WC Quarter-Finals: England vs Portugal [P]+[R]

[Virgo]

1 July 2006 at 17:00 CET

vs

vs

at

Gelsenkirchen Stadium

All time official match results

Euro 2004 (Portugal)- Portugal 2-2 England (6-5 after penalties)
Euro 2000 (Belgium/Holland) - Portugal 3-2 England
World Cup 1986 (Mexico) - Portugal 1-0 England
Euro 1976 Qualifier - England 0-0 Portugal
Euro 1976 Qualifier - Portugal 1-1 England
World Cup 1966 (England) - England 2-1 Portugal
World Cup 1962 Qualifier - England 2-0 Portugal
World Cup 1962 Qualifier - Portugal 1-1 England

......................................................................

Deco and Costinha are suspended. C. Ronaldo is in doubt, should recover but is likely to start the game in the bench.


might as well start the insanity. if Portugal without 3 starters actually scrapes off a win, I predict this thread to have over 50 pages, with the words diving/cheating/time wasting repeated over 100 times each.

 

[Limberopoulos21]

I think everyone will agree this game will go in favor of England. Portugal will be without the homefield advantage they had in euro 04, without the 2 guys that scored against england previously and like mentioned without some key players due to suspension or injury. But England's lack of firepower does raise some questions of concern, Rooney's coming off an injury and hasn't looked 100% quite while Crouch is well... do I need to say anything. But that doesn't matter since England can do with J.Cole, Lampard and Gerard all of whom can score when it matters. Even if CR is in, he'll have to get past AC, and we all know who won last time round. I just can't see Portugal winning, the advantages of euro 04 aren't there and too many things are working against them.

 

[Kibe Kru]

At least 2 red cards to be given, and Felipao going mad at the ref. Those are the only predictions I can make.

 

[Virgo]

I'm watching Portugal's training live and Ronaldo is running around the field at decent pace.

His recovery looks better than expected and he might just play afterall.

 

[teccomin]

instincts tell me Portugal will win, brains tell me England will win.

 

[gasper000]

England are playing bad in that tournament
lacking the passion
alot of injuries
sometimes lucky..I agree

but they have the players & the coach that may turn it all around
look at the lineup
Beckham
Lampard
Gerrard
Rooney
Terry
A.Cole
J.Cole
I love that team

I think England will do it.

 

[Nuno]

The only important starter that will be missing is Deco. Costinha is easily replaced by Petit. Simao will most likely replace Deco and push Figo into the AM position. I'm 99% sure Ronaldo will start. Our team is still extremely solid.

England is missing Owen and maybe Gary Neville. So far England have bored the hell out of me. They're definately not as impressive as Euro 2004.

I feel good about my team, but in the world of football anything can happen.

 

[SlowSilver]

I'm pretty confident England will win. With the squad we have, we should beat Portugal..but this is England we're talking about.

 

[Nuno]

What lineup and formation do you expect England to use?

 

[NightCrawler]

This is ought to be another epic thread
You English guys are a little bit over-confident, don't you think? I guess you're looking forward for such performances as against Paraguai and Equador...

 

[SlowSilver]

What lineup and formation do you expect England to use?

Probably a 4-5-1 (or 4-1-4-1) again.

---------------Paul

Owen H / Gaz - - Rio - - Terry - - Ashley

-----------Carrick / Owen H

Becks - - - Lamps - - - Stevie G - - - J. Cole

------------------Rooney

 

[TOON ARMY]

What lineup and formation do you expect England to use?

It's looking like it will be the same as the Ecuador match, 4-5-1 with Neville returning from injury at right back with Hargreaves or Carrick in the holding position.

I'm glad we are finally facing better opposition. England never play well against teams they are expected to beat comfortably. The fact we are playing against quality opposition will bring out the better England performance.

We have the players to win this game but i'm not so confident about Sven. Scolari on the other hand is not afraid to make risky tactical changes and substitutions during a game, clearly outwitting Sven in their previous two head to heads.

 

[Tiago_10]

Scolari on the other hand is not afraid to make risky tactical changes and substitutions during a game, clearly outwitting Sven in their previous two head to heads.

I have to disagree. In most matches we only play Pauleta upfront as a lone striker, even against teams like Luxemburg. Scolari opts to play safely, and even if the players aren't playing well, he usually keeps them on the field. (i.e. Pauleta).

 

[teccomin]

I have to disagree. In most matches we only play Pauleta upfront as a lone striker, even against teams like Luxemburg. Scolari opts to play safely, and even if the players aren't playing well, he usually keeps them on the field. (i.e. Pauleta).

when u only have one quality striker, it makes sense to play only one up front.

 

[MaSsiVe]

haha this is gonna be great

Dispite being without 2 key players (no I don't think Petit easily replaces Costinha), I'm confident our team will do a good job anyway.

Ronaldo will probably start and I hope he decides the match, so that I can laugh my ass off watching him being insulted in every possible way by his haters on this board.


2-1 for Portugal.
Maniche to pursue his scoring spree, then Terry scores off a corner and in injury time Ronaldo humilliates Cole pulling out 89273626891236 stepovers to sit him down and then blast in our ticket to the Semis

 

[smoove]

Goalkeeper:

1 Ricardo,GK
Goals conceded:1 ; Saves:16
Definately the worst of the remaining goalkeepers,
he's been OK so far, but already showed flashes
of his "brilliance" vs. the netherlands.

Back 4:

13 Miguel,RB
Tackles committed:10 ; Fouls Committed:7
Miguel has been unbelievable so far.
He's been rock solid in defence and dangerous going forward,
very dynamic and probably our fastest player.

5 Meira,CB
Tackles committed:11 ; Fouls Committed:6
Meira is actually kinda disappointing,
I've always been a fan of his elegant style of defending,
but he seems pretty bad in terms of agility during the 4 matches.

16 Carvalho,CB
Tackles committed:13 ; Fouls Committed:3
When Ricardo, is in top-form he's on of the premier
central defenders on the planet, he sometimes looks a
bit shaky at this wc, but he's still very reliable.

14 Nuno Valente,LB
Tackles committed:16 ; Fouls Committed:5
Other than Ricardo, Valente is our only real weak spot,
he seems slow in defense and useless in offense, ferreira would
be the far better choice, but meh.

Central Midfield:

18 Maniche,DMF
Shots:11 ; Goals:2
"O Motor" seems to be in great shape,
nothing but fine displays from maniche so far.
He's the heart of our midfield and probably the player
that fights the most for the team.

19 Tiago,CMF
Shots:6 ; Short Passes:93
Tiago usually is on of the best central
midfielders in europe in my opinion,
he's been not much more than solid
at this wc so far,though.

8 Petit,DMF
Shots:1 ; Short Passes:100
One of the best man markers in the game,
if he plays he's brings unbelievable energy to the pitch,
a nightmare for any offensive midfielder.

 

[Tiago_10]

when u only have one quality striker, it makes sense to play only one up front.

Nuno Gomes isn't a quality striker then ? He did score against England, in Euro2000. He did score against France in the same competition and also scored the goal that eliminated Spain from the Euro2004, minutes after he was brought on. (which was an exception, he rarely plays since Scolari is in charge). He also helps the other striker a lot, with 1 touch passes, 1-2 plays, good vision..

But that's not even the point. What I was saying is that Scolari is a very conservative coach, only makes the chnges when he really has to. For instance, in the Euro2004 everybody was telling him to start Carvalho, Miguel and Ronaldo. He only did that after losing the first against Greece, when he had no alternative if he wanted to win.

 

[smoove]

Offensive Midfield:

17 Cristiano Ronaldo,RMF
Shots:10 ; Fouls suffered:13
Althoug not really impressing in the 2 1/2 matches he played,
he's still out main weapon on the wing,
probably the most dynamic player in the world.

7 Luis Figo,AMF
Assists:2 ; Fouls suffered:19
One of the top20 players in the history of the game,
a true captain that seems to be in great shape,
and will be a problem for england's defence, with his trickery and pinpoint passing

11 Simao,AMF
Assists:1 ; Fouls suffered:9
His vision has always been his strength imo,
and he's using it perfectly at this wc. Will be a problem for Hragreaves or Neville.

Striker:

9 Pauleta,CF
Assists:1 ; Goals:1
One of the best Finishers on the Planet. period.

I honestly don't see why this team shouldn't beat an out-of-form england.

 

[Pontiakos]

Portugal 2-0

 

[Virgo]

I honestly don't see why this team shouldn't beat an out-of-form england.

if we could play with the 12 players that you posted we probably would.