The European/World Football Thread III

Original post by aa22

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A good weekend for Benfica with Porto and Sporting dropping points. Things have been pretty hectic for me over these past two weeks so I've only really had half an eye on the games lately. I saw Benfica's goal on the news before and it seems to have been on the lucky side of things. As for Porto, the penalty for Estoril was nowhere near the box and the second goal was offside but Estoril deserve to have the credit for getting a point. We weren't great in midweek and another not so great performance again yesterday.

I'm off to the Dragão this weekend (well, on Friday) for Porto-Guimarães :biggrin:

However, expect more points to be dropped seeing as i don't seem to have the luck when it comes to watching Porto as I'm yet to watch us win a game!

Reply 685

Original post by ra-ra-ra

A good weekend for Benfica with Porto and Sporting dropping points. Things have been pretty hectic for me over these past two weeks so I've only really had half an eye on the games lately. I saw Benfica's goal on the news before and it seems to have been on the lucky side of things. As for Porto, the penalty for Estoril was nowhere near the box and the second goal was offside but Estoril deserve to have the credit for getting a point. We weren't great in midweek and another not so great performance again yesterday.

I'm off to the Dragão this weekend (well, on Friday) for Porto-Guimarães :biggrin:

However, expect more points to be dropped seeing as i don't seem to have the luck when it comes to watching Porto as I'm yet to watch us win a game!

Yeh, turned out to be a very good weekend for us.. we were quite lucky to get the win though, didn't play too well against Guimaraes (always a tough place to go to) and got a weird own goal which ended up settling the match.

JJ got himself into trouble again though. It was a nice gesture of him to try to help out the fan, but he probably should have gone about it in another way instead of pushing and shoving the police out of the way when they're just trying to do their jobs. I hope he isn't suspended just as we're now starting to do better, but I can't see him escape punishment...

I watched the Porto match and yeh, the refereeing decisions were shocking, but Estoril played pretty well anyway, without any fear, whereas Porto weren't that good. Strange to see that Quintero doens't start more often.. at the moment it seems like Porto are relying too much on Jackson and Lucho.

Sporting will complain about the penalty that they should have had, but tbh, they've already had their fair share of offside goals given to them.

But anyway. At least this shows that the title race is wide open now.. only 3 points between the top four teams, and only 1 point between each of the four.

OMG, I'm jealous. Wish I could go watch Benfica play >_<
Anyway, enjoy it!
And I hope that luck stays with you for that match :P

Reply 686

boumavilla

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Original post by Deshi

BT just had a stat labelled 'wrong passes' and for Napoli it was 6. Surely that can't be misplaced passes? Can't tell if I'm being dim and it means something obvious.

Reina is having a very good game.

I think that might be a google translate error. They must have just slotted the Italian stats into the translate box and it came out that way.

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Original post by ra-ra-ra

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Aaaaaaaaand we're back to square 1. Can't believe we couldn't beat Belenenses at home. Bad refereeing decisions didn't help, but to be fair we played very badly and probably didn't deserve a win anyway.

Just as things were starting to look good again, we go and play like that, and drop valuable points :/ This is going to be a tough season for us.

Sporting came through their tough match to win as well. They're starting to look more and more like serious candidates for the title. Benfica could very easily end up in third place this season.

Porto got lucky to win as well. It was a boring match with few chances but they managed to get a lucky penalty to win it. I bet it was a great experience for you though! Hope you enjoyed it. Too bad your "curse" didn't come into effect though :P

Reply 688

boumavilla

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So from Zwolle to Twente, another surprise leader of the Eredivisie after 8 games!

Their 5-0 win over Groningen sends them top, level on 15 points along with PSV and Heerenveen, who won 2-1 at home to new boys Cambuur thanks to another goal from Alfred Finnbogasson! :woo:

Vitesse can go top however if they can beat 17th placed ADO Den Haag on Wednesday (the game was postponed earlier in the season).

Ajax are 5th currently, they beat newly promoted Go Ahead Eagles 6-0, 4 goals in 6 minutes tied it up. Another realistic title challenger is Feyenoord, who brushed past ADO 4-2 at home. Pelle finally seems to be firing again after a slow start to the season with a hat-trick.

However the big shock of the weekend arguably was in Alkmaar. AZ beat PSV 2-1 at home. Highlights below!
BUT the shock wasn't the result (as surprising as it looks)...it was in fact their manager Gertjan Verbeek, he has been sacked, despite having led AZ to very good finishes in the league each of the last 3 seasons. They're the KNVB Beker (The FA Cup) holders currently, they're also in the Europa League group stages. So why was he sacked? It's a similar situation to Sunderland. Some players went to the board and complained of no connection on a personal level with the manager.

Spoiler

Meanwhile at the bottom of the table, RKC are now 16th after losing 4-1 at home to Heracles.

Want to watch an entertaining game? Utrecht 3-3 Roda JC is a contender, but this is a great example of a typical Eredivisie game with everything happening between NEC and Vitesse... ENJOY! :h:

Spoiler

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Reply 689

Original post by aa22

Aaaaaaaaand we're back to square 1. Can't believe we couldn't beat Belenenses at home. Bad refereeing decisions didn't help, but to be fair we played very badly and probably didn't deserve a win anyway.

Just as things were starting to look good again, we go and play like that, and drop valuable points :/ This is going to be a tough season for us.

Sporting came through their tough match to win as well. They're starting to look more and more like serious candidates for the title. Benfica could very easily end up in third place this season.

Porto got lucky to win as well. It was a boring match with few chances but they managed to get a lucky penalty to win it. I bet it was a great experience for you though! Hope you enjoyed it. Too bad your "curse" didn't come into effect though :P

Ha, we are! I only caught the highlights on the news for the Benfica game. Each week these referees are dreadful. It tends to alternate, last week us, this week you but i think each season these guys get worse and worse with their decisions.

Obviously the result suits Porto but that aside i'm happy Belenenses got something from that game after receiving the recent news about Mitchell Van der Gaag having to stand down. A fan of him since his Maritimo days and had a cracking season with Belenenses last season and although this season has started off quite difficult for them it's a shame to see him stand down due to heart issues. Poor guy.

What a signing Fredy Montero has been for Sporting. If he keeps up his goalscoring and Sporting keep playing like that then they have every chance of continuing to be challenging for the title. I'm actually enjoying watching them do well though.

I know, it wasn't a great match but part of me wasn't bothered because at least i watched us win!!!! I was at the opposite end for the penalty so i couldn't quite see if it was one or not and i've seen no highlights of it. Part of the reason i chose to go this weekend was because it was my birthday but another part was to see Guimarães and their fans, and they didn't disappoint! Their fans turned up 35 minutes late but they were cracking for the time they were inside and outside of the stadium. Also, Quintero is quite something to watch in the flesh. Doing all these little tricks when warming up and when playing his movement is great. My eyes were glued to him.

I think we'll struggle against Atleti tomorrow. We're not playing great at the moment and they are absolutely flying, i wish i was still in Porto to watch this match though. :frown:

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Original post by ra-ra-ra

Ha, we are! I only caught the highlights on the news for the Benfica game. Each week these referees are dreadful. It tends to alternate, last week us, this week you but i think each season these guys get worse and worse with their decisions.

Obviously the result suits Porto but that aside i'm happy Belenenses got something from that game after receiving the recent news about Mitchell Van der Gaag having to stand down. A fan of him since his Maritimo days and had a cracking season with Belenenses last season and although this season has started off quite difficult for them it's a shame to see him stand down due to heart issues. Poor guy.

What a signing Fredy Montero has been for Sporting. If he keeps up his goalscoring and Sporting keep playing like that then they have every chance of continuing to be challenging for the title. I'm actually enjoying watching them do well though.

I know, it wasn't a great match but part of me wasn't bothered because at least i watched us win!!!! I was at the opposite end for the penalty so i couldn't quite see if it was one or not and i've seen no highlights of it. Part of the reason i chose to go this weekend was because it was my birthday but another part was to see Guimarães and their fans, and they didn't disappoint! Their fans turned up 35 minutes late but they were cracking for the time they were inside and outside of the stadium. Also, Quintero is quite something to watch in the flesh. Doing all these little tricks when warming up and when playing his movement is great. My eyes were glued to him.

I think we'll struggle against Atleti tomorrow. We're not playing great at the moment and they are absolutely flying, i wish i was still in Porto to watch this match though. :frown:

Ahhhh, it was your birthday? Nice present in that case (late happy birthday, btw!)

Porto were quite unlucky with the loss against Atletico. I thought Porto played as well as they could have against a team like Atletico (they beat Real Madrid just a few days earlier to be fair) and almost got something out of it. Disappointing to have lost it in two bad free kicks when you had been leading 1-0 to begin with.

As for Benfica. Embarrassing. It was possibly the worst performance of the season... the game was over in 30 minutes and PSG just limited themselves to just passing the ball around without any pressure. I wasn't expecting us to win, or even draw... I knew PSG were too strong for us, but there can't be excuses for the way we actually played.

We improved a little bit in the second half though, the Enzo/Matic partnership in the middle is probably what we've been missing since Salvio got injured and Fejsa came in. But we still barely created any real chances.

Anyway. Estoril will be tough this weekend... really hope we can get back to winning ways...

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Reply 691

Original post by aa22

Ahhhh, it was your birthday? Nice present in that case (late happy birthday, btw!)

Porto were quite unlucky with the loss against Atletico. I thought Porto played as well as they could have against a team like Atletico (they beat Real Madrid just a few days earlier to be fair) and almost got something out of it. Disappointing to have lost it in two bad free kicks when you had been leading 1-0 to begin with.

As for Benfica. Embarrassing. It was possibly the worst performance of the season... the game was over in 30 minutes and PSG just limited themselves to just passing the ball around without any pressure. I wasn't expecting us to win, or even draw... I knew PSG were too strong for us, but there can't be excuses for the way we actually played.

We improved a little bit in the second half though, the Enzo/Matic partnership in the middle is probably what we've been missing since Salvio got injured and Fejsa came in. But we still barely created any real chances.

Anyway. Estoril will be tough this weekend... really hope we can get back to winning ways...

Ah, thank you. :smile:

We were a bit unlucky but that 2nd free kick was very sneaky and very clever. Benfica were as you put it, embarrassing! They were terrible. Certainly a performance to not look back on!

As for tonight, another ugly performance by Porto but we got the win. We were terrible, the score flatters us completely. This break has come at a good time for us as up next in the Liga is Sporting and considering the performances we’re putting in at the moment are ugly compared to Sportings, we would get absolutely smashed! Apart from the three points the only other positive from that game was Quintero's 3 minutes on the pitch. That boy has quickly made me forget all about James. :love:

. Also, Iturbe has now got 2 in 2 for Hellas Verona, last week was a lovely free kick and todays was a great run and finish. I'm still not happy he went out on loan but at least he's getting minutes.

Cardozo’s goal was a corker of a volley! A mad few minutes with him scoring, then Estoril nearly scoring from the restart and then eventually scoring a minute or two later. They gave a little scare there and (from the bits I caught) seemed a bit unlucky to not get something from the game. I was flicking between them, Juve-Milan, Marseille-PSG and Atlético Mineiro-Corinthians so I can’t say that game had my full attention.

What on earth happened to Braga? I was working so i missed that game but i didn't expect to see them lose 3-0 but then again, apart from their little mess up against Arouca last month Nacional have been playing well, sadly. :closedeyes:

Anyway, international time and an important week for Bento and Portugal! At least these last two games are at home.

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The Brasileirão had a few interesting results last night. Just when things seemed to be looking up for Atlético Mineiro they end up losing to second from bottom Ponte Preta. The biggest surprise was São Paulo, who have been woeful to watch this season, beat top of the league Cruzeiro, who before last night hadn’t lost at home in the Brasileirão for 11 months. But Gremio weren’t able to capitalise on this because they lost to third from bottom Criciúma. Vasco also managed to beat Fluminense, who are another team who have been struggling this season after a great season last year.

A good night for the clubs at the bottom (Náutico aside) and now only 10 points separate 8th-19th place so even though the top has Cruzeiro with one hand on the trophy, the relegation can still be a good handful of teams.

It should be a good game on Sunday in the derby between Atlético and Cruzeiro. This game will be live on BT Sports at 8pm on Sunday. Will be worth a watch if you can as i'm sure Atlético will do anything they can to put a bit more of a dent in Cruzeiros title hopes.

Reply 693

Original post by aa22

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It was always looking like it would be the play-offs but there was that little bit of hope inside me that Russia would mess up and we would snatch that first place. But no, play-offs again!

Portugal should have put that game to bed earlier on. Israel didn't do anything. Horrendous error by Rui Patricio for their goal.

I didn't realise Antunes got called up so i was a bit surprised when i saw his name in the starting line up. I would say he was our best player. Andre Almeida didn't have a bad game either. He was free on a few occasions on the right hand side. Considering both aren't really Seleção first team players they did a good job! Antunes was even unlucky not to score, the Israel keeper made a few good saves throughout though.

Did you manage to catch any of the U21 match yesterday? Such a great group of youngsters and I cannot wait for Bruma to make it into the main Seleção, hopefully soon!!

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I feel like I’m clogging this thread right up but did anyone watch Colombia vs Chile?

I only watched it from the second half but I witnessed a red card for Chile and Colombia, who were losing 3-0 at HT, get it back to 3-3! It’s a shame I didn’t catch the first half of this as the second half has been cracking! It finished 3-3.

Colombia have now qualified for the World Cup, the first time since 1998. Great to see them qualify even if my reasoning behind this is just so i can see all current and ex Porto players.

Reply 695

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Original post by ra-ra-ra

I feel like I’m clogging this thread right up but did anyone watch Colombia vs Chile?

I only watched it from the second half but I witnessed a red card for Chile and Colombia, who were losing 3-0 at HT, get it back to 3-3! It’s a shame I didn’t catch the first half of this as the second half has been cracking! It finished 3-3.

Colombia have now qualified for the World Cup, the first time since 1998. Great to see them qualify even if my reasoning behind this is just so i can see all current and ex Porto players.

Yeah heard it during the Ecuador Uruguay match. Knew I should've watched this game but the former was more decisive so watched that instead.

Glad that falcao will play on the world stage.

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Reply 696

Original post by ra-ra-ra

It was always looking like it would be the play-offs but there was that little bit of hope inside me that Russia would mess up and we would snatch that first place. But no, play-offs again!

Portugal should have put that game to bed earlier on. Israel didn't do anything. Horrendous error by Rui Patricio for their goal.

I didn't realise Antunes got called up so i was a bit surprised when i saw his name in the starting line up. I would say he was our best player. Andre Almeida didn't have a bad game either. He was free on a few occasions on the right hand side. Considering both aren't really Seleção first team players they did a good job! Antunes was even unlucky not to score, the Israel keeper made a few good saves throughout though.

Did you manage to catch any of the U21 match yesterday? Such a great group of youngsters and I cannot wait for Bruma to make it into the main Seleção, hopefully soon!!

Yeh really disappointed with that result. I wasn't really holding out for any mistake from Russia, so I always expected playoffs, but at least there would have been a bit of hope.

Big error by Patrício, but I guess we all make mistakes. I think I'd blame Nelson Oliveira more for that loss. That chance where he could have passed it to Ronaldo but decided to chip the gk instead could have killed off the game... Hate him because of things like that... Too egotistical..

Yeh Antunes played really well.. His cross for the goal too. Almeida was OK, he's better against better attacking teams, I think Cédric would have given us more attacking threat.

And yeh, I watched the first half of the U21. They played well. And it looks like Bruma has been called up to replace Ronaldo because he is suspended for the next match! Should be interesting if he gets some playing time..

On the other hand, Rolando has been called up to replace Pepe. How in the hell has he been called up?! Has he even been playing football in the last three months?!? Good Lord, I hope he doesn't play, even if it is just against Luxembourg... Neto and Ricardo Costa should do the trick.

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Reply 697

Mastermind`

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Raul Jimenez's late winner for Mexico v Panama. It was pretty much a must-win game for Mexico if they wanted to keep their hopes of reaching the WC alive..

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Reply 698