Official Euro 2012 Qualification Thread.

[feego]

I don't have time to give this much thought, here's 5 minutes:

Veloso: wasted set pieces, coughed up the ball a couple of times, didn't know what to do with it when he had it. On the flip side the guy is so consistent in his mediocrity that he keeps his spot. 6/10

Joao Pereira: has the energy but lacks that special quality needed at this level. 5/10

Moutinho: was battered by the big Bosnians for every ball. His short legs could not keep up with the pace of game. 5.5/10

Alves: looked shaky at times, one of his better games. Luckily we have Pepe back there to assist. 7/10

Pepe: our best today. 9/10

Coentrao: didn't have enough support going forward and looked tired. Excellent going forward nonetheless. 6/10

Rui Patricio: made a few good saves, looks more solid than..shit I forget his name already. 7/10

Nani: Not sure what happened to him in the second half but troubled the Bosnians in the first half. Not his best. 6/10

Ronaldo: our best player, unlucky today. 6.5/10

Postiga: was shit today. 5/10

Raul Meireles: had a decent game over all, was unlucky not to score. 6/10

Paulo Bento: for losing Carvalho and now Boswinga. 3/10.

[icarus7]

we're going to win tomorrow 2-0, nani and ronaldo to score...

[feego]

What is Coentrao doing flailing his arms like a queen inside the box? What a dumbass.

[tinto]

Yay! We get to cry in July.

[feego]

Hahahaah! Hey Tinto, good to see you on here again.

On a positive note, hopefully naysayers will shut up for a 2 days about Ronaldo.

Also, what a pathetic audience we have. Some jeered during the playing of the Bosnian national anthem, and then started waaay too early with their Ole Ole crap. Idiots. Fecking farmers.

[pila]

Nov 15, 2011 18:36:44 GMT -5 tinto said:

Yay! We get to cry in July.

Bwah! Ain't that the truth!

Finally, a performance worthy of mention.

I thought the crowd brought their game today. Not the booing - no excuse for that kind of behavior - but they were awake the whole time, and finishing off at the end of the game with the National Anthem was "arrepiante"! loved it!

[tinto]

I like when they started ole'ing in the 27th minute. Almost made me want to cheer for Bosnia.

[pila]

That didn't bother me at all, although it did come too early. But my point was more to the "Portugal" chants throughout the game and the burst into the national anthem at the final whistle, unscripted. That was cool to see.

[LadyEagle]

Yay for Portugal...
Been so busy, I didn't realize this until after the fact!

Força Portugal!

[penguin]

A few things

1) The draw for the tournament is set for December 2. The seedings were done based on a UEFA coefficient that takes into account UEFA region qualifying games for the last WC and 2 Euros. Because of that, we're in the 3rd pot:

Pot 1: Poland, Ukraine, Spain, Holland
Pot 2: Germany, Italy, England, Russia
Pot 3: Croatia, Portugal, Greece, Sweden
Pot 4: Denmark, France, Ireland, Czech Republic

I don't understand how we're ahead of Denmark, even though they've qualified ahead of us in the last 2 qualifying groups. Having Poland/Ukraine in the 1st pot evens things out a bit, but there's going to be at least 1 killer group. Imagine a Spain, Germany, Portugal, France group.

I'm hoping for a Spain, Italy, Greece, Ireland group myself - whoever is still using the Euro currency come tournament time qualifies for the next round!

2) I have no problem with Paulo Bento being a hard ass and putting the team ahead of any one player. However, I do wish he would use a little more tact and not bring the issues out in public. Scolari had that standard response of "I will only talk about the players I called in" whenever someone would question why Baia/JVP/Conceicao weren't called in. Why couldn't PB have kept his mouth shut and at least keep the option open of calling back Carvalho/Bosingwa come tournament time. That's what Scolari did with Maniche for Euro '04.


3) On a sad note, Carlos Martins' 3yr old has leukemia and they are looking for a bone marrow donor. Neither him nor his wife are a match. very sad..

[pila]

JVP in some soccer forum on chop TV put it best, I thought. He said that while you can't excuse the behavior of Carvalho and Bosingwa, a coach with some pulse on the lockerroom would have anticipated ahead of time, gt a hold of the players and smooth the waters before benching the player.

You can be a hard-ass without being a dick. I think PB missed the opportunity to handle this in a way where he didn't have to close the door on two of our better defenders. The players bear most of the repsonsibility, but the coach missed the boat also.

[feego]

I just looked into my crystal ball, here's the Euro 2012 draw my mind sees:

Group 1: Ukraine, England, Portugal, Ireland
Group 2: Spain, Italy, Greece, Denmark
Group 3: Netherlands, Russia, Croatia, France
Group 4: Poland, Germany, Sweden, Czech Republic

[pila]

Dec 1, 2011 13:21:24 GMT -5 feego said:

I just looked into my crystal ball, here's the Euro 2012 draw my mind sees:

Group 1: Ukraine, England, Portugal, Ireland
Group 2: Spain, Italy, Greece, Denmark
Group 3: Netherlands, Russia, Croatia, France
Group 4: Poland, Germany, Sweden, Czech Republic

You're Crystal Ball is broke.

[LadyEagle]

Why does Portugal always have to be in Denmark's group?! Is it a curse or something?

And Holland and Germany?! Really?

Feego sounded better to me....

[dulcet]

Dec 2, 2011 13:28:57 GMT -5 LadyEagle said:

Why does Portugal always have to be in Denmark's group?! Is it a curse or something?

And Holland and Germany?! Really?

Feego sounded better to me....

. I thought the same thing cursed! Not surprised by this group and not very hopeful for Portugal to get past the group stage....