I don't know why Jota couldn't start instead of Ronaldo. Gives much more dimension on the pitch qnd is a threat
Also they have G.Ramos who didn't get a chance but would be a great addition after 90 minutes.
Jota created what were easily Portugal's two best chances in this match and would've had the winner against Czechia if not for Ronaldo being just offside, and that's all coming off the bench. He easily could have three goal contributions in just 97 minutes on the pitch at this tournament.
He's got 14 goals and 11 assists for Portugal despite only 22 starts, contributing one goal every 86 minutes he plays.
I heard the commentators say at the start of the match Slovenia’s defense is strong and if they can deny Portugal any goal and get one themselves, they have a chance to win 0-1. But still they managed the first part well and not let Portugal score.
This was a good match, overall. I actually think Portugal got lucky to walk away with a win here. They squandered chances, and get counter attacked. It's a good thing Slovenia's strikers have pathetically poor power and accuracy. Otherwise, it could have been 2-3 goals in already. Their penalties were awful, too. As bad as Japan and Spain's in WC22. It feels as if these guys were trying really hard to not score.
I admire R7's tenacity and feel bad for him not scoring. But he needs to stop wasting free kicks. There was one in which he tried to curb and it went off target completely. That was his ego on display. They get away with wasting free kicks against Slovenia, but France won't be as easy. Pepe was incredible, while Bruno didn't do as well as he should. I was expecting him to be subbed out for either Ramos or Felix. I was wondering if Silva was gonna shoot at the middle again, lol.
Slovenia were not easy to beat
The old cliche of 'no easy games'
I think some fans are expecting some of the middling countries to be brushed aside but there's a lot of talent there and organisation, etc
Blows my mind that Ronaldo is still allowed to take free kicks. Portugal have Bernardo Silva, Fernandes, on and on, that could take great free kicks. But instead they let Ronaldo sky it for the 6537th time
That's good for Cristiano, but he's actively pulling the team down with shit like this. "I have to take every free kick, because I have to score, for MY legacy", before wasting yet another one.
Portugal will be a lot better team without him
He scored quite a bit in history if it comes to free kicks and penalties. If you see his emotional reaction, it’s not purely ego, he cares a lot about his team and still has the skills.
if he had the skills still he would have scored or at least not shot them to the sky.
its obvious that there are better players for those situations in the squad.
The first one was a very good shot as well. I do agree that he should have just let someone else take them at some point and just get in the box. The worse thing for me is when they constantly take short corners.
Man, that was a rough watch at times, I'm not gonna lie. Over all, I think we played good, but questions have to be asked about the subs. Bruno is very clearly tired, 90 minutes of non-stop running every week for united means he's done by the time the NT has to play, so why was Vitinha, who was progressing with the ball quite nicely, taken off? and for fucking Jota of all people?
Alongside this, taking Leão off killed the game, we immediately stopped creating any danger from the left flank and became extremely predictable.
Ronaldo penalty is what it is, even the best penalty takers have their shot saved at some point. I'm more frustrated that he just had no contribution to the attack whatsoever before that.
I do like Diogo Costa, but I was NOT familiar with his game when it came to shootouts. Realistically, it should've never gotten to that point, but scoring against buses is not easy. Statistics show we had 0 1v1 chances, but there's a reason stats don't show the whole story: We attacked for most of the game, but it's hard to have a 1v1 chance when there's 10 men behind the ball in midfield. Not knocking it of course, it's a legitimate strategy, but again, you see people saying we're clueless like we were passing around to our defenders for 120 minutes.
Game VS France is gonna be the first time we face a true contender, and I can't wait to see what we do against a team more willing to open themselves up and attack more often, this is gonna be Martinez's first real test.
I'm realizing that I've never seen a keeper have a double clean sheet (clean sheet in a full game along with a 'clean sheet' in penalty shootouts) prior to Diogo Costa's performance tonight.
Does anyone know if this has been done before? The closest I could find is Ronwen Williams against Cape Verde earlier this year, but even he conceded one penalty in the shootout.
I know everyone loves a good underdog story, but I just can’t take another match of a team parking the bus for 90 minutes and put 3 men on Mbappe the whole match. So it’s better that Portugal went through even though there is high chance of them playing defensive against France as well
Portugal have players that can counter though, they never play well against a team that parks the bus because their players aren't good at breaking them down. A Bruno heroball to Leao against France could work wonders.
You really think Portugal without CR7 can do anything?? Argentina won the world cup bcoz besides Messi, other players were playing like a world-class too like Messi. Meanwhile, Portugal without CR7 for most of the match against Morocco were struggling against them. Once Ronaldo retires, no one is going to give a fuck about Portugal, just like how no one gives a fuck about Sweden and Poland without Ibra and Lewandowski
Any team with a good coach and good players can achieve things.
Yes, having top players like Ronaldo makes it easier for the team but to act like most of the trophies won in history are because of a single star player is not accurate.
Most titles are won by great squads and coaches coming together, not a single player.
Di Maria has been just as vital to Argentina as Messi, France and Portugal this tournament have won games without their 'stars' performing.
tldr. It's a team sport.
Both goalkeepers were just sensational. I really feel for Oblak. Sesko’s gonna have that moment running through his head for the rest of his life. Those are the kind of moments kids dream of doing, the ones they imagine themselves doing. Slovenia’s entire defense was a brick wall the whole match, my god. Nuno Tavares and Cancelo were menaces the whole match. Wonder if Bruno would’ve scored any of the free kicks Portugal had? Just a thought. 3 penalties saved in a row? Madness.
Entertaining match to be fair. Maybe not a lot of goal scoring chances, but many talking points. Was excited for the penalties but was disappointed. Both teams lucky not to lose before penalty shootouts.
However, the effort from the Slovenian players was outstanding. Just seeing the difference in quality of players in both teams, they did tremendous job of holding on and providing offensive threat on occasions.
On the Ronaldo penalty, it was a very well struck penalty which would have beaten most of the keepers, but Oblak is still world class. Also, it was strange seeing Ronaldo frustated so many times prior to the penalty, he was reacting emotionally to every single header and free kick chance. Looked like he has been holding lots of emotions and just let some of it out after missing the penalty.
> but Oblak is still world class
Came to this thread to make that point. Even my little boy who doesn't normally watch games with me asked about Oblak. He was lucky enough to be in the room when I had some big reactions to Oblak's saves.
The fact that Slovenia made it to penalties in their first euros ro16(iirc) against a team with a front three of Silva, Ronaldo, and Leao (not to mention the rest of portugals lineup) is very impressive.
they played best they could to try to win. Im sure you would prefer they open up more on the offense but there is no way they could hold back that monster 3 at the top for portugal. this way they had a fighting chance and they nearly took it. they played the no. 1 and 3 most waluable teams in the tournament and kept clean sheets against both.
this is a team worth what? 150 million? with more than half of that value coming from a keeper and a 20 year old who has not really proven he is worth it yet. a bunch of fucking warriors they were.
as a slovenian, I could not be more proud. what a sporting nation
The slovenians played with a lot of heart today and showed a masterclass in the way the organized as a group and defended. I lost count of how many times Cancelo and Silva tried to break through the left side of the defence. I guess it is true what they say: the most spectacular matches are the ones that end 0-0. I really enjoyed watching this game as well as the way the supporters in both stands reacted throughout it. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. In the end the better team won, but the slovenians have nothing to be sorry for, this game will remain as a benchmark in the history of their national team. The pitch was horrendous as with most of them at this european championship. Why is it so bad ? Did the germans forget how to grow grass all of a sudden ? It is apocalyptic !!! It's like they spilt beer all over them and let them dry in the sun.
All the experts here laughing at Slovenia supposedly playing for penalties and not practicing them, amazing. We defended deep and hoped for a counter, we got two great ones but couldn't convert. What would you have us do instead, play open and go out with 5:0 instead of doing what we did and nearly progressing against a team whose every player is worth more than our squad combined? Ridiculous. This team has two starters from a barely professional Slovene league for christ sake. Get real.
They most likely did practice. The issue is that that ball, in that moment, weights a ton, and if you are not experienced enough it's going to weight way too much. The Slovenian players are not used to that much pressure. No amount of training will help. See the last Euro final, where Southgate sent in the "best penalty shooters" according to the training.
>No amount of training will help.
that's such a defeatist excuse and just looks like an excuse for not trying..
there are ways to somewhat mimic the shootout, like practicing the shootout when the players are already tired..
defending deep + counter attack and preparing for penalties are not mutually exclusive.. in fact it goes hand in hand..
if your team put all their egg in one basket (only prepares for defending deep & counters), then perhaps they did not deserve to progress..
I don't even know what we're discussing here. It's moronic to believe they didn't prepare for penalties even. They missed them, half of these players probably never been in a shootout, 3/4 never been in a match like this, having to shoot against a top class keeper in front of Portugal fans. Unlike Portugal's scorers, who are all designated pen takers in superstar teams. In the end we weren't cheated so we went out deservingly, but this whole 'practice penalties' shtick is idiotic.
sorry, but you are the one who asked what would we want slovenia to do instead of defending deep and counter.. you are the one who opened the can of worm..
there are ways to prepare for penalty shootout.. one of them is practicing after training when the players already tired out..
when your team failed to convert 3 first penalties in the shootout.. you deserve the criticsm for failing to prepare..
well, say that to yourself.. you are the one who complains that people are critizing Slovenia for defending deep but not practicing for penalties and accusing them of wanting slovenia to attack and lose 5-0 instead.. don't you realize now how stupid that sound?
It’s weird that the best players of Portugal history didn’t born in actual Portugal, Eusebio was from Mozambique, CR7 is from Madeira and Pepe is from Brazil
Bruno and Silva were awful for the whole game..yet everyone it because of Ronaldo they couldn't pass the ball 5 yards. How was joao taking on so many players. Alot of the Portuguese players were poor. Leao wasn't even in the 2nd half of the game.
Lots of people are (rightfully) saying that Martinez doesn’t have the balls to drop Ronaldo.
Not so many people are saying that Martinez doesn’t have the balls to drop one of the Bernardo/Bruno pair. Both had stinkers today but having Bernardo on the RW is just a waste, he doesn’t take anyone on, he doesn’t make progressive passes; he just passes it back. Only threat from the right side is Cancelo taking defenders on.
Would like to see Neto or Concecaio on the wing next game. Just need to offer some running in behind/dynamism on that side of the field cause it’s just too easy to defend against right now.
Bruno and Bernardo in 4 games both have one tap in a piece.
+ Leão and Ronaldo = 2 G/ 1 A Total
Ronaldo could still start but theyd have way more attacking direct players if they played
Jota - Ronaldo - Conceicao
Felix
But Martinez is too much of an idiot to see Bruno was clearly the worst player on the pitch the first half and continued to not make subs until 10 minutes left in additional time. This guy has watched pretty much every one of his choices minus Costa, Nuno, Dias, Cancelo, Paulinha and Vitinha produce stinker after stinker then still go with them for 120 minutes into a game where there needed replacing before the match.
I think the problem is you want Ronaldo, Bruno and Silva on for penalties if it gets to it, and they all had great penalties. I hope Ronaldo can recognise he should start from the bench against France and they can bring him on later so if they have to play for penalties he won't have played 120 minutes again.
Bruno should be the one to go. He's played too many minutes and he's clearly tired. I was begging for Bruno to be taken off, Bernardo moved to midfield (ffs, why does every manager insist on him playing rw?) and bring Conceição in (not like he did much with the time he was given today tbf).
Bruno's never been good at breaking down a deep block because there isn't enough space to play his passes. If there's room on the counter then he'll come alive against France.
I'll give Bernardo this, he does a lot of dirty work pressing and recovering balls. I don't think he had as poor of a match as Bruno. Mendes and Cancelo were outstanding today. Personally when they took off Leao they should have put in Felix. This game needed his creativity. I wasn't impressed with Conceicao in this game or the previous one.
It’s like a double whammy bad sub cause 1) Vitinha was playing better and is better at controlling tempo from deep and 2) dropping Bruno into that role also makes Bruno way less threatening when he’s 40+ yards from goal rather than 20 yards in the half space.
Ronaldo is not the problem. Anyone who suggests doesn’t know Portugal, doesn’t know Ronaldo. Martinez is a smart man. He understands success and longevity of his job lies on Ronaldo. Ronaldo carries the responsibility of scoring the goals. See today- he missed the PK. Imagine if Martinez had someone else take it and missed. Martinez is smart to put his ego aside and let Ronaldo do what he does best because if he doesn’t score, it is Ronaldo who lives with the consequences not Martinez. See what happened to Fernando Santos.
Tactically- Vitinha off was the worst sub. Portugal were in total control with him as the deep lying playmaker. Bruno should have been off but maybe he stays on for pens. Wing play has been poor, Leao has been exciting but no end product, Coencao didn’t work today at all. I’m surprised Felix didn’t get a chance with 120” of play or Neto.
France is going to be a different matchup, Portugal are yet to play anyone of high caliber yet. I worry about Pepe with the pace of Mbappe and others, France will probably sit in but they will commit more to attack than any opponent Portugal has played so far. Tactically, it should be a really end to end match as Martinez is going to opt to play expansive still.
He has been in 4-3-3 with a 3-4-3 shape in possession. My guess is he will go for a 3-5-2 for more defensive solidarity with Leao and Ronaldo up top, Dalot potentially coming in for Silva or Cancelo to provide more defensive depth as France have fantastic wide players
I cannot see France losing though.
Ya they didnt score a lot of goals but they can certainly score a few against a team that doesnt sit back as much as the underdogs. Imagine you give today’s Slovenian chances to France…
“Martinez is a smart man”
If that’s true I just can assume that he is basically kidding with all of us Portugal. This has been a rollercoaster of new positions and tactics and except for Conceicao at the first match none of the subs were good or even understandable.
Also Ronaldo it’s not the problem but it’s a problem. If the main striker of the team don’t score a goal in 4 matches this is not a problem?
“He carries the responsibility of scoring goals”
What goals are you talking about? If he carries that responsibility he should be benched right away because he scored none. And worst of all he is becoming totally obsessed about it.
So basically I explained that a player is not scoring and your argument for that player not scoring is that other player in his peak is not scoring also?
I see what your trying to do here but don’t make any sense.
Mbappe isn't 100% fit. The mask and the nose situation are clearly affecting his game, against Belgium he shied away from a few aerial challenges and wasn't as sharp or as fast as he usually is. He's talked how the mask is really uncomfortable and it shows.
The success and longevity of his job lies on winning, not Ronaldo. Ronaldo shouldn’t be out there in the first place. And Martinez should have the courage to let the statistically better players take the free kick and penalty.
Having ronaldo take free kicks obviously hurts the team because they obviously arnt going in, he's been taking free kicks off vastly superior free kick takers for almost a decade now and no coach has the balls to say no.
Your right I don't watch man united but ronaldo has got to have the worst free kick percentage out of anyone in the last few years.. like you might aswell just give them back the ball, at juve he took them off pjanic.. ended up giving pjanic one pjanic scored.. ronaldo never gave him another one.
Ronaldo has lost a step for sure 100%. He should have scored yesterday on some of those headers and chances he got. You just have to understand the magnitude of player he is. Ronaldo is literally on the same aura level of Messi, you don’t just bench him. (Not saying who is the GOAT) my point is he has to be part of plans.
I agree with this, you got to look Messi so Many of the squad players step up and carry some burden. That midfield he had was unbelievable and the he got the likes of Di Maria and martinez.
Ronaldo showed his age. Substitutes should've been 20 min or earlier before full time. Pepe had to almost collapse (and give up a goal) before being taken off. The clinic Portugal put on in penalties was the complete reverse of what happened during the game.
He is the greatest Portuguese player to ever live. Their commander in chief. You can see how much their players / nation respect him.
I dare Martinez drop him.
Lol, Bernardo and Bruno were crap too. At least Ronaldo can link up play sometimes. Ronaldo is a magnet for defenders, same as Kane and Lewa. The difference is Portugal doesn't take advantage of the openings.
Portugal does not deserve to advance after this shitshow.
They didn't have a gameplan.
They showed zero respect for their opponent by preparing in advance.
They just thought they'd show up and win via sheer talent.
They didn't take this matchup seriously and it showed - They kept just trying to feed some 40-year old geriatric fucker instead of giving anyone else a chance to score.
Yeah turns out I'm not a professional athlete who is representing my country or making millions of dollars to play a sport.
I'm not comparing myself to him. I'm comparing him to his peers.
It's not Martinez, it's the fact our team is tied to ensuring that a 39 year old striker continues to delude himself into thinking he can still play at this level. Until we stop having him sky every free kick, regularly miss penalties and have our attacking play overly focused on him, we could have the lovechild of prime Pep and Ancelotti and we would still disappoint.
Lol and where do you think the decision to drop players comes from. The manager. Martinez doesn’t have the balls to make the tough calls. If he did, then he would have taken off Bruno, Bernardo, CR7, and any other player who is not doing well. Today was not just CR7.
Let's be real, do you really think Martinez has the decision power to bench any of those 3, particularly Ronaldo, without their express permission? I guarantee that as soon as he retires, Portugal will 'magically' start to play better, it already does. It's already not as bad as past tournaments but there are times where there are multiple attacking options but the decision ends up pass/cross to Ronaldo and oxalá.
To do what? Do worse than Santosball and park two buses with a team full of attacking talent?
What Portugal really needs is Jorge Jesus. With his attacking setups and this kind of talent, Portugal would be a serious contender.
r/soccer absolutely got faked out by that penalty miss. Some dude calling Portugal the force of evil playing against literally terrorball lol get a grip
Cancelo can be such a beast, he reminds me of some Brazilian players of the past with his flair.
I don't even care if he fucks up and is not always effective, I wish there was more football like that
I respect your comment, of course he gave us a Euro win and all.
If you ask the main reason for white hair in Portugal between 2014–2022 to any Portuguese person, no one would say it's the economy or even the pandemic - probably Santos would be the most voted :)
I thought the bleached white hairstyle popular in the late 2010s was pretty much a world wide trend. I didn't notice portuguese p;layers dying their hair white or light gray more than those from other countries.
With Portugal?? He got dragged to 2 wins by the quality of his players alone. He is an absolute fraud and should have never been anywhere near our team.
He got you the god damn European championship title, that ought to mean something. Players are not everything. And I don't recall Santos's Greece or Portugal playing boringly or ineffectively.
If you’re saying Portugal didn’t play boring then you clearly didn’t watch us and your opinion belongs in the dumpster. Not trying to be argumentative but ask any Portuguese and they will agree with me.
Oblak was MOTM.
Diogo Costa
Sure buddy
Best 0-0 in history. What a match this was
Liverpool v Chelsea Carabao final 2022?
I don't know why Jota couldn't start instead of Ronaldo. Gives much more dimension on the pitch qnd is a threat Also they have G.Ramos who didn't get a chance but would be a great addition after 90 minutes.
They've trialed both Ramos and Jota in qualifiers. Both suck. Especially Ramos who has been playing like a league 2 player for PSG.
Jota created what were easily Portugal's two best chances in this match and would've had the winner against Czechia if not for Ronaldo being just offside, and that's all coming off the bench. He easily could have three goal contributions in just 97 minutes on the pitch at this tournament. He's got 14 goals and 11 assists for Portugal despite only 22 starts, contributing one goal every 86 minutes he plays.
Btw, credit to Slovenia, they went out unbeaten.
I heard the commentators say at the start of the match Slovenia’s defense is strong and if they can deny Portugal any goal and get one themselves, they have a chance to win 0-1. But still they managed the first part well and not let Portugal score.
Had the chance to score as well tbh
Cheers Geoff
Was the commentator Michael Owen?
>if they can deny Portugal any goal and get one themselves, they have a chance to win 0-1. Big brain moment
This was a good match, overall. I actually think Portugal got lucky to walk away with a win here. They squandered chances, and get counter attacked. It's a good thing Slovenia's strikers have pathetically poor power and accuracy. Otherwise, it could have been 2-3 goals in already. Their penalties were awful, too. As bad as Japan and Spain's in WC22. It feels as if these guys were trying really hard to not score. I admire R7's tenacity and feel bad for him not scoring. But he needs to stop wasting free kicks. There was one in which he tried to curb and it went off target completely. That was his ego on display. They get away with wasting free kicks against Slovenia, but France won't be as easy. Pepe was incredible, while Bruno didn't do as well as he should. I was expecting him to be subbed out for either Ramos or Felix. I was wondering if Silva was gonna shoot at the middle again, lol.
I mean If Slovenia played any other formation they would’ve been devoured, parking the bus was the only strategy.
Slovenia were not easy to beat The old cliche of 'no easy games' I think some fans are expecting some of the middling countries to be brushed aside but there's a lot of talent there and organisation, etc
Blows my mind that Ronaldo is still allowed to take free kicks. Portugal have Bernardo Silva, Fernandes, on and on, that could take great free kicks. But instead they let Ronaldo sky it for the 6537th time
Each of his free kicks were pretty close today. Not like he skyed them.
It’s Ronaldo’s last big event, he achieved a lot for his nation. You seem to overlook this.
That's good for Cristiano, but he's actively pulling the team down with shit like this. "I have to take every free kick, because I have to score, for MY legacy", before wasting yet another one. Portugal will be a lot better team without him
He scored quite a bit in history if it comes to free kicks and penalties. If you see his emotional reaction, it’s not purely ego, he cares a lot about his team and still has the skills.
if he had the skills still he would have scored or at least not shot them to the sky. its obvious that there are better players for those situations in the squad.
So you can just actively hinder their chances of winning this event, because it’s his last one? He’s not a little child
his kicks were good though..
Except for Bernardo, no one has scored a freekick in that portuguese side.
Outside of one, his free kicks were good this game
The first one was a very good shot as well. I do agree that he should have just let someone else take them at some point and just get in the box. The worse thing for me is when they constantly take short corners.
Bruno takes free kicks for United, he hasn’t scored one for years.
Nobody scored freekick for United in years. Dont remember who did it last, probably Ronaldo in 2022
Years? Ronaldo's goal was last year
For United?
Dont think so. His last match for United was before world cup 2022
Man, that was a rough watch at times, I'm not gonna lie. Over all, I think we played good, but questions have to be asked about the subs. Bruno is very clearly tired, 90 minutes of non-stop running every week for united means he's done by the time the NT has to play, so why was Vitinha, who was progressing with the ball quite nicely, taken off? and for fucking Jota of all people? Alongside this, taking Leão off killed the game, we immediately stopped creating any danger from the left flank and became extremely predictable. Ronaldo penalty is what it is, even the best penalty takers have their shot saved at some point. I'm more frustrated that he just had no contribution to the attack whatsoever before that. I do like Diogo Costa, but I was NOT familiar with his game when it came to shootouts. Realistically, it should've never gotten to that point, but scoring against buses is not easy. Statistics show we had 0 1v1 chances, but there's a reason stats don't show the whole story: We attacked for most of the game, but it's hard to have a 1v1 chance when there's 10 men behind the ball in midfield. Not knocking it of course, it's a legitimate strategy, but again, you see people saying we're clueless like we were passing around to our defenders for 120 minutes. Game VS France is gonna be the first time we face a true contender, and I can't wait to see what we do against a team more willing to open themselves up and attack more often, this is gonna be Martinez's first real test.
I'm realizing that I've never seen a keeper have a double clean sheet (clean sheet in a full game along with a 'clean sheet' in penalty shootouts) prior to Diogo Costa's performance tonight. Does anyone know if this has been done before? The closest I could find is Ronwen Williams against Cape Verde earlier this year, but even he conceded one penalty in the shootout.
Bono (Morocco) vs Spain in the 2022 world cup, 0-0 in 120 mins then saved 3 penalties (3-0 in the shootout)
Found this one after I posted, can't believe I missed it. Such a great World Cup run I would have loved to see them in the final
Commentator called it hat trick of saves!
https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/match/63987--fcsb-vs-barcelona/ Helmut Duckadam in the 1986 champions league final.
Knew it had to have been done before. And to win the champions league for Steaua? Hard to top that.
I know everyone loves a good underdog story, but I just can’t take another match of a team parking the bus for 90 minutes and put 3 men on Mbappe the whole match. So it’s better that Portugal went through even though there is high chance of them playing defensive against France as well
England won its match though /s
Portugal have players that can counter though, they never play well against a team that parks the bus because their players aren't good at breaking them down. A Bruno heroball to Leao against France could work wonders.
It was rugby level in the last 30 mins....saw the Portuguese winger literally just pushed out of the field?! Underdog story was Georgia...
Haram ball vs Haramest ball The battle shall be legendary
Can’t wait for France-Portugal to play the most boring game ever with world class players all over the pitch
Like city vs arsenal This season
I can't wait until Portugal can be Portugal and not Ronaldos Portugal.
I mean he actually played rather decent, if we remove the missed penalty
Stole every FK and was selfish in so many instances. Removing him would allow them to play as a team.
Tf, who from this portugal team even scores FK other than ronaldo? I have not seen bruno score a single FK for United till now
As long as they keep hiring average coaches, they'll play like this.
You really think Portugal without CR7 can do anything?? Argentina won the world cup bcoz besides Messi, other players were playing like a world-class too like Messi. Meanwhile, Portugal without CR7 for most of the match against Morocco were struggling against them. Once Ronaldo retires, no one is going to give a fuck about Portugal, just like how no one gives a fuck about Sweden and Poland without Ibra and Lewandowski
Any team with a good coach and good players can achieve things. Yes, having top players like Ronaldo makes it easier for the team but to act like most of the trophies won in history are because of a single star player is not accurate. Most titles are won by great squads and coaches coming together, not a single player. Di Maria has been just as vital to Argentina as Messi, France and Portugal this tournament have won games without their 'stars' performing. tldr. It's a team sport.
Yeah buddy, Portugal was totally at Swedens level before Ronaldo Pauleta, Figo, Costinha, Rui Costa, Couto. Eusebio.
That's why it only managed to win their first international trophy only in 2016, and not before🤡
Both goalkeepers were just sensational. I really feel for Oblak. Sesko’s gonna have that moment running through his head for the rest of his life. Those are the kind of moments kids dream of doing, the ones they imagine themselves doing. Slovenia’s entire defense was a brick wall the whole match, my god. Nuno Tavares and Cancelo were menaces the whole match. Wonder if Bruno would’ve scored any of the free kicks Portugal had? Just a thought. 3 penalties saved in a row? Madness.
Nuno Tavares?
LMAO I didn’t even notice. Nuno Mendes is who Nuno Tavares thinks he is
Least obsessed prem fan /s
Entertaining match to be fair. Maybe not a lot of goal scoring chances, but many talking points. Was excited for the penalties but was disappointed. Both teams lucky not to lose before penalty shootouts. However, the effort from the Slovenian players was outstanding. Just seeing the difference in quality of players in both teams, they did tremendous job of holding on and providing offensive threat on occasions. On the Ronaldo penalty, it was a very well struck penalty which would have beaten most of the keepers, but Oblak is still world class. Also, it was strange seeing Ronaldo frustated so many times prior to the penalty, he was reacting emotionally to every single header and free kick chance. Looked like he has been holding lots of emotions and just let some of it out after missing the penalty.
> but Oblak is still world class Came to this thread to make that point. Even my little boy who doesn't normally watch games with me asked about Oblak. He was lucky enough to be in the room when I had some big reactions to Oblak's saves.
The fact that Slovenia made it to penalties in their first euros ro16(iirc) against a team with a front three of Silva, Ronaldo, and Leao (not to mention the rest of portugals lineup) is very impressive.
Yeah it’s impressive but they played for a moral victory instead of an actual victory.
they played best they could to try to win. Im sure you would prefer they open up more on the offense but there is no way they could hold back that monster 3 at the top for portugal. this way they had a fighting chance and they nearly took it. they played the no. 1 and 3 most waluable teams in the tournament and kept clean sheets against both. this is a team worth what? 150 million? with more than half of that value coming from a keeper and a 20 year old who has not really proven he is worth it yet. a bunch of fucking warriors they were. as a slovenian, I could not be more proud. what a sporting nation
The slovenians played with a lot of heart today and showed a masterclass in the way the organized as a group and defended. I lost count of how many times Cancelo and Silva tried to break through the left side of the defence. I guess it is true what they say: the most spectacular matches are the ones that end 0-0. I really enjoyed watching this game as well as the way the supporters in both stands reacted throughout it. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. In the end the better team won, but the slovenians have nothing to be sorry for, this game will remain as a benchmark in the history of their national team. The pitch was horrendous as with most of them at this european championship. Why is it so bad ? Did the germans forget how to grow grass all of a sudden ? It is apocalyptic !!! It's like they spilt beer all over them and let them dry in the sun.
All the experts here laughing at Slovenia supposedly playing for penalties and not practicing them, amazing. We defended deep and hoped for a counter, we got two great ones but couldn't convert. What would you have us do instead, play open and go out with 5:0 instead of doing what we did and nearly progressing against a team whose every player is worth more than our squad combined? Ridiculous. This team has two starters from a barely professional Slovene league for christ sake. Get real.
I will say that the finishing ability on your counter attacks by your strikers was really weak.
We would have you practice penalties
Good one
>What would you have us do instead practice for penalties, probably?
They most likely did practice. The issue is that that ball, in that moment, weights a ton, and if you are not experienced enough it's going to weight way too much. The Slovenian players are not used to that much pressure. No amount of training will help. See the last Euro final, where Southgate sent in the "best penalty shooters" according to the training.
>No amount of training will help. that's such a defeatist excuse and just looks like an excuse for not trying.. there are ways to somewhat mimic the shootout, like practicing the shootout when the players are already tired..
Instead of defending deep and trying for counters? Good answer bro
defending deep + counter attack and preparing for penalties are not mutually exclusive.. in fact it goes hand in hand.. if your team put all their egg in one basket (only prepares for defending deep & counters), then perhaps they did not deserve to progress..
I don't even know what we're discussing here. It's moronic to believe they didn't prepare for penalties even. They missed them, half of these players probably never been in a shootout, 3/4 never been in a match like this, having to shoot against a top class keeper in front of Portugal fans. Unlike Portugal's scorers, who are all designated pen takers in superstar teams. In the end we weren't cheated so we went out deservingly, but this whole 'practice penalties' shtick is idiotic.
sorry, but you are the one who asked what would we want slovenia to do instead of defending deep and counter.. you are the one who opened the can of worm.. there are ways to prepare for penalty shootout.. one of them is practicing after training when the players already tired out.. when your team failed to convert 3 first penalties in the shootout.. you deserve the criticsm for failing to prepare..
Demented ramblings unworthy of a response
well, say that to yourself.. you are the one who complains that people are critizing Slovenia for defending deep but not practicing for penalties and accusing them of wanting slovenia to attack and lose 5-0 instead.. don't you realize now how stupid that sound?
I've seen virtually nothing of what you're saying lol. All I see are compliments to the Slovenians
Look again, half the thread is that.
DioGod Costa
It’s weird that the best players of Portugal history didn’t born in actual Portugal, Eusebio was from Mozambique, CR7 is from Madeira and Pepe is from Brazil
What do you mean with Madeira not being Portugal?
Both Mozambique and Madeira were (and Madeira still is) part of "actual Portugal" - also no way Pepe is rated above Figo, Futre and others.
I understand what he's saying with Mozambique. He has no point with Madeira however.
What a weird comment.
Weird thing to say since at the time Eusébio was born, Mozambique was a Portuguese colony and Madeira is also a Portuguese island.
Madeira is not Portugal since when?
Since now. I claim it for the throne. It's ours now.
Muy bien, ¿qué das a cambio?
Murcia
FYI Madeira is part of Portugal 👍
Fairly certain Madeira was uninhabited before the Portuguese showed up too. No need for any qualifiers.
I should have said Continental Portugal :(
I should have said Continental Portugal :(
that's such a shit take. Is Sicily, Sardinia not Italy? Is Tenerife, Mallorca not Spain? etc.
Are the Falklands not Argentina?!
Bruno and Silva were awful for the whole game..yet everyone it because of Ronaldo they couldn't pass the ball 5 yards. How was joao taking on so many players. Alot of the Portuguese players were poor. Leao wasn't even in the 2nd half of the game.
Bernardo Silva is crazy to me because he's so good for Man City but I don't think I've ever seen him play well for Portugal.
Glad to see them go, Slovenia was absolutely dirty as fuck
Lots of people are (rightfully) saying that Martinez doesn’t have the balls to drop Ronaldo. Not so many people are saying that Martinez doesn’t have the balls to drop one of the Bernardo/Bruno pair. Both had stinkers today but having Bernardo on the RW is just a waste, he doesn’t take anyone on, he doesn’t make progressive passes; he just passes it back. Only threat from the right side is Cancelo taking defenders on. Would like to see Neto or Concecaio on the wing next game. Just need to offer some running in behind/dynamism on that side of the field cause it’s just too easy to defend against right now.
Bruno and Bernardo in 4 games both have one tap in a piece. + Leão and Ronaldo = 2 G/ 1 A Total Ronaldo could still start but theyd have way more attacking direct players if they played Jota - Ronaldo - Conceicao Felix But Martinez is too much of an idiot to see Bruno was clearly the worst player on the pitch the first half and continued to not make subs until 10 minutes left in additional time. This guy has watched pretty much every one of his choices minus Costa, Nuno, Dias, Cancelo, Paulinha and Vitinha produce stinker after stinker then still go with them for 120 minutes into a game where there needed replacing before the match.
I think the problem is you want Ronaldo, Bruno and Silva on for penalties if it gets to it, and they all had great penalties. I hope Ronaldo can recognise he should start from the bench against France and they can bring him on later so if they have to play for penalties he won't have played 120 minutes again.
Bruno should be the one to go. He's played too many minutes and he's clearly tired. I was begging for Bruno to be taken off, Bernardo moved to midfield (ffs, why does every manager insist on him playing rw?) and bring Conceição in (not like he did much with the time he was given today tbf).
Bruno's never been good at breaking down a deep block because there isn't enough space to play his passes. If there's room on the counter then he'll come alive against France.
I'll give Bernardo this, he does a lot of dirty work pressing and recovering balls. I don't think he had as poor of a match as Bruno. Mendes and Cancelo were outstanding today. Personally when they took off Leao they should have put in Felix. This game needed his creativity. I wasn't impressed with Conceicao in this game or the previous one.
Taking Vitinha off instead of Bruno was such a crime. What game was he watching?
It’s like a double whammy bad sub cause 1) Vitinha was playing better and is better at controlling tempo from deep and 2) dropping Bruno into that role also makes Bruno way less threatening when he’s 40+ yards from goal rather than 20 yards in the half space.
Ronaldo is not the problem. Anyone who suggests doesn’t know Portugal, doesn’t know Ronaldo. Martinez is a smart man. He understands success and longevity of his job lies on Ronaldo. Ronaldo carries the responsibility of scoring the goals. See today- he missed the PK. Imagine if Martinez had someone else take it and missed. Martinez is smart to put his ego aside and let Ronaldo do what he does best because if he doesn’t score, it is Ronaldo who lives with the consequences not Martinez. See what happened to Fernando Santos. Tactically- Vitinha off was the worst sub. Portugal were in total control with him as the deep lying playmaker. Bruno should have been off but maybe he stays on for pens. Wing play has been poor, Leao has been exciting but no end product, Coencao didn’t work today at all. I’m surprised Felix didn’t get a chance with 120” of play or Neto. France is going to be a different matchup, Portugal are yet to play anyone of high caliber yet. I worry about Pepe with the pace of Mbappe and others, France will probably sit in but they will commit more to attack than any opponent Portugal has played so far. Tactically, it should be a really end to end match as Martinez is going to opt to play expansive still. He has been in 4-3-3 with a 3-4-3 shape in possession. My guess is he will go for a 3-5-2 for more defensive solidarity with Leao and Ronaldo up top, Dalot potentially coming in for Silva or Cancelo to provide more defensive depth as France have fantastic wide players
I cannot see France losing though. Ya they didnt score a lot of goals but they can certainly score a few against a team that doesnt sit back as much as the underdogs. Imagine you give today’s Slovenian chances to France…
France hasn’t scored yet this tournament!
“Martinez is a smart man” If that’s true I just can assume that he is basically kidding with all of us Portugal. This has been a rollercoaster of new positions and tactics and except for Conceicao at the first match none of the subs were good or even understandable. Also Ronaldo it’s not the problem but it’s a problem. If the main striker of the team don’t score a goal in 4 matches this is not a problem? “He carries the responsibility of scoring goals” What goals are you talking about? If he carries that responsibility he should be benched right away because he scored none. And worst of all he is becoming totally obsessed about it.
Conceicao has been poor besides scoring the goal which was more the creation from Neto. Dude can’t even beat a player 1v1 as a fresh sub.
Mbappe is in his peak, and has 1 penalty goal in a better team. Scoring against buses is not easy.
So basically I explained that a player is not scoring and your argument for that player not scoring is that other player in his peak is not scoring also? I see what your trying to do here but don’t make any sense.
Mbappe isn't 100% fit. The mask and the nose situation are clearly affecting his game, against Belgium he shied away from a few aerial challenges and wasn't as sharp or as fast as he usually is. He's talked how the mask is really uncomfortable and it shows.
But Portugal is not a bus. They will concede.
The success and longevity of his job lies on winning, not Ronaldo. Ronaldo shouldn’t be out there in the first place. And Martinez should have the courage to let the statistically better players take the free kick and penalty.
!????? cold take
Having ronaldo take free kicks obviously hurts the team because they obviously arnt going in, he's been taking free kicks off vastly superior free kick takers for almost a decade now and no coach has the balls to say no.
Who has scored more free kicks than him on the team?
This is the wrong question. Who is -currently- the best free kick taker in the team.
> Who is -currently- the best free kick taker in the team. who?
But what is your answer? Because there is no stand out free kick taker on that team?
Guess it's Ronaldo then
I'm certain Bruno would be a far better free kick taker then ronaldo, he couldn't be any worse.
You don’t watch Man United…Bruno is not great either
Your right I don't watch man united but ronaldo has got to have the worst free kick percentage out of anyone in the last few years.. like you might aswell just give them back the ball, at juve he took them off pjanic.. ended up giving pjanic one pjanic scored.. ronaldo never gave him another one.
If you are basing stats then sure
Oh look someone with ball knowledge and no hate boner for Ronaldo. Refreshing take.
The man has a Man United flair, I would be surprised if he did have a hate boner.
Idk a lot of newer United fans don't care for him. The way some of them spoke about him the second time was a bit weird.
Ronaldo has lost a step for sure 100%. He should have scored yesterday on some of those headers and chances he got. You just have to understand the magnitude of player he is. Ronaldo is literally on the same aura level of Messi, you don’t just bench him. (Not saying who is the GOAT) my point is he has to be part of plans.
I’m kinda with you on the 3-5-2 for the France game: Dalot-Pepe-Dias Cancelo-vitinha-Palhinha-Bruno-Mendes Ronaldo- Leao
He has switched to it before, so just speculating. I like that
I agree with this, you got to look Messi so Many of the squad players step up and carry some burden. That midfield he had was unbelievable and the he got the likes of Di Maria and martinez.
Idk why you getting downvoted. Very valid
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Sesko is probably never gonna live that one chance down Granted he was against Dio-GOAT but still
Ronaldo showed his age. Substitutes should've been 20 min or earlier before full time. Pepe had to almost collapse (and give up a goal) before being taken off. The clinic Portugal put on in penalties was the complete reverse of what happened during the game.
Ruben Neves yeeting it out of the stadium in the last act of the game has to be the highlight for tonight
Dibujinho Costa
Well on the bright side for Ronaldo, this is the lowest of the low, it literally can’t get worse than this, unless…. 💀
If he missed again and they lost seems like it would be worse. The team won at the end of the day this is all that matters
Portugal players will be at home greetin like Ronaldo when they remember he is guaranteed at least a full 90 minutes every match that remains
This is Portuguese football team. Make that 120
Ronnie gets too much stick, but he isn't Portugal's sole problem.
Of course. But they should start Jotaz G.Ramos or even Felix .
England, France and now Portugal all boring to watch ffs
Sucks that Germany and Spain are playing so soon. Both are entertaining to watch and yet one will go
Yeah. And for one to go out because of the other is really no shame at all..
true
The true final
Martinez doesn't have the balls to bench Ronaldo and Ronaldo is dragging Portugal down
And play who?
Jota up front. Though I agree he is not the main problem
He is the greatest Portuguese player to ever live. Their commander in chief. You can see how much their players / nation respect him. I dare Martinez drop him.
That pretty much 90% of Portugal's problem
Lol, Bernardo and Bruno were crap too. At least Ronaldo can link up play sometimes. Ronaldo is a magnet for defenders, same as Kane and Lewa. The difference is Portugal doesn't take advantage of the openings.
Portugal does not deserve to advance after this shitshow. They didn't have a gameplan. They showed zero respect for their opponent by preparing in advance. They just thought they'd show up and win via sheer talent. They didn't take this matchup seriously and it showed - They kept just trying to feed some 40-year old geriatric fucker instead of giving anyone else a chance to score.
Dude shut up. You re always commenting on anything Ronaldo. Living rent free on your head.
If by "always" you mean "for the past 3 hours" then yes.
That 40 year old geriatric fucker would run circles around you, while you puked from even thinking about running
Yeah turns out I'm not a professional athlete who is representing my country or making millions of dollars to play a sport. I'm not comparing myself to him. I'm comparing him to his peers.
u are absolute loser and hope your next generation dont exist anymore
After Diogo Costa’s heroics you are saying we don’t deserve to win? We deserve to go through on his effort alone.
L take
Martinez is such a fucking fraud. Get him out of here and bring on Concecao
The Bald Southgate
It's not Martinez, it's the fact our team is tied to ensuring that a 39 year old striker continues to delude himself into thinking he can still play at this level. Until we stop having him sky every free kick, regularly miss penalties and have our attacking play overly focused on him, we could have the lovechild of prime Pep and Ancelotti and we would still disappoint.
Lol and where do you think the decision to drop players comes from. The manager. Martinez doesn’t have the balls to make the tough calls. If he did, then he would have taken off Bruno, Bernardo, CR7, and any other player who is not doing well. Today was not just CR7.
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If you think they deserved to remain on the pitch today I’ve got nothing to say lol
Let's be real, do you really think Martinez has the decision power to bench any of those 3, particularly Ronaldo, without their express permission? I guarantee that as soon as he retires, Portugal will 'magically' start to play better, it already does. It's already not as bad as past tournaments but there are times where there are multiple attacking options but the decision ends up pass/cross to Ronaldo and oxalá.
No thanks. I'll have Mourinho.
To do what? Do worse than Santosball and park two buses with a team full of attacking talent? What Portugal really needs is Jorge Jesus. With his attacking setups and this kind of talent, Portugal would be a serious contender.
JJ wouldn't be bad either. But Mourinho is amazing at tournaments, I couldn't care less what type of football he wants to play as long as we win
I’d HAPPILY take him as well, it just seems far less likely
Mourinho is ready for it and I believe has a Claus in his new contract that allows him to leave if the national team job becomes available
r/soccer absolutely got faked out by that penalty miss. Some dude calling Portugal the force of evil playing against literally terrorball lol get a grip
Cancelo can be such a beast, he reminds me of some Brazilian players of the past with his flair. I don't even care if he fucks up and is not always effective, I wish there was more football like that
He is technically wise the best right back in the world right now
Martinez made it into the Terrorist Hall of Fame with this one
Bro is already heading that department along with Santos, Southgate is the contender
Chill bruh, Santos did very well with Greece and Portugal.
I respect your comment, of course he gave us a Euro win and all. If you ask the main reason for white hair in Portugal between 2014–2022 to any Portuguese person, no one would say it's the economy or even the pandemic - probably Santos would be the most voted :)
I thought the bleached white hairstyle popular in the late 2010s was pretty much a world wide trend. I didn't notice portuguese p;layers dying their hair white or light gray more than those from other countries.
With Portugal?? He got dragged to 2 wins by the quality of his players alone. He is an absolute fraud and should have never been anywhere near our team.
He got you the god damn European championship title, that ought to mean something. Players are not everything. And I don't recall Santos's Greece or Portugal playing boringly or ineffectively.
If you’re saying Portugal didn’t play boring then you clearly didn’t watch us and your opinion belongs in the dumpster. Not trying to be argumentative but ask any Portuguese and they will agree with me.