Two games and two wins for
Portugal and they are within a smidgen of moving on to the knock out stage. The
Czechs put in a far better performance than the opening game and can go into
the final match with some confidence.
The early goal from Deco came
after some great interplay just on the edge of the Czech penalty box. Portugal
was offered too much time and far too much space. Ronaldo and Nuno Gomes are
involved before Deco nips into score. The early counter was the making of the
match as the Czechs clawed their way back into the game.
Former Ranger Libor Sionko
was the liveliest player for the Czechs on Saturday and he up for this game as
well. The equalizer came from a well-placed Plasil corner kick and Sionko
stooped low to beat Petit to the ball and direct a header past Ricardo. Cross
balls would continue to cause Portugal problems throughout the match and it is
something that other countries will have been sure to notice.
The game flowed back and
forward to half time and into the second half although Portugal was much more
adept at creating chances. Deco in particular was a constant threat. The eventual winner came from a lightning
quick attack. The ball found in Deco just inside the penalty box and his
cutback found Ronaldo arriving at the edge of penalty after the Czech’s had
failed to pick up his run. The shot was beat Cech and again the Czechs were
forced to try and find a way back into the game.
Free kicks and corner kicks
offered the best chance of success and although the centre of the Portuguese
looked uncomfortable every time a cross was delivered the next goal came at the
other end. With only seconds left another quick free kick caught the Czech
defence square and high. Rolando ran on unmolested and after drawing Cech out of
the goal he rolled a pass to Quaresma. The substitute rolled the ball into the
empty net.
No doubt Ronaldo will
garner the headlines but Deco was the stick that stirred the Portuguese
cocktail.
Turkey 2-1 Switzerland
It has been a long time
since I can remember a game played at a major championship in such bad conditions. With surface water visible over much of the park each pass came with the possibility
of dying in one of the many puddles or aquaplaning and leaving players to stretch
in desperation.
The West Germany vs. Poland semi final at the World Cup of 1974
suffered as a spectacle when a torrential downpour hit but in this case you
could argue that the weather conditions actually made the match.
Every dribble, every
tackle, every pass came with the opportunity for a turnover or for defensive disaster from situations that would normally generate predictable outcomes. The Swiss
were quicker to adapt as they chose to harry and press the Turks at every
opportunity.
Derdiyok’s pace up front
caused the Turkish defence all sorts of trouble and it was the youngest player
of the tournament who set up the first goal. Served up on a plate is not an
uncommon expression but this one was served up in a puddle as Derdiyok crossed
to the unmarked Yakin at the far post.
The ball died in the water as Yakin
waited to tap it in and he had to quickly readjust in order to get to the ball
before the Turkish defenders who were desperately trying to plow through the
waves (exaggeration).
Shortly after Yakin had what
is probably the miss of the tournament as he missed a wide open net after again being fed at the back post.
Half time brought an end
to the rainstorm and an opportunity for the groudstaff to deal with some of the
standing water. As conditions improved so did Turkey’s performance. The
equalizer came from a magnificent cross from Nihat powered home by Semih
although a top class goalkeeper might have been expected to deal with the effort.
Switzerland looked the
more likely to score the winner although Turkey remained a realistic threat on
the break. And so it was with seconds left that Turkey broke away and scored
the winner.
Turkey now face Czech with
each country tied on points, goal differential and goals scored. A draw would
set up penalty kicks to decide who moves as runners-up to Portugal. Portugal is
now guaranteed to finish top of the group and can now rest players for the
final game against Switzerland.
Comment of the Day
"The
fundamental value at the heart of football is solidarity, together with
collective intelligence, creativity, critical thinking, courage and fair
play. These are qualities which have nothing to do with Switzerland and
the Swiss." - Jean Ziegler.
EASILY the best match of the tournament so far... Good to see both teams going out and playing to win this one, instead of not to lose. Been some good opportunities at both ends, but the Portuguese appear to have had more good chances...
Initial prediction was 1-0 Portugal, but I'm glad I got the score wrong...
As for the late game... Neither team can afford to lose, both have to find a way to win, which is goin got lead to a very entertaining, yet sloppy, 2-2 draw...
Nothing Cech could have done about either of those last 2. Ronaldo's was a beautiful play by Deco, and a great strike, Cech was helpless... Needless to say there's not a whole lot any goalie could do to stop a 3 on him breakaway... Score is a bit flattering for Portugal though, the Czech's were definitely in all the way to the end. Good, deserved win...
this is where i DISAGREE with the fans. the czechs won UGLY last time, and the fans complained. the coach tried to be postive today, they get hammered.
Terrific match. What can you say about a brilliant Portugal side except that their defense could be exploited in later rounds. The Czechs put up a good fight.
For my money, Deco MOTM. He hasn't played a match like that in 2 years.
Just to state how awful Smith and Rae are at ESPN, Ronaldo's goal was a fantastic strike but Deco's threaded pass did not even get a mention nor that Deco made the smart play and pass on the restart to Ronaldo then Quaresma.
Last edited by gongatore on June 11th at 11:00 AM.
gongatore, better to put the sound down. The ESPN commentary is absolutely abysmal. Andy Gray and Tommy Smythe are 2 of the most pompous, blinkered, cliche-ridden commentators I've ever heard. If ESPN had to get a commentator from England, why couldn't they get Martin Tyler? Not that he's brilliant but he's never pompous and he's low on the tired cliches. Foudy and Rae are just bland and boring. They go all crazy for Cronaldo but not a word about Deco.
Daniel. I agree that the ESPN commentary is terrible. Andy Gray is not bad. I am sure he is there becuse Tyler was not available! Smythe is blind. enough said. He lacks any type of creativity. He clearly does not really see the game. Rumor has it that he got the job because someone at ESPN heard him during a plane ride talk about football. I told Bobby to send in his resume!!
I must hear the crowd so I can live with it. Andy Gray at least played the game at a high level.
Martin Tyler is the best and like Gray works for SKY in the UK. Maybe he just wanted a summer hols and Gray wanted to spend a month in Bristol, CT.
I just think sometimes these broadcasters are jaded from seeing so much quality football. It's unfortunate that ESPN treats the American audience with such disdain.
Someone last week was slagging off Fowdy, I disagree she is good and one of the better examples of an athlete making an easy transition to the broadcast booth.
We all want to see more of Bobby on the telly. Perhaps we could initiate a drive on the web?
Meanwhile this Swiss-Turk match is a cracker. Wonder if they'll have to break out the Wellies for
the second half.
Scolari named in charge of the Blues. Just the other day he was banning the talk about Ronaldo's issues. No this comes out. Talk about distractions. Next Headline. Ronaldo wants to move to London!!
Just realized that Turkey is the HOST NATION KILLER. This is the fourth consecutive time that Turkey has beaten a host nation:
2000: 2-0 Belgium (group stage; Belgium eliminated as a result)
2002: 1-0 Japan (round of 16)
2002: 3-2 South Korea (3rd place match)
2008: 2-1 Switzerland (group stage; Switzerland eliminated as a result)
Granted those aren't exactly strong teams, but it's still quite an achievement.
Also now the Czech Republic and Turke have exactly the same record (3 points, scored 2, conceded 3), so if they draw their final match, we'll see the first ever penalty shootout to decide a place in the group stage.
WHAT A GAME! What a game! I feel so sorry for the Swiss but I do love those Turks! They're always committed to expansive, attacking football and have great technical players. They love South American football. It'll never happen but it would be fantastic for them to shock everyone and win this tournament. Given all the racism that Turks are subjected to in Europe, it would be a helluva feat.
I'm shocked. I never believed it would happen. A Brazilian manager in the PL, let alone Felipao! Felipao's going to England! I enjoy Felipao's entire manner and style, I'm going to love watching him deal with the English media. I loved watching the way he handled the whole controversey in Brazil when he refused to include Romario in the 2002 wc squad. Don't know how long he'll last at Chelsea, tho. I'm intrigued by how a man of his temperament will handle the craziness of English club football. Chelsea better get ready to be inundated by the Brazilian media. I'll be watching and reading the Brazilian media's take on his reign at Chelsea with relish.
Thierry, of course I agree with you about Evra. Over on eufa.com, there's an article in which Domenech says that stability is key, which is why he sticks with Abidal as first choice. He practically admits that he knows there are individual players on the bench who are better than his first team choices but he's worried about stability. People go on about his astrology quirks (rightly) but there's more to it than that. He's a very conservative manager who's all defense defense defense, that's why he put two DMs (Toulalan is a Makelele clone) together and relies on stability (even when if it's a mediocre player, like Malouda) rather than youth. Very frustrating.
"Ursusarctos – Despite your intent to make your answer as convoluted as possible you still did not provide an answer. You opted to use the tactic of answering a question that you posed not one that I had asked."
As I explained, I did not answer the question you posed, because that particular question was completely irrelevant.
I pointed out what the correct questions should have been.
If you found my explanation convoluted, then I apologize-- that was not my intent. I was merely trying to explain why the premise behind your position-- that it was up to the "the goal was onside" people to provide support from the Laws for their position-- was wrong, because it is not. It is those who claim "offside" who have the "burden of proof"-- see Law 10 on scoring that I quoted.
"David Taylor representing UEFA said that the referee had used an interpretation of law 11.
I asked that someone show me where that interpretation is in the laws of the game / advice to the referee. No one has done that. My conclusion is that the interpretation was not circulated to the broad audience as it should have been.
That is a problem to me but obviously not for you."
You are making two points here that I agree with completely:
1) The initial UEFA explanation for the call was a disaster.
2) There appears to have been a breakdown in communications between rules-makers/ officials and the general football community.
Neither of these, points, however, goes to the correctness of the non-call-- which you claimed was incorrect (you felt RVN was clearly offside). Whether the rationale was well communicated to the football community ex ante or not, and whether UEFA explained it well ex post or not, you have not shown how the call was incorrect as you claimed.
"You want me to give an alternative opinion of why the goal should have been allowed?"
No, I never asked you to. I asked you, by reference to the Laws, to justify your opinion that the goal was offside. I thought that was clear.
"And how would be done without reference to the laws of the game?"
?
"Paraphrasing law 11 you need two players between the attacking player and the goal not to be offside. In the case of the Dutch goal there was only one. There is nothing within the laws of the game that deems a player that is knocked off the park and lying on his back three yards behind the goal as being deemed to be on the field of play."
As I've already explained, there does not need to be. The onus is on those claiming offside, according to the plain language of the rules-- reread Law 10 on scoring that I quoted.
What you and other "offside" supporters need to find is a provision in the Laws that "a player that is knocked off the park and lying on his back three yards behind the goal" is deemed to not count for the purpose of the offside rule-- and that provision does not exist.
"If the intent is as UEFA and the referees claim, then the solution as pointed out on Monday on the blog is simple.
“Players off the field receiving medical treatment or having just received medical treatment are not considered to be active players. Any other player off the field of play is to be considered active for the purposes of the laws.”"
That sounds like one way to clarify the existing situation so as to avoid confusion-- although I would add a subsequent paragraph clarifying where their location on the field of play is deemed to be, relative to their actual position off the pitch.
See, however, the FIFA "Additional Instructions and Guidelines for Referees", Law 3 "The Number of Players", section "Player outside the field of play":
"If a player accidentally crosses one of the boundary lines of the field of play, he is not deemed to have committed an infringement. Going off the field of play may be considered to be part of a playing movement." (p. 64 of the FIFA link you provided)
This clearly implies such a player is still active, and so should have already settled the whole matter, of course ...
"There is no such law as 11.11. It is a creation of the USSF not the IFAB the body that decides on rules and intrepretation."
Exactly-- so there is no point in discussing it, as I mentioned earlier.
Last edited by Ursusarctos on June 11th at 3:23 PM.
I suffer from a complete lack of objectivity in most cases, not just as a football supporter, but in general, so I need some guidance.
All the ESPN analysts and commentators keep saying that Ronaldo is the greatest player in the world without a shadow of a doubt, and there isn’t a single player worth mentioning in the debate. If I were to assemble my ideal team I may or may not be able to find a place on the bench for Ronaldo. I understand that he has had a nice season at Man Utd and most notably has scored a ton of goals, but is he really that good? I she really head and shoulders above Kaka’, Messi, Ballack, Torres, etc, etc.?
I am not setting up an argument, because it is obviously subjective; I just really want to know if I’m missing something here, and if so, what?
The goal was definately offside. Ruud scored and then he looked at the assistant referee and waited for him to show the offside flag, which he didn't. Clearly, RVN was at least one-meter offside and he KNEW IT. Panucci was off the field so he didn't count as a player when the goal was scored. Holland would have won, anyway.
It is somehow fascinating that many well informed observers thougt that RVN was offside. Although there is a much longer analysis upthread, I am not sure how any of the arguments for "offside" can be squared with the rule everyone agrees upon -- that play is continuous, even if a player is injured, until the referee stops play.
Viewing the replay it is clear that play was not stopped. Had the defender broken his leg on the goal line with the broken piece dangling off the pitch RVN is onside. Had the defender died of a heart attack in front of the goal RVN is onside. I do not see how the defender becomes "inactive" because his momentum carries him off the field.
The defender was an active player.
Moreover, in the same sequence, a Holland player is also carried over the goal line. The Holland player jogs back on the field, trying to get onside. The only distinction is the apparent injury of the Italian player. And, under the laws fo the game, merely being injured is not enough to make you "inactive."
By the way, in any of the iterations of the "how do we open up football games" debate has it ever come up to simply elminate the offside rule? One thing I see is that the more sophisticated the defense is, the more the defense is able to effectively "shrink" the field by pushing up.
If each team was allowed to park a striker at the 18 yard box. It would only take a matter of seconds for the defending team to put a player, or perhaps two, back there to mark.
Then, the 120 yard field opens up considerably, presumaby, making space for more creative pla
I am not setting up an argument, because it is obviously subjective; I just really want to know if I’m missing something here, and if so, what?
VVV, I reward winners. As much as I hate Ronaldo, I can't see any other player who has made an impact in the last 7+ months or so, other than Ronaldo. So, I think currently, YES, he is the best player in the world.
Well my opinion is obviously biased also but yes Ronaldo is the best player this year.. hands down. For the argument to even get close Portugal would need to crash out of the quarters and maybe Torres would have to lead Spain to Euro.
He scored his 43rd goal today...
As for analysis of the Portugal game Bobby was pretty much spot on. I'm not sure how much blame I place on the set piece disasters on the 2 center backs or the goalie. Ricardo has been living off his penalty save and goal vs England for a very long time now and its really too bad the backups cant oust him. Its almost the same situation you could say for players like Ferreira playing as a LB, Gomes and Simao, Petit somewhat. They honestly only have their squad spots because the guys behind them in the pecking order really haven't done enough to oust them. Later in the tournament it will be key if these guys still have their jobs if they rise to the pressures or fold. Luckily the Turkey result won the group for Portugal so Scolari can give some competitors a run out if he wants. I expect to see Nani/Quaresma auditioning for Simaos spot and Almeida given a longer run out to prove he can offer more then Gomes.
Pretty much same expectations for me. Should reach the Semis vs the Germans with a good punchers chance with Deco coming onto form and Ronaldo looking almost super human to be still going at this pace after a very long season. Theres also some comfort in Pepe and Carvalho especially when you compare them to every other pairing in the tournament.
I dont know why Swiss groundmen tried to improve the pitch quality during the interval. Clearly the pitch favoured the swiss ,where was the home advantage in there?
Ursusboringus- your writing style is perfect for FIFA bylaws or maybe an appliance manual.
There are too many offsides called already. If the rule says it wasn't then the rule should be changed. RVN was unmarked and he was onside until the defender left the pitch that is not his fault.
Ronaldo is obviously the best in the world right now. He does and has everything headers, free kicks, speed, size, strength, cross, both feet, left, right, central, deep, shallow and now winning.
Name one player right now who can do all that and the numbers?
Messi is not close. People are confused about his value
-Tomorrow's match. I got my fellow co-workers who don't care about soccer psyched about tomorrow's game. It seems like Bilic will play Rakitic over Petric. I support the decision seen that the latter is struggling with his back problems and Rakitic is someone who can make the difference. I don't think Bilic is going for a draw even with a 4-5-1. Rakitic will bring in more energy and power to the game. This will mean Rakitic will move to the left while Kranjcar will play in the middle behind Olic who will be the lone striker. It will be interesting to see how Olic will handle himself as a lone striker. I think we need to go all out in this game because even if we do lose we'll still have a chance to make it better against the Poles. At least this way, we can say we tried.
The decision I do not support is playing Pranjic as left fullback. He is a left midfielder!!!!
Cause for concern: Luka Modric. He has a mild ankle strain. Bilic said that Luka will be ready for the Germans but I am a bit worried. Even a slight ankle injury can cause all kinds of problems.
Last edited by Sleeper000 on June 11th at 7:32 PM.
Deco and Ronaldo just displayed quality that unfortunetely the Czechs couldn't counter...If Rosicky was playing the Czech midfield would look much better and the outcomes of the attacks would be more productive too.
First goal,Rozehnal ended up on his butt,while defending...
Second goal,no one picked Ronaldo..
Third goal...didn't matter because the Czechs didn't have it in them today to tie anyway...
Now they have to beat Turkey as they are tied on "minus 1" goal differential...
I think they,The Czechs, will beat Turkey and Germany in the quterfinal and then lose to some team in the Semies....
Tough result for the Swiss today, but it's hard to argue that the Turks didn't deserve the win... Then again it'd be hard to argue the other way, had the Swiss gotten friendlier bounces. Group A is now very interesting... You have Portugal on 6 points, and guaranteed to WIN THE GROUP, not just advance. Switzerland is out for sure, and convieniently they play each other in the third round, which means the Czech's and Turks, both tied on 3 points, but not only that, but both tied on goals for (2) and goals against (3), and inevitably on goal difference (-1), which is going to make for a hell of a match between the two, knowing that a draw results in... Penalties, I believe.
Bobby. I was just watching Tivod FSR. You said you didn't know why Chelsea posted the Scolari release now.
The answer is...
Simon Greenberg, Communications and Public Affairs Director. As frequently demonstrated... he's a disaster. No-one in Chelsea management has a clue about Marketing and PR.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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