Portugal-Germany: Two Teams Enter, One Team Leaves

2008-09-10T06:59:41-04:00

2008-06-19T08:54:44-04:00

2008-09-10T06:38:33-04:00

2008-06-23T15:10:36-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/452/43/thumb/Hongkongphooey.jpg 191 CA

Malc

San Diego 45483

Holy hell I called that round wrong! Big bowl of crow for me! 2046592

2008-06-19T23:58:23-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/848/97/thumb/606688134.jpg 4060 WI

PackBrew42 is Truffle Shufflin

Miller Brewery 85197

Though I must say I'm really looking forward to Saturday & Sunday Saturday to see the Netherlands put up an offensive display of firepower Sunday for the Spain v Italy slug-fest 2022173

2008-06-19T17:42:25-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/441/471/thumb/auge.jpg 6 XX

roelandbeers@xs4all.nl

Alkmaar 441911

Well... we now know that Germany won over Portugal. But as a Dutch homer I like the outcome pretty much. There has always been great rivalry between Holland and Germany... and when it comes to soccer the rivalry has had a special meaning since the worldcup finals of 1974... and we've been waiting for revenge in the final of a major tournament... so maybe the odds look good this time. Besides that... I am curious what effect the death of Khalid Boularouz's doughter yesterday has on him and the team. 2020625

2008-06-19T17:05:06-04:00

273

no_trolling_please

No City 128849

maybe some people realize, that 'Ronaldo' sounds great - but there is more than the sound of the name and that the Bundesliga has great players too - even when the journos like to ignore it. You want to see attacking football and lots of goals? Don't watch Chelsea. Watch Werder Bremen. 2020386

2008-06-19T16:46:02-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/142/335/thumb/raul.puyol.jpg 263 MD

Burgundy

Baltimore 142635

Some great soccer, certainly. Hopefully, Spain and Holland were paying attention and saw that slack defending is not the way to beat the physical teams. Inasmuch as Ballack pushed his defender in the back to score the defender was poorly positioned to begin and the Portuguese keeper was awful for the entire game - very poor netminding. C. Ronaldo looked like a complete ingenue getting beaten by Klose for the second German goal. 2020241

2008-06-19T16:41:25-04:00

273

no_trolling_please

No City 128849

First time Portugal plays against a strong team and they loose. And it could have easily been 4:2 or worse. Btw, where was the great C.Ronaldo? I remember only one scene with him - him acting. Maybe Klose was right and Podolski is better than Ronaldo? In this game certainly. So Wahl, and the others. 2:0 Portugal? 3:1 Portugal? Hahahahahaha 2020163

2008-06-19T16:27:58-04:00

273

no_trolling_please

No City 128849

wow, the refs are certainly pro-Portugal. Disgusting 2019995

2008-06-19T16:04:36-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/171/911/thumb/uclalogo2.gif 329 CA

BruinsWin!

San Francisco 172211

Schweinsteiger with another delivery! Goal for Ballack! NEVER sit that man again! 2019743

2008-06-19T15:22:35-04:00

jessumm

Seattle 442453

I think Teddy needs to videotape himself bowing down to the SI.Com website! And as for the qf's, Germany could come out of their shell today and really blow Portugal away, I know they have CR and some other talent, but if Germany puts a real game together they are going to put the smack down... at the same time I could see Podolski flaming out and Lehmann letting in 2 goals for a 2-0 loss. Look for Spain to put Italy out by an embarassing 3-0 beatdown, all these Italy fans are living in 2k6, Italy was extremely lucky to get out of the group stage and should have lost to Romania. Russia is a charm, but has anyone been watching the NED play? They are putting on a soccer clinic. Defense, GK, Midfield, scoring, substitutes and coaching, they have it all.. only one who can stop NED will be Spain, because they are equally talented up front and on the defensive side of the ball. Van Der Saar rules though. 2019075

2008-06-19T15:22:10-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/171/911/thumb/uclalogo2.gif 329 CA

BruinsWin!

San Francisco 172211

What did I say!?! Schweinsteiger backing up Podolski and Klose up top. 2-0 Deutschland! 2019084

And so, just like that, Euro 2008 is a new tournament. Eight teams. Single elimination. Let’s play ball. Twenty-four opening-round games have given us the match-ups for four quarterfinals in the next four days: Thursday: Portugal vs. Germany (2:45 p.m. ET, ESPN). Friday: Croatia vs. Turkey (2:45 p.m. ET, ESPN). Saturday: Netherlands vs. Russia (2:45 p.m. ET, ABC). Sunday: Spain vs. Italy (2:45 p.m. ET, ESPN). Portugal vs. Germany. Thanks to Germany’s stumble against Croatia, these two pre-tournament favorites have an earlier-than-expected date in the quarters. There’s no denying that the Portuguese first-string has performed better than Germany’s, and you’d think that Portugal’s ability to rest its stars for the last group game gives it another advantage over the Germans, who are still dealing with aches and pains from their game against Austria just three days ago (including Törsten Frings’s broken rib and Lukas Podolski’s bruised calf). But this German team will be ready and adrenalized, not least because it appears that Bastian Schweinsteiger will finally get to start at left midfield, moving Podolski up front (in place of the hugely disappointing Mario Gómez) alongside Miroslav Klose. As for Portugal, I’m not expecting any changes in their first unit, even though I wouldn’t mind seeing Nani or Ricardo Quaresma in place of Simão on the wing. Bottom line is this: if Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world, it’s go-time to show it. Whether Ronaldo is attacking down the left side (against probable German right back Arne Friedrich) or in the center (against Frings, Christoph Metzelder and Per Mertesacker), he’s going to have to continue working effective combinations with Deco and Nuno Gomes and being a lethal finisher. As for Germany, Michael Ballack improved from his Croatia nightmare against Austria, but he’ll have a harder road today against the underrated spine of the Portuguese defense (holding-mid Petit and defenders Pepe and Ricardo Carvalho). If Portugal can limit the number of set-pieces it gives up in its own end it will have a huge impact on the game. Germany’s masterful set-piece execution makes up for deficiencies in other areas, and if you’re Portugal you don’t want to see goalkeeper Ricardo flailing around on corner-kicks and free-kicks into the box. When it comes down to it, I think we’ll see some more Ronaldo magic (with a big assist from Deco), and the Portuguese defense will come up big without giving up too many dangerous German set-pieces. Portugal 2, Germany 0.CHECKING BACK ON OUR PRE-TOURNAMENT PICKS There’s a long way to go yet, but if you take a look back at <a href="/blogs/post/201376" target="_blank">my pre-tournament predictions</a> I’m not doing badly at all. The Blog nailed seven of the eight quarterfinalists, hitting on Russia, Croatia and the Netherlands and Italy from the Group of Death while missing only on Switzerland (instead of Turkey) from Group A. I also have Portugal and the Netherlands in the final with the Portuguese taking the whole thing. Anything can happen in the knockout rounds, of course, but you could argue that Portugal and the Netherlands have been the two most impressive teams of the tournament at full strength, which not many folks would have expected beforehand (especially from the Dutch). Anyway, I’m sure all this strenuous back-patting will come back to haunt me, but here’s my favorite reader comment from that column. We’d love to hear what “SanguineTeddy” has to say about this now: I think even predicting that Holland will make it out of the group stage is incredibly ridiculous. There are literally advertisements in Europe for Fiat cars, advertising their speed, saying, “be home quicker than the Dutch team.” If the Dutch make it to the quarterfinals, I will legitimately worship SI and never question them again. However, as it stands, I think that not being in Europe has addled SI's understanding of European soccer.Can any of you come up with suggestions on good ways for SanguineTeddy to “legitimately worship SI”? Who do you like in today’s game? And was anyone else a little disappointed by Argentina and Brazil’s 0-0 last night? (I still can’t for the life of me understand the appeal of Julio Cruz.) Please post your comments below and check back after the game for reaction to Portugal-Germany ... 1322 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD

Grant Wahl

Baltimore 194615