Spent: Ronaldo struggles to hold up Team Portugal during their 2-2
tie
with Team USA. For columnist João Miguel Tavares, it was embarrassing.
Americans Show Up Portugal's 'Team of the Lame' (Publico, Portugal)
"To say that Portugal has physical problems would be like saying
Iraq is experiencing security problems. It is a monumental understatement.
Portugal either plays in slow motion or limps. If the other teams didn't run,
we might have a chance, but as it is necessary to move your ass in football
(isn't it Bruno Alves?), the game was becoming more
difficult and the Americans began to score."
Defensive midfielder Jermaine Jones puts Team USA ahead of Portugal 2-1. The lead didn't hold, but the Americans have already performed beyond expectations. If they can manage a draw against Germany on Thurdsay, they will reach the next round. Until the final, there remains almost three weeks to go.
Portugal
is to be congratulated for the quality of football it demonstrated in the first
five minutes of the match against the United States, which was duly crowned
with a goal. Miguel Veloso made an excellent pass to Cameron who was
greatly assisted Nani, and, out of two failed plays,
Portugal scored the first goal. Such is the magic of football.
It
was a good five minutes before Portugal broke down physically. Then came the injuries. HélderPostiga collapsed in the thirteenth minute barely
having touched the ball. André Almeida began limping soon after, and crawled
for the rest of the first half. This team should be sponsored by an association
of physiotherapists. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Posted By
Worldmeets.US
To
say that Portugal has physical problems would be like saying Iraq is
experiencing security problems. It is a monumental understatement. Portugal
either plays in slow motion or limps. If the other teams didn't run, we might
have a chance, but as it is necessary to move your ass in football (isn't it Bruno Alves?),
the game was becoming more difficult and the Americans began to score.
In
addition to the first five minutes, there was only one other time that Portugal
played well. It was after the water drinking break in the first half. The team
played well for another five minutes, and Nani was
about to score for a second time, but again, the squad ran out of steam. What
we lacked, apparently, was eighteen water-drinking breaks. Then, Portugal would
have certainly won the match.
