Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Group of Death

Watched the Portugal vs Ivory Coast last night. I was on the edge all the time. I do expect a good fight between the two, simply because I.Coast is the biggest African star. I have mentioned this many many times before, Portugal need to step up their game. The finishing was not good at all. But the one time heart stopping kick from C.Ronaldo on the 10th min was really worth it. Both teams actually was not on top of their form, sloppy passes everywhere, they easily lost the ball to opponent somewhere in midfield.
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Portugal have the least chance to get in the box. Everytime a white shirt enters, there will be 3 orange shirt cramming that poor one player. I pity Liedson the most. He is thin, so when all this big mean Oranges are all over him, how much can he actually do? I think for the first 15 minutes they were just reading the game, but after being tackled unnecessarily by Ivory Coast for quite some time, they just need to return the favour.
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All in all Portugal did not play their best last night. The saving grace for them (and maybe for Ivory Coast too) was solid defence. Ricardo Carvalho with Fabio Coentrão did a good job blocking attacks by especially Gervinho. That kid can really play.
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When the camera showed Drogba was warming up, I was thinking, we need Simão, seriously, he's vital to help at least Liedson or C.Ronaldo get some space to at least try a shot at goal. But then, Carlos Queiroz decided to take Deco out. Portugal just lost the combination without Deco to support Simão. They ends up 0-0. A fair results for the two but definitely complicates their chances of moving to the next round.
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I did not watch the full game of North Korea vs Brazil, but from the highlights, I would not write North Korea off yet. They did scored 1 goal against Brazil. Now that NK has tasted how is it like playing among the greatest team (Brazil), they will up their game with Portugal, definitely. It will be a tough journey for Portugal, and I hope they will do well.
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C.Ronaldo going head to head with Drogba

My man of the match : Ricardo Carvalho

This is the best pics I can get. Too much of C.Ronaldo all over FIFA webpage ;p

pics from FIFA website

os melhores Portugal!!!!

p/s: I love the white loose jersey ;)

4 comments:

  1. dunno whether you agree with me but Ronaldo is so full of drama. i watched the north korean game, they should be very proud of themselves....

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  2. yup, he is a cry baby ;p the reason i support portugal is because of the rest like carvalho, simao and deco. he is just an eye candy ;)

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  3. Portugal..death group..sounds familiar..our predictions(?) coming true is it?

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  4. betul, even the commentator used the same title. its hard though, all 4 are strong!!

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