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VANFLAMESFAN · 06-29-2010, 03:45 PM

Obviously disappointed in the result. Obviously disappointed in Ronaldo. He was awful today and in the WC. It's easy to say he didn't have the support or didn't see the ball enough, but the times he did have the ball, he was very predictable and very selfish. He was not good.

Spain showed their class and made Portugal look awful. The only chance Portugal had at scoring was on a counter attack and granted, there were a couple close calls. But in the end, Spain showed little effort in stringing 15-20 passes in a row, where Portugal couldn't muster 3 or 4. The better team won despite that goal being very close to offside. If it had gone the other way, I dont think the Spanish are up in arms. It was tight and would have been a hard call no matter what. Portugal had a couple good spurts in the second part of the first half, but next to nothing in the second half. I wouldn't say they were playing for the draw like rubecube said, but they weren't really playing to win either. They needed to show more urgency. I got no problems with having a lot players behind the ball when defending, but you gotta bring your players forward more. Players like Pepe and Meireles just didn't support enough in their roles. And Fabio Contreao seemed to be the only player with any kind of jump or urgency on the entire team and he's the youngest of the bunch at 22. Really looking forward to watching him progress. I noticed him at the Youth Championships a couple years ago and knew he would be solid.

I've been the first to admit Portugal haven't been that good in a long time. They have gotten by on their strong back end the last couple of years. But they have done very little in attacking, the North Korea game was the exception. That is not the norm for this team.

They will probably struggle to qualify and sneak into EURO '12 but a similar result awaits them I'm afraid. Oh well, still happy they didn't embarass themselves by not getting out of the group. At the end of the day, getting out of a tough group and losing 1-0 to arguably the best team on the planet isn't the worst thing in the world.

Locke, PM me anything you want for our bet.

06-29-2010, 03:45 PM	#3133
VANFLAMESFAN Franchise Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Maple Ridge, BC Exp:	Obviously disappointed in the result. Obviously disappointed in Ronaldo. He was awful today and in the WC. It's easy to say he didn't have the support or didn't see the ball enough, but the times he did have the ball, he was very predictable and very selfish. He was not good. Spain showed their class and made Portugal look awful. The only chance Portugal had at scoring was on a counter attack and granted, there were a couple close calls. But in the end, Spain showed little effort in stringing 15-20 passes in a row, where Portugal couldn't muster 3 or 4. The better team won despite that goal being very close to offside. If it had gone the other way, I dont think the Spanish are up in arms. It was tight and would have been a hard call no matter what. Portugal had a couple good spurts in the second part of the first half, but next to nothing in the second half. I wouldn't say they were playing for the draw like rubecube said, but they weren't really playing to win either. They needed to show more urgency. I got no problems with having a lot players behind the ball when defending, but you gotta bring your players forward more. Players like Pepe and Meireles just didn't support enough in their roles. And Fabio Contreao seemed to be the only player with any kind of jump or urgency on the entire team and he's the youngest of the bunch at 22. Really looking forward to watching him progress. I noticed him at the Youth Championships a couple years ago and knew he would be solid. I've been the first to admit Portugal haven't been that good in a long time. They have gotten by on their strong back end the last couple of years. But they have done very little in attacking, the North Korea game was the exception. That is not the norm for this team. They will probably struggle to qualify and sneak into EURO '12 but a similar result awaits them I'm afraid. Oh well, still happy they didn't embarass themselves by not getting out of the group. At the end of the day, getting out of a tough group and losing 1-0 to arguably the best team on the planet isn't the worst thing in the world. Locke, PM me anything you want for our bet. Last edited by VANFLAMESFAN; 06-29-2010 at 03:48 PM.