France 1 Portugal 0
Well, after the Italy - Germany match, this one was a let down. The intensity seemed to me to be less for some reason and there were simply fewer exciting chances. Portugal never looked as though they really had much of an attack, as the French midfield (again) controlled the game. While Christiano Ronaldo made some runs, I don't think they were the most dangerous runs in the world, and Deco and Figo were outplayed. The Portugese defense played well in taking Ribery out of the game (I though he had been excellent for the last few matches), and Miguel again played nicely until he got hurt.
But, again, I don't see why a team that is already losing by a goal would replace Miguel with another defender like Paulo Fereira (who, BTW, I like for Chelsea, but still you need more attack). Eventually they were forced to move one of their defenders up to the front like. But they should have just replaced Miguel with a real attacker, not another defender. And if you take off Pauleta because he's not doing anything, you need to bring on another striker. Nothing against Simao, who I like as a wing/attacking mid, but having NO striker in the game when you are down a goal against the French and only 20 minutes left? Nuts. Another failure to put the proper players in the game to create the necessary attack.
The PK I thought was deserved. Barely. Henry wasn't in a position to score there if Carvalho hadn't taken him down, since Henry faked himself out too, but taking a guy down in the box is a penalty, end of story. I just don't understand Carvalho sticking his leg out as he is falling on his ass - what the hell was he thinking??? Oh, and yeah Chrstiano Ronaldo dove a couple of minutes later when the Portugese were up in arms over a play in the opposite box - no penalty there. He was trying to get the ref to give a make-up call for the soft PK at the other end, which is understandable. That said, even though the ref made the right decisions on those two plays, I didn't think it was a well refereed game. Can't think of any real miscalls, but that was my impression. I don't understand why FIFA would put such an awful referee back in an important game after the USA-Italy debacle. In the end, though, C. Ronaldo is going to have to tone down the diving.
But, again, I don't see why a team that is already losing by a goal would replace Miguel with another defender like Paulo Fereira (who, BTW, I like for Chelsea, but still you need more attack). Eventually they were forced to move one of their defenders up to the front like. But they should have just replaced Miguel with a real attacker, not another defender. And if you take off Pauleta because he's not doing anything, you need to bring on another striker. Nothing against Simao, who I like as a wing/attacking mid, but having NO striker in the game when you are down a goal against the French and only 20 minutes left? Nuts. Another failure to put the proper players in the game to create the necessary attack.
The PK I thought was deserved. Barely. Henry wasn't in a position to score there if Carvalho hadn't taken him down, since Henry faked himself out too, but taking a guy down in the box is a penalty, end of story. I just don't understand Carvalho sticking his leg out as he is falling on his ass - what the hell was he thinking??? Oh, and yeah Chrstiano Ronaldo dove a couple of minutes later when the Portugese were up in arms over a play in the opposite box - no penalty there. He was trying to get the ref to give a make-up call for the soft PK at the other end, which is understandable. That said, even though the ref made the right decisions on those two plays, I didn't think it was a well refereed game. Can't think of any real miscalls, but that was my impression. I don't understand why FIFA would put such an awful referee back in an important game after the USA-Italy debacle. In the end, though, C. Ronaldo is going to have to tone down the diving.
posted by Al at 11:00 AM
3 Comments:
the real surprise to me was how ineffectual deco was: i really expected much more out of him. figo wearing out was a little more predictable.
as for c ronaldo (and al, i'm 99% sure it's cristiano and not christiano), speaking as a man u fan who has seen him play maybe 125 matches over the past 3 years, i'd say that, in british parlance, he "makes a meal" of potential fouls but rarely dives in the strict sense of the term (like he did in minute 29). he's actually gotten better about it over time, partly because epl refs often deny him perfectly legitimate fouls because he has developed a reputation.
that said, i was in a conference call most of the match and couldn't concentrate 100%, but it did appear to me that he did have a case for being pushed in the box that went uncalled.
looking ahead, i think the zidane farewell tour ends up happily on sunday, but you do have to give it up for the azzuri: the late wins against australia and germany were quite impressive....
Heh - I criticize Dave O'Brien for saying Cristiano wrong, and here I am spelling it wrong!
I agree that he often doesn't get perfectly ligitimate fouls due to his reputation. And a lot of his value is in getting fouled. (I think that's a very underrated "skill". Indeed, a lot of the problem with DeMarcus Beasley this time is that he USED to be very good at getting fouled, and somehow lost that ability, mostly, I guess, due to his failure to attack.)
Also, I agree that Deco was disappointing. But it seems likely to me that it was due to Viera and Makalele again. Those guys have had a way of making a LOT of midfielders look bad - Deco, Figo, Maniche, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Xabi Alonso, Fabregas...
al, cristiano's foul-drawing is exceptional: when you look at game and season stats, he's head and shoulders above everyone else on the red devils in that (i agree) underrated aspect of the game.
and look, believe me, i take nothing away from the french in midfield, i assure you!
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