The Official Football Thread

[KiraYamatoFan]

So the final results on aggregate for the European qualifications in the FIFA World Cup are:

France 3 (0) - (2) 2 Ukraine
Portugal 4(1) - (0) 2 Sweden
Croatia 2 (0) - (0) 0 Iceland
Greece 4 (3) - (1) 2 Romania

Between parentheses are the scores from the first leg. The most spectacular display of the night was France: they completely dominated the second game from start to finish. There was some controversy about France's second goal as well as on a goal that was wrongfully disallowed previously. Nonetheless, Ukraine brought trouble upon themselves with poor tactics and going down to 10 men because of reckless tackles.

About Portugal... where would they be without Cristiano Ronaldo? He manhandled Sweden all by himself with deadly accuracy.

Special note about international friendlies: Japan beat the rising Belgium team 3-2 on their home turf tonight. Excellent display by the Samurai blue, but could have been better if it wasn't for defensive lapses.

[Kaken]

Portugal will not go anywhere, they can qualify, but won't go far. This team doesn't have good ball movement, Ronaldo is good, but when he has to rely on himself, he gets selfish and angry.

[Nerroth]

Welcome to MLS, Orlando.

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Kaken

Portugal will not go anywhere, they can qualify, but won't go far. This team doesn't have good ball movement, Ronaldo is good, but when he has to rely on himself, he gets selfish and angry.

As a Portuguese I strongly support this. We haven't had a genuinely good team since the 2004 European championship and even that one was the remainders of what was a very strong team in 2000 (that got so full of themselves that the 2002 world cup ended up being a joke).

[Azuma Denton]

Any good midfielder that has the same skill as Rui Costa in Portugal now??

[germanturkey]

i think you guys are overlooking the passes that led to ronaldo's (amazing) finishes. their midfield is solid, but their defense is lacking.

[Kokukirin]

Originally Posted by Kaken

Portugal will not go anywhere, they can qualify, but won't go far. This team doesn't have good ball movement, Ronaldo is good, but when he has to rely on himself, he gets selfish and angry.

And he should be selfish. He is the best finisher in the team by several light years.

i think you guys are overlooking the passes that led to ronaldo's (amazing) finishes. their midfield is solid, but their defense is lacking.

The throughpass to Ronaldo was nice. But remember that Sweden opened up their defence. They pushed up the back line and left plenty of space for Ronaldo to exploit. When the game was even in the first leg, Portugal were just throwing hopeful crosses into the box. Their midfield is at best functional. Don't expect quality passes from them on a regular basis.

[Kaken]

Originally Posted by Kokukirin

And he should be selfish. He is the best finisher in the team by several light years.

I have a lot of respect for Ronaldo's play style, but being selfish doesn't win trophies. In Real Madrid, he has a good set of players to win with. Their ball movement is amazing, they're not even playing possession like other teams, they just move the ball fast and keep going forward with good midfielders.

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Azuma Denton

Any good midfielder that has the same skill as Rui Costa in Portugal now??

Not that I know of no

[Elo the Blue]

Originally Posted by Kaken

I have a lot of respect for Ronaldo's play style, but being selfish doesn't win trophies. In Real Madrid, he has a good set of players to win with. Their ball movement is amazing, they're not even playing possession like other teams, they just move the ball fast and keep going forward with good midfielders.

Portugal likely won't win it all next year but it won't be because of Ronaldo's selfish play. He knows how and when to get his team-mates involved and that's been the case I forget which of his goals it was the other day but he after taking his first touch, he looked up to see if anyone was in position to cross to before he shot the ball. He obviously has moments when he tries to take on the world by himself but he normally plays smart football.

[Kaken]

^I wasn't trying to say it's Ronaldo's fault, just the team in general. I like Portugal, but I wish they had some more solid players.

[Bri]

I doubt Portugal will be the dark horse in the world cup. Ronaldo is world class but he can't make a whole squad better like Maradona could.

Outside of the usual suspects I think Japan and Columbia might do well. Belgium has a lot of talent but they have balance issues and fatigue after an EPL season might affect most of their starters.

[RapidPotential]

Ronaldo is a goalscorer, and nothing more. He cannot influence a game on his own without quality service. Goalscorers can only carry a team when they have playmakers who can create chance after chance for them. Maradona was a creator - the hub of the team. It'd be natural for him to dictate the game on his own terms.

[oompa loompa]

Originally Posted by Bri

I doubt Portugal will be the dark horse in the world cup. Ronaldo is world class but he can't make a whole squad better like Maradona could.

Outside of the usual suspects I think Japan and Columbia might do well. Belgium has a lot of talent but they have balance issues and fatigue after an EPL season might affect most of their starters.

I disagree with portugal not being a dark horse, for a few reasons. Firstly, I would like to point out that the world cup finals (that is, after qualifying), is an absolutely brutal and unforgiving tournament, if you try and plan for it; much more so, than say, the champions league, where knockouts have two legs. Once you get into the knockout stages, there are just 3-4 games that you play, and you must win all of them. One defensive error literally means you're knocked out. Secondly, the draw you get (just like the champions league), is extremely important. If portugal get to the knockouts, and ronaldo is in the form of his life, there is no reason they won't go all the way. As far as ronaldo not having the same effect as maradona, I (partially) disagree. Maybe he doesn't have quite the same effect, but there is no doubting that he is one of the greatest players to ever play in a world cup, and the best player int he world right now. If he's on form and the opponents give him an inch, he CAN win games single handedly

tl;dr : the unforgiving nature of the tournament can let a single player, or a couple of players shine that much more.

[Nerroth]

Livestrong Sporting Park will host this year's MLS cup, as SKC managed to get over their recent post-season troubles with the Houston Dynamo to book their place in this year's championship match.

Their guests from the West will be decided upon tonight, as Portland and RSL settle their own conference finals.

[Elo the Blue]

Originally Posted by RapidPotential

Ronaldo is a goalscorer, and nothing more. He cannot influence a game on his own without quality service. Goalscorers can only carry a team when they have playmakers who can create chance after chance for them. Maradona was a creator - the hub of the team. It'd be natural for him to dictate the game on his own terms.

Absolute nonsense. Have you watched him play at all? How do you explain his 50 assists over the last 5 seasons says if he's a "goalscorer and nothing more"? Not only does he routinely create his own chances regardless of service, he sets up his team-mates.

[Nerroth]

The Portland Timbers may have been knocked out of the running for MLS Cup last night, due to a 1-0 road victory by RSL in the Western Conference finals' second leg; but, depending on how an upcoming ruling might go, they may still get to go to the 2014-15 CONCACAF Champions League (if the CCL berth currently given to the MLS Cup runners-up goes to the top-ranked team in the conference which did not win the Supporters' Shield).


MLS Cup 2013 will be held at 4PM EST on the 7th of December.

[germanturkey]

Originally Posted by RapidPotential

Ronaldo is a goalscorer, and nothing more. He cannot influence a game on his own without quality service. Goalscorers can only carry a team when they have playmakers who can create chance after chance for them. Maradona was a creator - the hub of the team. It'd be natural for him to dictate the game on his own terms.

uh, no. he's probably the most total player in the history of the game. the game has evolved so much since players like Pele and Maradona were at the peak of their powers. the level of sheer athleticism in the game now makes it so you can't even compare the different eras.

[Bri]

Originally Posted by oompa loompa

tl;dr : the unforgiving nature of the tournament can let a single player, or a couple of players shine that much more.

That is true however Portugal doesn't have a particular talented squad at the moment and Ronaldo really needs a great team to shine. He has a tendency to become petulant and switch off when things don't go his way. It's not uncommon for great players. I don't think Messi and Van Persie have the personalities to carry their countries to victory either.

In the modern age Zidane and Cannavaro have elevated teams that were not favorites to win. Suarez carried Uruguay to a semi final and a Copa America. Falcao might do it this time. Some players have the personality to inspire a team.

[germanturkey]

yadda, yadda. top of the league. etc. spuds vs united tomorrow should be interesting. united should win pretty easily. spuds are impotent right now. but ideally, 0-0.