socializing trip to Macau and the result was on par with the team’s fitness and preparation levels.
When Scolari got the helm he first tried it his way. Some very frustrating friendlies (3-0 loss against Spain leading the pack) including a lucky draw with Greece.
The Euro 2004 started. You would think he had learned anything from the game against Greece. Wrong. We lost.
This is where he got smart. Porto had just won the CL with Mourinho. Mourinho’s team ripe for the picking. His own tactics had failed. Time to reap what Mourinho had sowed: the next game his line-up finally included Ricardo Carvalho, Valente and Deco. Mourinho’s engine was in place. It led us to the final. Greece again. Third game in six months. Again you would think he had learned his lesson. Wrong again. We all know how that went. Was even more frustrating then yesterday’s loss.
What has Scolari given us: Zero. Nada. Nothing. He left a wreck behind for Queiroz to peace together. I’ll take Queiroz’s 2 world junior titles and this WC over Scolari’s nothingness any day of the week.
Posted from Portugal
Oh and Scolari left us in deep shit with most referees for all the antics at the 2006 wc. We are still paying the bill. At lest 5 penalty kicks weren’t awarded during the qualifiers for this event. PLUS we now have a team mostly despised my the fans around the globe. Despised and scorned at.
Posted from Portugal
Sorry but you guys are digging too deep a trench. I’m talking about a new era of exposure. Until WC 2006, nobody expected us to even get out of the groups. I didn’t like everything that happened during the Scolari era but I’m not willing to ignore the obvious. Portugal reached new heights, both on the pitch and off it, during his reign. Yes, he benefited from Mourinho’s work, but so what? Didn’t Spain benefit from Barca’s success? Don’t all good national sides depend on the quality of their club teams to succeed?
I’m just not willing to make moral judgments at this point. I don’t like the gutter sniping aspect of PT football much and I just want us to move on to more substantive analysis. Dump CQ or not, we have to move on.
Posted from United States
OK, Pedro… I´m not gonna argue with you. Just remind you that w Scolari we got results. With the others, we didn´t. Players…? Man, 94, 96, 98, 00, 02, all had better starting 11 than any of Scolari´s 11. Why didn´t we get results then…?
History will show you… It´s showing already…
And about 06, man, if anything, we owe to Scolari not having the dutch and the english kick us out under the table… Specially the dutch, they did their best for it and didn´t really hide it. Pitty for them, it backfired…
If somebody is paying the bill it´s the english, who are running out of excuses for their chronicle underperforming. I won´t even talk more about the dutch…
And if CQ has done anything, it has exactly been to destroy whatever Scolari left.
But if it´s all the same to you whether we finish in the last 4, or go the Final, or finish 8th or 16th, man… Fine with me. It´s also a choice. We go just to see the views, travell a bit, see the lions, play some matches, yeah… Nice…
BTW, POR is more important to me than FCP, or SLB or SCP…
Posted from Netherlands
The “great 2000 achievment” was absolutely normal for the team we had. In 2000 we had, together with France, the best team of the tournement. And we also had a much better ITA and HOL than today´s…
What wasn´t normal and makes it look like a grand thing, is that we usually didn´t even qualify, back then… It´s not just the coach, it´s the whole FPF. The players, well, just look at their carreers at club level… Any of them.
Posted from Netherlands
Why exactly do we NEED to have a Portuguese coach?
I think it’s about time the FPF started thinking outside of the box when it comes to possible coaching candidates. Portugal is a quality side with a lot of talent, but, for whatever reason(s), many of our Portuguese coaches haven’t been able to bring the best out of them at senior level. I think it’s time for a change in that regard. After all, what do we have to lose?
There are MANY quality coaching candidates out there who would LOVE to be given the keys to the Portugal project, but, because the FPF seems to insist that only Portuguese-speaking candidates be looked at, we’re left with only mediocre options to choose from.
We can’t wait for Jose Mourinho forever. This team, believe it or not, has the talent to compete with anyone in the world, and, has the talent to win NOW.
If we, say, looked at a revered international footballing mind to coach the talent on Portugal, someone like a GUUS HIDDENK for example – knowing all the success he’s had with average teams like South Korea and Australia – there’s no doubt in my mind that we’d lift either a EURO or World Cup sooner rather than later.
But, because we’re insecure/stubborn about our football, we end up taking all these amazing options off the table and settle for being the “bridesmaid” and never the “bride”. Well I, for one, am sick of it. Close isn’t good enough anymore. Not with these players.
It’s time Portugal follows England’s lead and looks to greener pastures for coaching success. Because, sometimes, the grass really is greener on the other side.
Hiddink? We don’t have the money for him besides he likes to go to underdog teams.
As for foreign coaches like the idea of having Jurgen Klinnsman or Luis Aragonés.
some good news, Eduardo’s rating has gone up and now he is on the Castrol FIFA’s 11 players of the world cup
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/statistics/castrolindex/topeleven.html
The Brazil vs. Portugal match was a challenge, as far as I could see it. Remember, they had 9 defenders and sometimes 10 in front of the Brazilian strikers; Brazil could not score. Why,then, did they change all of a sudden in defense when they played with Spain? To me, they just wanted to defeat Brazil more they desired to defeat Spain. Brazil will be Brazil because they take each match as a serious one!
This World Cup 2010 is as exciting as any other previous ones! Don’t blame it on referees, when the team you like has forgotten that this-is a World Cup but not just any tournaments; don’t blame on some players, when the coach should advice the whole team not to commit too many fouls on the opposing team;any serious teams know that the World Cup is tough. Pele never played rough–he was more focused on the ball than making a dangerous tackle. Viva Brasil!
Yeah, Hiddink does tend to go for the underdog teams – maybe because there is little to no pressure? – and he can be a bit on the expensive side.
But, to me, “foreign” doesn’t have to be limited to European. When you take a look at all of the success that South American teams have had at this World Cup, that has to tell you something about the coaching that continent has to offer.
I think “Loco” Bielsa’s all-out-attack philosophy would go hand-in-hand with what the Portuguese philosophy has been over the years. And I think Uruguay’s Oscar Taberez has proven himself to be one of the better coaches at this tournament thus far.
I’m not saying that those guys would be available, I’m just using them as examples to say that there are lower-profile, quality, inexpensive options out there if you look hard enough.
i became a portuguese fan since the euro 2004 tournament kicked off, and regardless of what scolari has done to the team, i have to thank him for introducing me to this wonderful team….. so thank you scolari…
as for now we need someone else, Hiddink looks pretty good but i find it difficult to see him as our new head coach.
hopefully not carlos alberto perrera 
he’s worse than CQ :S
Posted from 
Lebanon
May the best team win.
I am so with you about not being able to enjoy the world cup the same way as if Portugal were still in it. I do hate that Ronaldo has been labeled a diver, especially when you see so many other teams doing worse including Spain in this game resulting in a red card for our team. On to Euro 2012!
You are a bad journalist who did not impress me with your writing abilities to say the least. First of all, Ronaldo, is well known for his abilities and therefore, the opposing team will have their defense all over him. You bash Queiroz as if you hate him. Try coaching yourself – you obviously cannot write the truth. The entire game was sensational! The only reason why Spain won was because of a lousy ASSISTANT referee decision who did not call an obvious off-side goal. Due to his positioning??? Why doesn’t FIFA use 21st century technology already….$$$$ This is so obvious!
It was offside, I think the portugal and spain game was fixed!
Portugal deserves another chance!
like him
Posted from 
China
where you can buy the best watches at lowest price?
some friends tell me the watches from the web http://www.rolexclassic.com/class/?mywatchclass=448 have good quality and their service is the best
Here you will see rolex watches ,omega watches,breitling watches,chanel watches,cartier watches and so on.
What do you think? Have you ever gone to the web?what do you think of it?
Comments are closed
MORE EUROPE BLOGS
CATEGORIES & ARCHIVES
Juan, I really hope you do! I don’t like the idea of us losing to a non-champion!
Posted from
Portugal