PORTUGAL VS GEORGIA: MY IMPRESSIONS ON PORTUGAL AS A EURO 2008 CONTENDER

[jenni_blog]

I watched this game twice and decided to write about it in order to give my impressions of the Portuguese team, whom I think could be a serious contender for winning the Euros.

First, re: Georgia, it was nice to see Levan Kobiashvili wearing No. 10 and playing the whole game. I guess he is their best player. XD Although No. 26, a striker, is also very good.

Anyway, Portugal started with Ricardo in goal, Jose Bosingwa, Pepe, Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira in defense. The midfielders were Simao, Joao Moutinho wearing No. 10, Deco, C. Ronaldo and Petit, with Nuno Gomes the lone striker up front.

I was impressed with Jose Bosingwa right off the bat. He has great pace and a lot of tricky moves. Also, Deco really knit the team together. You can see his experience and intelligence on the pitch, even he does seem a bit slower now. He sure gets fouled a lot, everyone he comes up against leaves their feet in on him.

Joao Moutinho is another tricky little midfielder with talent to burn. It's hard to single out one player because they are all exceptional. Curiously, they do not have many out-and-out strikers. Nuno Gomes is the only one who fits that role properly and he is 31 years old (hard to believe - he looks and moves like someone much younger). But their midfielders have got the ability to score goals in multitudes. In the first half, Joao Moutinho scored a beautiful goal from midfield, and Simao from the penalty spot after being fouled in the box.

At half-time, Scolari made a lot of changes. Apparently he still has to make up his mind on his starting midfield. The changes were: Quim in goal, Bruno Alves in defense instead of Carvalho, Nani replacing Bosingwa, Quaresma for Ronaldo, Miguel Veloso in place of Petit and Raul Meireles for Deco.

Miguel Veloso and Ricardo Quaresma were very impressive. Miguel won just about every ball he competed for and he made one lovely, creative run into the box, before the ball was intercepted.

At the 61-minute mark, Fernando Meira, Miguel and Helder Postiga came on for Pepe, Bosingwa and Nuno Gomes.

Quaresma runs all over the pitch. He works both wings and also drops back into defensive midfield. He takes a lot of criticism for being inconsistent in his play. I wonder if he played more in one position, if he'd settle down and improve his consistency. However, he took a few spectacular shots at goal from the right wing that hit the crossbar. Unlucky, but you could see the talent he has.

One final change at 71 minutes was Hugo Almeida coming on for Joao Moutinho.

Miguel Veloso made a great inventive play at 73 minutes after he stole the ball in his own end and made a run into the box only to lose possession finally.

Georgia looked much better in the second half, without any fault to Portugal. But Georgia won a couple of corners, which will probably make the Portuguese defenders look bad. And yet I didn't see them make any mistakes. Bruno Alves likes to come forward a lot, leaving the back exposed. Fernando Meira does it too.

Postiga passes too much. If he is a striker, he should be making runs in and around the box instead of playing back too far and passing to others.

I am wondering whether it might be a good idea for Scolari to play guys who normally play together for their club teams; i.e., Quaresma with Bruno Alves (Porto), Miguel Veloso and Joao Moutinho (Sporting Lisbon), Nuno Gomes and Petit (Benfica), C. Ronaldo and Nani (Man. Utd.), for instance.

In the last ten minutes, Georgia managed to get behind the Portuguese defense once, but Quim made a nice save off No. 26, Barbati. Portugal's defense at that point was playing very loose - all of them were way upfield. LOL. They were showing off, IMO.

The Portuguese team is super-fit, lean and agile. I compared Barbati, No. 26 for Georgia, with them, and he seemed a bit heavy compared to the Portuguese boys. Of note: the Portuguese kit is tight-fitting, the better to show off their fit, trim bodies. They are in great physical shape.

Any Portugese weaknesses? I see four, actually. All my own opinion, so I could be out to lunch, but:

1) They have too few strikers.
2) They seem to play as individuals, not as a team that much.
3) The defense plays too loose.
4) Their goalkeepers are not as good as some of the other teams'.

I still think this team is a strong contender for the finals. And I would so love to see them play against Spain. XD

This is just a girly, fun thing, but the Portuguese have several stunningly handsome players. I mean, well above the ordinary. They are:

1) Ricardo Quaresma. He looks like C. Ronaldo somewhat, but IMO, better.
2) C. Ronaldo, of course.
3) Miguel Veloso, the blond hottie. Looks like Gerard Pique, now of Barcelona.
4) Nuno Gomes. Looks much younger than 31. He is very pretty.
5) Helder Postiga. Very hot. Nice lips.
6) Bruno Alves. Gorgeous, sexy. Unbelievable face, body, hair, tanned skin. Mmmmm.
7) Fernando Meira. Ditto. See above. *drools*
8) Paulo Ferreira. Such a cute face and hot little body. Yum.
9) Joao Moutinho. A cutie-pie.

The rest of the players aren't bad either, but next to the above nine, you don't notice them. LOL. I'm gonna have to do a picspam of this team, seriously.

I am predicting the following four teams will make it to the semi-finals.

Spain
Portugal
Italy
Czech Republic

I couldn't find too many pics of this game, but here are a couple: