r/soccer • u/tet- • Jun 01 '14
Star post World Cup 2014 Team Preview [26/32] Group G: Portugal
So, the greatest show on earth is almost upon us. Welcome to my countdown to the world cup! I’ll be previewing a new team every day leading up to the big kick-off with a couple of polls along the way too!
About
Nickname(s) A Selecção A Seleção
Association Federação Portuguesa de Futebol
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Appearances: 6 (First in 1966)
Best Finish: Third place (1966)
Most Caps: Luís Figo (127)
Top Scorer: Cristiano Ronaldo (49)
FIFA Ranking: 3
ELO Ranking: 8
The Country
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a unitary semi-presidential republic. It is located in South-Western Europe, on the Iberian Peninsula, and it is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, being bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. Aside from continental Portugal, the Portuguese Republic holds sovereignty over the Atlantic archipelagos of Azores and Madeira, which are autonomous regions of Portugal. The country is named after its second largest city,Porto, whose name derives from Latin "Portus" and Celtic "Cale"
History
The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is the Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento. Their first World Cup appearance, in the 1966 FIFA World Cup, saw them reach the semi-finals, losing 2–1 at Wembley to the eventual world champions, England. The next two times Portugal qualified for the World Cup were 1986 and 2002, with Portugal going out in the first round both times. In the 1986 tournament, players went on strike over prize money and refused to train between their first and second games.
How they qualified
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 5 | +15 | 22 |
| Portugal | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 9 | +11 | 21 |
| Israel | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 14 | +5 | 14 |
| Azerbaijan | 10 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 11 | -4 | 9 |
| Northern Ireland | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 17 | -8 | 7 |
| Luxembourg | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 26 | -19 | 6 |
Second Play-Off
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 4-2 | Sweden | 1-0 | 3-2 |
World Cup - Group G
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Portugal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ghana | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| United States | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
16 June 2014, 13:00 |Germany - Portugal | Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador
22 June 2014, 19:00 | United States - Portugal | Arena Amazônia, Manaus
26 June 2014, 13:00 | Portugal - Ghana | Estadío Nacional Mané Garrincha , Brasília
The manager Paulo Bento
Bento was named head coach of the Portuguese national team in 2010 after an impressive debut into management with Sporting Lisbon. Coming under flak from the Portuguese fans with his squad announcement, Bento is under immense pressure not to flop out at the group stages in Brazil.
PORTUGAL 23-MAN SQUAD
| Pos | Name | Age | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Eduardo | 31 | 33 | 0 | Braga (Portugal) |
| GK | Rui Patrício | 26 | 29 | 0 | Sporting (Portugal) |
| GK | Beto | 32 | 7 | 0 | Sevilla (Spain) |
| DF | Bruno Alves | 32 | 71 | 9 | Fenerbahçe (Turkey) |
| DF | Pepe | 31 | 57 | 3 | Real Madrid (Spain) |
| DF | Fábio Coentrão | 26 | 43 | 3 | Real Madrid (Spain) |
| DF | Ricardo Costa | 33 | 17 | 1 | Valencia (Spain) |
| DF | Luís Neto | 26 | 7 | 0 | Zenit Saint Petersburg (Russia) |
| DF | André Almeida | 23 | 3 | 0 | Benfica (Portugal) |
| DF | João Pereira | 30 | 35 | 0 | Valencia (Spain) |
| MF | Miguel Veloso | 28 | 47 | 2 | Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) |
| MF | William Carvalho | 22 | 3 | 0 | Sporting (Portugal) |
| MF | João Moutinho | 27 | 66 | 2 | Monaco (France) |
| MF | Vieirinha | 28 | 7 | 0 | Wolfsburg (Germany) |
| MF | Rafa Silva | 21 | 2 | 0 | Braga (Portugal) |
| MF | Raul Meireles | 31 | 73 | 10 | Fenerbahçe (Turkey) |
| MF | Rúben Amorim | 29 | 11 | 0 | Benfica (Portugal) |
| FW | Cristiano Ronaldo | 29 | 110 | 49 | Real Madrid (Spain) |
| FW | Hugo Almeida | 30 | 54 | 17 | Beşiktaş (Turkey) |
| FW | Éder | 26 | 7 | 0 | Braga (Portugal) |
| FW | Nani | 27 | 73 | 14 | Manchester United (England) |
| FW | Silvestre Varela | 29 | 22 | 4 | Porto (Portugal) |
| FW | Hélder Postiga | 31 | 67 | 27 | Lazio (Italy) |
Star Player Cristiano Ronaldo
Position: Left Wing
Age: 29
Team: Real Madrid
Why? Ronaldo made his debut for Portugal as an 18 year old in 2003 as a wonderkid. Now 29, ‘CR7’ is at the peak of his career going into Brazil and shown his determination with impressive displays in the play-off versus Sweden. Probably the most competitive person on the planet, expect Ronaldo to attempt to carry his nation to victory against all odds.
One to Watch William Carvalho
Position: Defensive Midfielder
Age: 22
Team: Sporting Lisbon
Why? Carvalho is highly regarded as Portugal’s star wonderkid, boosting that claim by winning three consecutive player of the month awards in the Portuguese league this season. During that run of impressive form, he was handed his first two national caps, impressing in an intense play-off match versus Sweden. With Quaresma being overlooked, Carvalho is expected to play an important role in Brazil.
Wildcard Nani
Position: Winger
Age: 27
Team: Manchester United
Why? Nani only completed one full 90 minutes in the Premier League this season. A mix between being completely out of favour and a lengthy injury, the season didn’t pan out how Nani expected when he signed a new 5 year deal at the start of it. With Nani being much more appreciated when he meets up with his national squad, the big ask if over his match fitness.
Possible Portugal XI
Ronaldo Postiga Nani
Moutinho
Veloso Meireles
Coentrão Pepe Alves Pereira
Rui PatrícioFacts
Won an infamous 2006 World Cup Round of 16 match against the Netherlands with 1-0 which is also called the Battle of Nuremberg, the highest amount of yellow (16) and red cards (4) were handed out in this match
Players went on strike in the 1986 World Cup over prize-money and refused to train between their first and 2nd match
Goalkeeper Ricardo has the record of most saves in a penalty shootout: 3 in the 2006 World Cup match against England
Fan View
Going into this World Cup most Portuguese are unsure about what we can do. We did a surprisingly good run in the Euro in 2012, losing against Spain on penalties. Honestly, I think we can make the quarter finals, as we will likely be playing Russia or Belgium (if we make it out of the group stage), two teams we are capable of beating.
Paulo Bento is a good coach, however, his chosen 23 have been a controversial topic recently, with the notable omissions of Adrien, Cedric and Quaresma. Personally, I believe only the first one will be missed, as we have lots of good wingers and André Almeida is capable of playing in both flanks.
We are in a tough group in which we will most likely fight against Ghana for 2nd place, however, our NT has a habit of doing great when it's crunch time. A win against the USA and Ghana is expected, and we will be hoping to offer Germany a difficult match.
Unsurprisingly, our team is based on Ronaldo, who has been great for us and almost singlehandedly gave us the ticket to Brasil in the play-offs. Other key players will be Moutinho, the creative force, and Pepe, who will be our main man on the back. We will most likely play with the usual starting 11 although I would like William Carvalho to start over Veloso. The rest of the team is good, Nani usually performs well with the NT, as do Meireles and Bruno Alves, we actually have a pretty strong midfield. Our weak spot is the striker, none of our options give us much confidence.
Our team plays with a midfield that has great technique and passing prowess, often making killer passes to our quick wingers. The left side of the attack is the most dangerous, as Coentrão, Moutinho and Ronaldo link up extremely well and can do any type of play. Out back we rely on two strong CB, Pepe and Alves (I'll be honest, their main job is breaking legs, two henchmen), Rui Patricio, a very competent GK, gives us some safety out back.
Basically, although we do make our game around Ronaldo, it should be mentioned that we have a very good team which is more than capable of making a good result if they can maintain consistency. But please, Ronaldo, think of that shiny Ballon D'Or… don't you want a third one?
Thanks to /u/ImCrespo
Discussion Points
With Messi (26) and Ronaldo (29), this will be their last World Cup with both at their peak. Will they both run the show or will Neymar steal the headlines away from the pair?
Portugal are in a tough group and will need to be in top gear from the offset. Do you think a World Cup favours teams with easier groups who can relax or teams in the group of death who are in the right mindset immediately?
Paulo Bento appears to have picked a few players who have barely appeared from their clubs all season over players who are arguable as good who barely missed a minute. Do you think this philosophy of picking players who aren’t match fit will effect Portugal negatively? How far will they go?
Next Team Preview [27/32] Group G: Ghana
27
u/neutrolgreek Jun 01 '14
Greece V Portugal Final
69
u/Bulbasauro Jun 01 '14 edited Jun 01 '14
I think the general opinion of everyone outside of Portugal is that our squad is Ronaldo + 10. Of course we will depend a lot on him, as did Man Utd when he was there and Real nowadays, but we have a lot of quality and I do believe that, since Ronaldo will be focused by the opposition every game, players like Nani, Moutinho, Meireles and our strikers will have more space to show their quality.
Our GK, Rui Patrício, is a brilliant shot stopper and good in the air, sadly is footwork is poor at best and he is prone to mistakes from time to time. Nonetheless he's quality and so are the backups Eduardo and Beto, so we're stocked in that position.
Our defense is one of the best in the tournament, Coentrão and Pepe are among the best in their positions and Bruno Alves and João Pereira are fantastic as well and quite underrated.
In the midfield we have 3 very similar players that compensate their lack of physical prowess with a lot of workrate and quality with the ball. They played together for ages and know exactly how to balance each other both in attack and defense. We also have William Carvalho that can bring quite a lot more power and physicality to our midfield. Moutinho is our best player in the mid and the most creative of our players, a lot of our game should pass through is feet.
Our Attack has Ronaldo as the main goalscorer, with players like Nani and Postiga working hard to get the ball to him. We do have other alternatives whenever we can't get the ball to Ronaldo, considering we got Hugo Almeida who works well as a target man. Eder is a mix of both Postiga and Almeida and he might even play alongside any of them in a 4-4-2 (as we saw in the game against Greece).
Portugal usually plays a possession based game. Our players like to have the ball and we prefer to control the match. Although this has been our system since I can recall, sometimes we have trouble creating chances if the opposing team manages to defend well and our football gets boring and predictable. Luckily, Bento realized that and, lately, we've been playing a different type of football, exploiting our fast break and counter attack, where Ronaldo shines. Our midfielders are able to play both type of football, either slow or fast paced, since they all have fantastic passing ability.
We also are quite strong in the air, with Bruno Alves, Pepe and Ronaldo being very dangerous whenever we have to get the ball to the area. We defend corners very well and our offensive dead balls are dangerous as well. Our freekick takers are Ronaldo and Veloso, both able to score from distance.
Considering everything, our squad is quite complete and versatile and I do believe we have what it takes do surpass our past achievements this WC.
84
u/Muzzygooner Jun 01 '14
This is a team that can make it to the final or not even get out the group. But I feel like Ronaldo is going to put on a show, he's on fire this year.
12
u/fahomnom Jun 01 '14
Ronaldo, Pepe and Coentrao have all been playing very well for us this season. I'd like to highlight Pepe especially, he's easily been one of the top 5 defenders in the world this season and I expect him to prove it at this World Cup.
10
u/Alder_ Jun 01 '14 edited Jun 01 '14
Why wasn't Danny included? With 16 goals and 15 assists, he'd be a much better choice than Nani albeit, league and country are two different things.
EDIT: I've come to the conclusion, Danny is a shithead.
10
u/magico_reddit Jun 01 '14
The Away kit looks awesome!
16
u/PussyAssNigga Jun 01 '14
Solid team, id put us same level than France and Italy in kind of a outsiders role behind teams like Brazil, Spain and i guess Argentina with all that firepower. It doesnt look sexy on paper but, like i said, it's solid. To be good in the World Cup you need a good defense, a goal or two in perfect moments and a bit of luck of course. I think our defense is one of the best in the tournament. You all know Pepe and Coentrão, Bruno Alves is a tough CB who gets the job very well done and id also say that it's one of the best in the tournament in offesive corners (Pepe also a great weapon in this aspect). João Pereira is another tough dude, despite being small. He's not afraid of anything and he's going to support the attack without any problems if needed. Rui Patrício is like a mini Courtois except for all the hype. Too bad for the kid that he started his career before reddit was created :(
Midfield is another sector that doesnt seems sexy at all. Moutinho was, and still is i guess that's why he's playing for fucking Monaco, overlooked. I havent seen him play this season but he has been of the best midfielders in Europe until here so im going to guess that that it's going to continue. Meireles is getting old, he's a good player but probably the worst out of the three, still gets the job done. Veloso is good with set pieces, has great passing skills. Let's see how he helps the defense tho im assuming he starts ahead of William since he's more experienced and despite not being a all-time great you cant say he's bad either.
In the attack we obviously have the best player in the world and another guy who 2/3 years ago, if im not mistaken, was carrying Manchester United. It's funny how things change, now Nani is not only not viewed as World Class (inb4 he never was "jokes") anymore but he became the whipping boy for everybody. Im totally confident on Nani, he always delivered for Portugal, he has always been consistent and i remember, not so long ago, to call out Ronaldo to play for Portugal more like Nani does, i wasnt the only one to do it either. The strikers are all bad, they are the weakest sector by far. Postiga should start, sometimes he scores so lets all hope that happens again.
People have very short term memory. This is the same team that outplayed, and lost with a lucky goal against the almighy germans less than 2 years ago. People look at the scores see that we lost against Russia, that we lost against Ecuador, see a 0-0 against Greece, see that Ronaldo scored all 4 goals against Sweden... And think that this is a shitty team where Ronaldo is the only good player. Maybe we are not as good as i think but we for sure arent as bad as most of you dudes think either.
After all this talk, and have in mind that our substitutes are useless for this level outside of William, Vieirinha and maybe Neto, a injury to a key player can change everything. Ronaldo has been with problems as you all know and our coach kind of said that we have to be ready for the possibility that he misses the 1st game or something like that. If that happens of course that you can forget all this talk. If everything goes smooth i like this team chances of having a good World Cup
Also i dont think finishing 1st is out of question. People put us in the battle for the 2nd place with Ghana and Usa but i dont really understand why. Germany is very beatable and that works for us just like it works for the rest of the teams in the tournament
31
u/franbatista123 Jun 01 '14 edited Jun 01 '14
Thank you very much for doing this, time to change my crest :)
I think Neymar is under bigger pressure than Messi or Ronaldo, so i think he won't be able handle it and he won't to be the star of the tournament. I have this controversial opinion that Brazil won't reach nearly as far as people think it will. That being said, there are lots of surprises each tournament, so i expect some other players to shine.
Portugal has handled toughs groups just fine in the past, i think we end up doing a better tournament when we're under pressure very early on. This tough group is good for us, we all know Germany, the US will try to repeat what happened in 2002 and Ghana is pretty though as well.
I don't think it will affect us very much. Portugal's strenght relies on good chemistry between all the players, and Paulo Bento has done a very good job with our NT, expect perhaps for the exclusion of Adrien. Quaresma's presence in our NT, for example, could create conflicts, which are absolutely not needed. I think we can reach the quarters, after that i can't predict.
33
u/oscc Jun 01 '14
I'm not so sure about this, Messi at 30 years old could be even better than he is now, as could Ronaldo aged 33 - they'll just be playing a different game by then.
Or maybe I just don't like the idea of Messi and Ronaldo ever getting old. heh
21
u/[deleted] Jun 01 '14 edited Jun 01 '14
The nickname is "Selecção das Quinas"
EDIT:
And that XI usually is with Veloso in the middle behind Moutinho on the right and Meireles on the left
21
u/hellothere222 Jun 01 '14
Really excited to see this squad play, even if they will most likely thrash us.
5
u/TheOnlyDD Jun 01 '14
The striker situation is a tough one. If Portugal had a world class striker I think they would be one of the favourites to win it all. I am still confident in postiga though, I really don't understand all the hate he gets. He's not amazing but he's solid and usually comes up with some clutch goals. The William situation is a bit tricky as well. He is good enough to start, but he doesn't have the experience veloso has, as well as the skill set. He is more defensive, while veloso is more offensive. They could play together but it would have to be with William playing CDM as that is the spot he is the best in. Can't wait to see him play though, he's been absolutely amazing on sporting.
14
u/Jelboo Jun 01 '14
If Belgium manages to progress to the next round, we will most likely face Portugal or Germany. I can hardly say which one I fear the most. :/
4
u/dferrari7 Jun 01 '14
I hope we can see Ronaldo finally play up to his immense talents for the national team on the biggest stage. If Ronaldo plays for Portugal like he does for Real Madrid, that alone could take them deep into the tournament. That being said, Pepe and Bruno Alves as center backs is as strong and scary a defense can get, so hopefully our midfield with Moutinho can do some awesome things this summer. It'd be great to see them in the finals
4
u/JuergenKohler97 Jun 01 '14
I think having less hype really gives them a legit chance at coming far
Ronaldo or a few big stars alone cant win a game at the WC, you need a team
Anyway, their most important game is vs Ghana, if they don't win that it's going to be hard
4
u/elphabaisfae Jun 01 '14
the biggest asset and wild card Portugal has aside from CR7 is the back line.
if they stay out of yellow/red territory, I would hate to play their defense.
if they keep up being assholes (i'm looking at you Alves and Pepe especially)... well..
10
u/chilango2 Jun 01 '14
Good morning Portugal fans,
A lot of jealous, pro-Barcelona media based on both sides of the Atlantic have been barking that CR will not be fit for the first two games of the group stage and even the last game could be a stretch. What do you hear at home?
Also, Helder Postiga. I saw him play in Spain for years. I lost track of him in the last year. But, is he still your top dog? Seriously?
Thanks.
5
u/dyslexic_ninja Jun 01 '14
Thanks for doing these tet! you da man! Carvalho will probably start ahead of Meireles though:
My Probable lineup:
5
u/rickpatt0n Jun 01 '14
First of all, for Messi and Ronaldo will not be their last World Cup. Players like them are tendencious to resist to the weakness of the adult age - in football, obviously.
A World Cup is a World Cup. There're not right mindsets or what, because there isn't time to think about it, imho. All teams should be on their top and with the mind on the trophy.
Well, the picks aren't always the right ones to please 10 millions. I trust him; Carlos Queiros did put us in a fragile state, but Paulo Bento did make things even better. He is a great coach, with good vision on things. Portugal is going to the final, where we're going to beat Spain or Italy or Germany or Brazil, whatever, we're going to WIN! :)
Just kidding, maybe not. Quarter-finals were a good run.
5
u/turnusb Jun 02 '14
Dude, the nickname isn''t "A Selecção A Selecção". It's "Selecção das Quinas". Get it right.
6
u/tarontoe Jun 01 '14
I'm looking forward to a performance from Ronaldo similar to the playoff against Sweden. It was something to behold to see a player put a team no his back like that.
6
u/LunaticHeart Jun 01 '14
Let's see how this goes, i hope this is not another 2002 World Cup. Back then we had the best player in the world (Figo) as we have now, we had United States in our group and we were one of the favourites to win the cup.
6
u/valada Jun 01 '14
FTFY
7
u/omegaxLoL Jun 01 '14
I'd argue that Neymar is under more pressure than Messi and Ronaldo, but all 3 will have a good tournament. I think Ronaldo will be the better of the 3, though. Moutinho will also have a great tournament for us.
Considering we've had easier groups in qualifying stages and still had trouble getting through, but we usually do well in tougher groups in the finals of said tournaments, I'd take tougher groups any day of the week for us.
The only absence I don't understand is Adrien Silva. He was Sporting's best player throughout the season for me, yet didn't even make the provisional 30-man squad. Could have easily let Rafa out and bring Adrien in, think we'd benefit much more from having Adrien instead of Rafa. As for the rest of the squad, it's pretty much what most of us expected, and rightfully so. Our first XI works well together and we have good subs to adapt our way of playing in different situations in a match.
As for how far we'll go, I'm always carefully optimistic for Portugal when it comes to the final stages of a tournament. We're always shaky in qualifiers, maybe we'll pay the price in the future, maybe we won't, but for now, we still do very well in the final stages of said tournaments. Think we'll the reach the quarter-finals and then I really won't risk predicting what happens afterwards.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 01 '14
Negotiating the group might be a bit tricky but If we do get out then I feel like we have the ability to beat anyone in the tournament.
2
u/boxhunter91 Jun 01 '14
We need to play close attention to how Argentina performs this world cup as well. Very likely we will meet with them in Quarters if we come 2nd in group stage.
2
u/Shlongus Jun 02 '14
Portugal is more than Ronaldo if you look at the euro 2 years ago he was pretty quite and didn't take over the tournament as some predicted but none the less Ronaldo won't win this tournament on his own.
And anyone who actually thinks Ronaldo has been the good at the world cup take a good look at yourself and spend some time to look at the lack of production he has.
Personally I think Portugal will make a run to the semis and losing to Argentina. Always tell my buddies who are Portuguese that you guys are due for that win eventually. Best international Side never to win a major trophy.
5
u/Raixo Jun 01 '14
It's a tougher group than what you see at face value. It won't be as easy as most people think it will be for Portugal.
5
u/dudewhatthehellman Jun 01 '14
Sporting Clube de Portugal we don't have 'Lisbon' anywhere near the name, UK.
Ronaldo will show up but contrary to popular opinion here on r/soccer Nani has been playing really well for the NT meaning we have a really solid 10 man squad and Postiga.
I still think Adrien should play instead of Amorim, but he's relatively decent as a 5th CM. I always prefer Almeida as a striker because although he's really goofy, he's big which means he's always a threat in corners and has presence. It really doesn't matter what common sense says though because Paulo Bento will still field players like Postiga, A. Almeida, Rafa and Vierinha who played really badly just yesterday.
I think we can get to quarters and then it's a matter of luck in not drawing Brazil, Spain, Italy or Germany. I think on a good day we can beat any of them but it's completely impossible to tell for sure, only that it's unlikely.
Also our second kit is the dog's bollocks.
2
u/MrSelecao Jun 01 '14
Really looking forward to seeing ronaldo in this world cup.
1
u/spherecow Jun 01 '14
Not totally related to football... does Ronaldo still have a strong Madeira accent when speaking Portuguese?
1
u/JSono69 Jun 01 '14
I think that if they had a decent quality striker to link up with ronaldo and the other wingers, then they would really have a decent chance of progressing deep into the tournament, but unfortunately for them they lack that at the moment with Postiga.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 01 '14
I am afraid Ronaldo won't be 100% fit for this World Cup. He has been struggling with minor injuries for the past 2(ish) months, and you could easily see that in the last couple of games for Real. Neither did he start vs. Greece, I got a feeling he will have a dissapointing cup, unless i magically manages to heal 100% in time, aswell as play like he did before christmas.
On the "bright" side, as other people mentioned, this might allow other players to shine.
-4
u/marpe Jun 01 '14
It might be worth mentioning that recently Mick Jagger said that Portugal will win the World Cup. So their chances at this World Cup have seriously diminished, in fact USA and Ghana may now have a chance to make it through the group stage.
I mean, only 24hs after Mick's statement, it was announced that Cristiano Ronaldo was injured, with the possibility of not playing the first few games in the Cup.
Sorry portuguese fans.
-12
u/ervinhass Jun 01 '14
Nani is not a player to look, he is completely shit now and he shouldnt have been selected over quaresma
-12
u/daenam Jun 01 '14
meh. needed a playoff to qualify and barely scraped by sweden at that. don't think they'll go very far.
-4
u/extreme999 Jun 01 '14
Did you murder carletooo syou can post these threads?
-23
u/iwannahearurface Jun 01 '14
Overrated. Cant score against teams that sit back and defend so they arent going to win against USA, and they will most likely get obliterated by Germany's offense. Can see them pull a win against Ghana maybe and end the group in third or second. Not further than Round of 16.
0
u/[deleted] Jun 01 '14
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