World Cup: Group B: Portugal vs. Spain, 6/15/2018

[Eisen]

De Gea, wow! Has he been training with Karius?

It has been reported that he had a concussion. But it did look silly.

 

[Name Nameless]

Perhaps you should close the voting - part of the possible result now? They generally needs to be closed when the games starts IMHO. I can see the predictions of a draw has increased from 16 to 19 votes now. Those 3 are really good at predicting ;-)

 

[Rossi Rat]

I can’t get over what a stud Cristiano is.

The Ovechkin of soccer. GOAT

 

[chizzler]

Biggest problem for Portugal was W. Carvalho. He was slowing the pace down and limited Portugal's momentum. He should be replaced asap. I'd play Bernardo more central and pivot Martins or Quaresma to the right for crosses/pace down the wing. Portugal looked good and so did Spain, both teams will go far.

Portugal definitely has to look st the roster a little. Spain have it to them. Guedes gets that chance in 1st half the game is different. Portugal played too passive. I don’t think Spain missed their coach at all. They had posession all game.
As far as Ronaldo, great game. If your a soccer fan, what’s there to complain about. Guy scores three goals. Wow. Nacho with a sick goal. Great game in the second day already. Do we need to complain?

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

As an interesting bit of trivia. The last and only time that the eventual World Cup winners conceded 3 goals in a group match was West Germany in 1954 who of course famously lost 8-3 to Hungary. Otherwise World Cup winners historically have tended to be quite stingy defensively in the group stage.

 

[Bures Elbow]

First things first, it was the starting lineup we all wanted but Bruno Fernandes and Guedes suffered from the occasion. They did not have the impact seen vs Algeria but thats to be expected, I'm not angry about that. Facing Spain in a world Cup really psychologically got to them, and when you factor in Spains constant suffocating press and pure quality of passing/interchanging positions then its understandable.

I hear comments about Bernardo Silva, arguably our most important player after Ronaldo being non-existant and struggling and while he was I really think we should analyze why. Bernardo is a possession player, he needs touches on the ball and movement around him to be effective and make use of his skill/vision. Against Spain he was virtually on his own except for when he drifted inside which imho is his best position...whenever he got the ball there were multiple Spanish players around him and Cedric offered ZERO support and width.

Cedric was awful, he did not come forward often and didnt drag anyone away, nor was he remotely dangerous or effective in possession. How many "Charutes para a front" did he do? This allowed Jordi Alba to bomb forward recklessly because he knew Bernardo would be closed by others and would have no space/options to use as a decoy or give the ball to. With Ricardo there and making his trademark bombing runs with speed/power/skill a few times Alba would have been far more cautious and not move forward nearly as much. Albas movement really is what helped Isco/Silva/Iniesta/Thiago because it drags away the extra coverage.

Dias was never going to start, he has 1 international start in a friendly vs Tunisia, one game at Old Trafford, and just league games. Yes he has quality, but it would have been a recipe for disaster..he might have succumbed to the occasion like Bruno Fernandes and Guedes..and imagine that at CB?! Fonte was always the option, for good or bad. We have to hope he improves vs Morocco because Costa was ragdolled him.

Moutinho was ok, and William was a little better but not the beast he can be. Gurreiro was good overall but tired at the end which is understandable considering his season of injuries.

We started so well the first 20 minutes, we pressed them, disrupted their style of play and looked dangerous on the counter..Guedes had a golden opportunity where he should have scored but got nervous/panicked. A minute later Diego Costa scored ( imho he fouled Pepe, how many times is that called?) and the game COMPLETELY CHANGED. We sagged, to be expected a bit since we're a young team overall...but we really sagged. Up until the 75th or so minute We really had nothing. We just sat back, didnt venture forward, and couldnt string a pass together with another. Those last 15 minutes we really woke up and regained control a bit, we pressed Spain high up the field again, nullified them a lot, and starting regaining possession and crafting opportunities. After Ronaldos magical moment, we could have won it as we were the only team that looked like scoring...Quaresma should have shot a fraction earlier or faked a third shot to take out a sliding Koke...damn so close. Plus Ronaldo completely missed on a free header.

Ultimately I believe we played within ourselves a lot, Santos set them out to be cautious and simple but press Spain high to regain possession quicker and put them under constant pressure with the skill of our players on the counter but Diego Costa's goal completely changed the game. Santos even said as much ans gave us a 6/10 performance rating which is about right. We also dont have the same solid defense like in Euro 2016 to absorb constant pressure from one of the top 4 teams in the World....we CANT do that with Fonte not as good and Pepe two years older. Plus Cedric is just not good right now and never really offered much besides workrate.

Everyone is saying we're a one man team and suck without Ronaldo...let them. Against Morcocco we will play far more assertive and expansive. We shelled vs Spain for the most part. They think all our players suck but will be in for a surprise because Spain is the best team in the tournament, played a fantastic game against us, and took away time/space and showed the quality they have which the other teams wont. We will have so much more space, and be by far the more skilled team bar 2/3 players on Morocco.

Ronaldo was amazing, he was electric on the ball all match in terms of build up, one touch control and passing, dribbling, explosiveness...he looked the sharpest he has in months. We need to pray he is 100% because it completely transforms our team in front of goal and presses other teams defenses back.

Ricardo in for Cedric and Joao Mario for Bruno Fernandes, the rest should be the same vs Morocco..give Guedes another opportunity to settle his nerves.

 

[cgf]

@Duchene2MacKinnon My favorite comment from this match:

"Isco is just a poor man's Rudy IMO"

You're lucky I don't quote some of the shit real german homers say. Cause that's not even from one of the dinosaurs, it comes from a dude who's actually pretty good with german youth talents

 

[Merya]

The hype is fairly warranted. Other than Neuer he’s been basically the best goalie in the world the last couple seasons.

Oblak and ter Stegen at least are in the same category.

After all that....... a tie.

Grrrr! People like you robbed Hockey from the tie!

I can’t get over what a stud Cristiano is.
The Ovechkin of soccer. GOAT

Seriously? Cristiano has 5 CL trophies and 5 Ballon d'Ors and has captained a mediocre team to win the hardest test, European Championship.
There is no hockeyplayer currently playing with anything close to similar achievements.

 

[cgf]

The hype is fairly warranted. Other than Neuer he’s been basically the best goalie in the world the last couple seasons.

Oblak and ter Stegen at least are in the same category.



Grrrr! People like you robbed Hockey from the tie!



Seriously? Cristiano has 5 CL trophies and 5 Ballon d'Ors and has captained a mediocre team to win the hardest test, European Championship.
There is no hockeyplayer currently playing with anything close to similar achievements.

How Portugal could have ever won that final without CR7, I'll never know

 

[Merya]

How Portugal could have ever won that final without CR7, I'll never know

I take it you didn't see the game? Or read the expert commentary afterwards?

 

[cgf]

I take it you didn't see the game? Or read the expert commentary afterwards?

What? No I, like everyone, was astounded by how heroically Ronaldo cheerleaded. MFer didn't even need pom poms. ALPHA AF

 

[Merya]

What? No I, like everyone, was astounded by how heroically Ronaldo cheerleaded. MFer didn't even need pom poms. ALPHA AF

Eder has credited the pep talk from Cristiano as the catalyst that resulted in his winning goal.

 

[cgf]

Eder has credited the pep talk from Cristiano as the catalyst that resulted in his winning goal.

And that still makes me roll my eyes so hard that they might get stuck.

 

[Merya]

And that still makes me roll my eyes so hard that they might get stuck.

They prolly have been stuck for much longer already. Enough of this fruitless rhetoric.

 

[ViD]

You played Saudi Arabia.

We played Spain.

Funny enough we recently played Spain and also ended 3-3

 

[Moncherry]

Funny enough we recently played Spain and also ended 3-3

You're not even worth engaging if you're going to use friendlies as an argument.

 

[ViD]

You're not even worth engaging if you're going to use friendlies as an argument.

Don’t get too emotional , I just said it was funny with the same score

 

[The List Of Jericho]

Prediction: Ronaldo looks dejected and annoyed with the world by the 25th minute

Well that was off lol

 

[robertmac43]

Well that was off lol

I thought it was a pretty safe assumption given his history at the World Cup, the pen definitely lifted the spirits early on

 

[Stray Wasp]

Eder has credited the pep talk from Cristiano as the catalyst that resulted in his winning goal.

Pity he didn't deliver this sterling speech at half time, then we might have had a result within 90 minutes instead of 120.

 

[Merya]

Pity he didn't deliver this sterling speech at half time, then we might have had a result within 90 minutes instead of 120.

120 gave more drama, no? It was even sweeter for me. Dunno what you tried to achieve with such a silly comment.

 

[Wilsondrake]

One of the most intriguing group stage matches just got a little more interesting. The Portuguese were probably feeling more pressure to get a positive result in this one, but now maybe Spain will feel the pressure of having to prove that they’re not imploding.

Was an overwhelming match to watch. With Spain taking the lead and than Portugal bouncing back there and the last minute Ronaldo's free kick was set to surprise Spain!

 

[cgf]

120 gave more drama, no? It was even sweeter for me. Dunno what you tried to achieve with such a silly comment.

He tried, and succeeded, in making a great joke.

 

[Merya]

He tried, and succeeded, in making a great joke.

Eder wasn't even on the field at halftime. -_-

 

[cgf]

Eder wasn't even on the field at halftime. -_-

So Ronaldo can only motivate Eder? What a pathetic leader he is. Maybe he should've busted out the pom poms...

 

[Stray Wasp]

120 gave more drama, no? It was even sweeter for me. Dunno what you tried to achieve with such a silly comment.

I didn't mind Portuguese football winning a big prize, given that country's contribution to the game.

And I was happy as Larry to see a gigantic custard pie land in Moussa Sissoko's face- especially when Newcastle actually gleaned £30 million out of his farcically overpraised performance.

And, believe it or not, while I don't like Ronaldo I'd have preferred to see him play because the spectacle would likely have been better.

But the idea of him inspiring Eder strikes me as pure mythologising drivel, and only serves to evoke to me the 'win one for the Zipper' gag from Airplane!