Post by Salem6 on Jun 24, 2004 18:16:22 GMT
By Myles Palmer
___________________________________
BIG PHIL SCOLARI'S team is now based on the Porto team.
It has far more balance and width and shape than the England team.
Portual have a good blend of front and back, left and right.
England have more players who can score a goal.
But, like many citizens of this green and windy land, I'm beginning to wonder whether anybody other than Wayne Rooney can score tonight.
When Portugal lost their first game 2-1 to Greece, Big Phil dropped Couto, Ferreira, Jorge and Rui Costa.
He axed three of his back four.
He brought in right back Miguel, centreback Carvallo, left back Nuno Valente and half-striker Deco.
Those guys lack tournament experience.
But they have been well coached for two years by Mourinho and won the UEFA Cup and the Champions League.
And the standard of teams in the Champions League is far superior to the standard of teams in Euro 2004.
So those players have experience of winning tight games under pressure.
GORDON STRACHAN says that Pauleta doesn't like playing on his own, but Nuno Gomes does.
You've always had strikers like that.
Trevor Francis would get the ball, beat his marker and shoot.
Or just get it, turn very quickly, and rifle it into the bottom corner.
And Nuno Gomez is that kind of player.
He can turn either way because he is two-footed and can wallop it with left or right.
ENGLAND HAVE the tournament experience, while Portugal have home advantage.
And home advantage is always good until the pressure makes it home disadvantage.
They're saying England fans will outnumber Portuguese fans in the Stadium of Light tonight.
Nuno Gomes plays for Benfica, so it's a home game for him.
Figo was born on the industrial south side of the Tagus estuary and needed two buses and a ferry to get him to training sessions at Sporting Lisbon from his home in the Cueva de Piedad, a working-class district.
For an event this size to come to your home city, and to play in it, should be a lot of fun.
BUT FIGO HAS BEEN CRUSHED BY THE PRESSURE SO FAR.
He is Portugal's most famous man.
There are no film stars, no singers, no runners, no politicians more famous than Figo.
So the weight on his shoulders is colossal.
Captain, best player, sole survivor of the Golden Generation left in the team, Portugal's most famous man.
Against Greece he was running with a sack of cement across his shoulders.
Against Russia, needing a win after a defeat,Figo was still wearing a flak jacket full of cement.
Against Spain, he looked 80% of normal.
But three games in eight days under that kind of pressure is crippling.
Figo has very strong legs but you can see his knees buckling.
He won't be trying to outsprint Ashley Cole tonight, but he might be shuffling inside for a left-footed pop at James's near post, which James can save every time because he is expecting that.
ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO I was talking to a Lisbon sportswriter about Nuno Gomes.
We were in Prague, where I was the only English journalist to see Portugal's presentation to Eastern European officials and media, to bid for this tournament.
This guy was thirtysomething and a top football writer from the capital and I asked him about Nuno Gomes and he said that Gomes was not aggressive enough to play international football.
Interestingly, this was what I felt at the time.
I was surprised when he said that, although it was what I had guessed from watching Benfica highlights on TV.
NUNO GOMES has now had Serie A experience with Fiorentina, after Batistuta left, and come back to Benfica.
How will he do against Sol and John Terry?
Nobody knows.
Sol has been excellent in three games so far, we know that.
OVERALL, smaller countries have done well in Euro 2004 because they are producer countries.
Three of the biggest countries, with the biggest Champions League clubs, have failed to reach the last eight.
Spain, Italy and Germany are out.
In those countries, the best managers work in the Champions League.
France, Holland, Czech Republic and Portugal are producer nations,while England, Germany, Italy and Spain are importer nations who have suffered from too many foreigners.
Ireland, not there this time, are another producer country who punch above their weight.
SO LAST NIGHT we saw the Czech reserves beat Germany 2-1.
Producers 2 Importers 1.
France 2 England 1 - same thing.
In a few months or years, half of the Czech reserve team will be playing in the Bundesliga.
And that does not help the German national team.
If there was a good German striker, Bayern Munich would buy him.
Paradoxically, England, a big country, are doing OK because they have the same virtues as the small countries : collectivity, team spirit and determination.
LATVIA is a tiny nation of 2.5 million people.
Latvia lack the resources to play the Czechs, Germans and Dutch in nine days, so they lost 3-0 to Van Nistelrooy and Co last night.
But they have done very well in their first tournament.And enjoyed it.
June 24th 2004.
PS
Caroline, Abi and Mel went to see Ben Harper at Hammersmith Apollo last night and then came back here.
I wanna hear all about the gig, but they are still asleep at 9.50 a.m.
They went travelling and came home May 31st and are still adjusting.
Caroline said,"I can't get used to waking up in the same place every day. It's like Groundhog Day.And I don't like not having Abi and Mel to talk to all the time. We worked out that we slept in 53 beds in 18 weeks."
PPS
“You’d have loved it, Dad,” said Caroline, after the girls got up.
“We got there at 8.15 and he was already onstage, but we only missed three songs.He played for two hours 40 minutes. And he did an 8-song encore ! He was fantastic.”
They got into Ben Harper through Mick, an eco-warrior tour guide who took them to Fraser Island off the coast of Queensland. Mick played Ben's CDs in Aunty Betty, his 20-seat bus.
www.anr.uk.com/articles/m-2004-06-24-09-52-32.html
___________________________________
BIG PHIL SCOLARI'S team is now based on the Porto team.
It has far more balance and width and shape than the England team.
Portual have a good blend of front and back, left and right.
England have more players who can score a goal.
But, like many citizens of this green and windy land, I'm beginning to wonder whether anybody other than Wayne Rooney can score tonight.
When Portugal lost their first game 2-1 to Greece, Big Phil dropped Couto, Ferreira, Jorge and Rui Costa.
He axed three of his back four.
He brought in right back Miguel, centreback Carvallo, left back Nuno Valente and half-striker Deco.
Those guys lack tournament experience.
But they have been well coached for two years by Mourinho and won the UEFA Cup and the Champions League.
And the standard of teams in the Champions League is far superior to the standard of teams in Euro 2004.
So those players have experience of winning tight games under pressure.
GORDON STRACHAN says that Pauleta doesn't like playing on his own, but Nuno Gomes does.
You've always had strikers like that.
Trevor Francis would get the ball, beat his marker and shoot.
Or just get it, turn very quickly, and rifle it into the bottom corner.
And Nuno Gomez is that kind of player.
He can turn either way because he is two-footed and can wallop it with left or right.
ENGLAND HAVE the tournament experience, while Portugal have home advantage.
And home advantage is always good until the pressure makes it home disadvantage.
They're saying England fans will outnumber Portuguese fans in the Stadium of Light tonight.
Nuno Gomes plays for Benfica, so it's a home game for him.
Figo was born on the industrial south side of the Tagus estuary and needed two buses and a ferry to get him to training sessions at Sporting Lisbon from his home in the Cueva de Piedad, a working-class district.
For an event this size to come to your home city, and to play in it, should be a lot of fun.
BUT FIGO HAS BEEN CRUSHED BY THE PRESSURE SO FAR.
He is Portugal's most famous man.
There are no film stars, no singers, no runners, no politicians more famous than Figo.
So the weight on his shoulders is colossal.
Captain, best player, sole survivor of the Golden Generation left in the team, Portugal's most famous man.
Against Greece he was running with a sack of cement across his shoulders.
Against Russia, needing a win after a defeat,Figo was still wearing a flak jacket full of cement.
Against Spain, he looked 80% of normal.
But three games in eight days under that kind of pressure is crippling.
Figo has very strong legs but you can see his knees buckling.
He won't be trying to outsprint Ashley Cole tonight, but he might be shuffling inside for a left-footed pop at James's near post, which James can save every time because he is expecting that.
ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO I was talking to a Lisbon sportswriter about Nuno Gomes.
We were in Prague, where I was the only English journalist to see Portugal's presentation to Eastern European officials and media, to bid for this tournament.
This guy was thirtysomething and a top football writer from the capital and I asked him about Nuno Gomes and he said that Gomes was not aggressive enough to play international football.
Interestingly, this was what I felt at the time.
I was surprised when he said that, although it was what I had guessed from watching Benfica highlights on TV.
NUNO GOMES has now had Serie A experience with Fiorentina, after Batistuta left, and come back to Benfica.
How will he do against Sol and John Terry?
Nobody knows.
Sol has been excellent in three games so far, we know that.
OVERALL, smaller countries have done well in Euro 2004 because they are producer countries.
Three of the biggest countries, with the biggest Champions League clubs, have failed to reach the last eight.
Spain, Italy and Germany are out.
In those countries, the best managers work in the Champions League.
France, Holland, Czech Republic and Portugal are producer nations,while England, Germany, Italy and Spain are importer nations who have suffered from too many foreigners.
Ireland, not there this time, are another producer country who punch above their weight.
SO LAST NIGHT we saw the Czech reserves beat Germany 2-1.
Producers 2 Importers 1.
France 2 England 1 - same thing.
In a few months or years, half of the Czech reserve team will be playing in the Bundesliga.
And that does not help the German national team.
If there was a good German striker, Bayern Munich would buy him.
Paradoxically, England, a big country, are doing OK because they have the same virtues as the small countries : collectivity, team spirit and determination.
LATVIA is a tiny nation of 2.5 million people.
Latvia lack the resources to play the Czechs, Germans and Dutch in nine days, so they lost 3-0 to Van Nistelrooy and Co last night.
But they have done very well in their first tournament.And enjoyed it.
June 24th 2004.
PS
Caroline, Abi and Mel went to see Ben Harper at Hammersmith Apollo last night and then came back here.
I wanna hear all about the gig, but they are still asleep at 9.50 a.m.
They went travelling and came home May 31st and are still adjusting.
Caroline said,"I can't get used to waking up in the same place every day. It's like Groundhog Day.And I don't like not having Abi and Mel to talk to all the time. We worked out that we slept in 53 beds in 18 weeks."
PPS
“You’d have loved it, Dad,” said Caroline, after the girls got up.
“We got there at 8.15 and he was already onstage, but we only missed three songs.He played for two hours 40 minutes. And he did an 8-song encore ! He was fantastic.”
They got into Ben Harper through Mick, an eco-warrior tour guide who took them to Fraser Island off the coast of Queensland. Mick played Ben's CDs in Aunty Betty, his 20-seat bus.
www.anr.uk.com/articles/m-2004-06-24-09-52-32.html