footballportugal

footballportugal

17/10/04

SuperLiga - 6th Jornada

Benfica 0-1 FC Porto

Benfica : Moreira, Miguel, Luisão, Ricardo Rocha, Fyssas, Petit, Manuel Fernandes (Zahovic, 71 m), João Pereira (Karadas, 26 m), Geovanni, Simão, Nuno Gomes.

FC Porto: Vítor Baía, Seitaridis, Jorge Costa, Pepe, Ricardo Costa, Costinha, Maniche; Diego (Ricardo Quaresma, 84 m), Carlos Alberto (Bosingwa, 70 m), McCarthy, Derlei (Areias, 63 m).

Man of the Match: Jorge Costa - FC Porto (A rock at the heart of Porto's defence)

Benfica huffed and puffed to beat the Champions and pull seven points clear, but ultimately they were outplayed by a team of a much higher quality to see their lead at the top whittled away to just one point with respect to their northern rivals.

Porto were ahead as early as the 10th minute, Fyssas clearing badly and gifting McCarthy, whose instinct for goal guided a thirty metre shot swinging past Moreira. It was an uphill struggle from then on for Benfica, and while no one can deny their effort, what they really needed was method. Their best chances came from long shots or free-kicks, but there was always Baía or bad aim to stop them levelling. Up the other end, FC Porto might have gone further ahead but for the greediness of Diego and Carlos Alberto after mazey runs. Trapattoni brought on Karadas as early as the 26th minute to give Nuno Gomes some help between the excellent Jorge Costa and Pepe.

Karadas, not the world's most talented striker, does have the advantage of a strong physical presence, and this did unsettle the Porto back four at times. Two minutes into the second half, a swinging cross by Miguel from the right was met at the back post by Karadas, but at the moment of shooting he appeared to be pulled back by Seitaridis. The shot flew wide, Karadas protested, but instead of a penalty, he got a yellow.

On the hour, both sides were reduced to ten when Pepe and Nuno Gomes were involved in a tussle after a free-kick had been awarded to Benfica and were shown red cards. Benfica it was who suffered most from the loss as Porto reorganised smoothly at the back with the entry of Areias and Benfica lost a little bit of fire power.

Trapattoni looked at his bench and the cupboard was bare of anyone who might make a difference to events .... except for veteran Zahovic, who came on 71 minutes. He took just two to bring danger to Baía's goal, starting and finishing a move that involved Fyssas but heading lamely into Baía's hands.

Benfica claimed a goal on 80 when a fierce shot from Petit from 25 metres spun out of Baía's hands and looked to have crossed the line before the ´keeper could scoop it out and away, but neither the referee not the linesman were willing to hear the Benfica appeals. Benfica's spirit waned after that point, and it was Porto who had the last good chance of the game, Quaresma loping sdown the left in added time and squaring the ball for Maniche whose rocket was tipped wide by Moreira.

Benfica can have some reason to complain about the referee's decisions on the night, but fundamentally they weren't up to the challenge of a Porto team that has strength in depth and appears to be finding itself after a disrupted start to the season.

13/10/04

2006 World Cup Qualifier (Alvalade, Lisbon)

Portugal 7-1 Russia

Portugal: Ricardo, Miguel, Ricardo Carvalho, Jorge Andrade, Paulo Ferreira, Costinha, Maniche (Petit, 72 m), Cristiano Ronaldo (Luís Boa Morte, 84 m), Deco, Simão, Pauleta (Nuno Gomes, 66 m).

Russia: Malafeev, Evseev, Bugaev, Ignashevich, Sennikov (Gusev, 46 m), Aldonin (Boyarintsev, 71 m), Smertin, Anyukov, Arshavin, Bulykin, Sychev (Kirichenko, 46 m).

Man of the Match: Cristiano Ronaldo (scored two, made two)

This was a Portuguese performance of consummate assurance, following an edgy first twenty minutes or so, when the home players seemed over-anxious after the awful draw in Liechtenstein, so that shots and passes were not hitting the mark, and you could sense the crowd pursing their lips to start the whistling. Russia put a couple of good moves together early on, foiled by good challenges at the death by Ricardo Carvalho and Jorge Andrade. But Russia had eight players behind the ball all the time, and their strategy was clear. It was to prove disastrous for them.

On 27 minutes, the deadlock was broken: Miguel, back at right back after injury and showing all his customary aggression (in the positive sense of the word) and adventure, found Cristiano on the right, and the Manchester United star (not an exaggerated term for his perfomance on the night) crossed low for Pauleta to tap in for his 34th goal for his country. It could all have been a different story if Smertin's vicious volley fromt he edge of the box on 40 minutes had gone either side of Ricardo, but it went straight at him, and the Sporting 'keeper instinctively punched it over. It was a vital moment, because a minute later the ball was up the other end, Deco  touched a corner to Pauleta and the first-goal combination was reversed, Cristiano Ronaldo rifling in.from close range.

It must be the first time it's happened in a  Portugal game, but there were now "olés!" and Mexican waves ... before half-time. However, if Russia had managed to hold out until the break, they might have snatched something later - Liechtenstein did, after all - but it was not to be. In the first of many moments of brilliance, Deco won the ball on the halfway line, fed Paulo Ferreira, received the ball back on the edge of the area, looked up, waited for a defender to obscure 'keeper Malfeev's view of the ball and curled it deliciously, low and just inside the right hand post. The players went off to a standing ovation ... from fans who would have had the knives out if things had not gone right on the night.

On any other occasion, Portugal might have been forgiven for taking their foot off the gas, but they'd been burnt in Liechtenstein in similar circumstances, and the second half proved to be the players' - and Scolari's - reunion with the fans. Russia came out strongly and pushed Portugal back momentarily, helped by the entrance of Gusev and Kirichenko, who put a bit more urgency into their play. But by the hour mark, when no goals had gone in, Russia had shot their bolt, and Portugal came back ... and how! On 70 minutes, Maniche found Cristiano Ronaldo on the left (he had been changing wings with Simão throughout - a useful disorienting tactic) and the ex-Sporting youngster, returning home, took the ball inside, looked up, and with no pressure put on him by a disgracefully permissive Russian defence, swung the ball into the top right-hand corner.

It was all assuming fish-in-a-barrel proportions, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Petit, on as sub, both going close. There was a minor hiccup on 80 minutes when Arshavin scored with a replica of Deco's first half  goal, but then the flood gates well-and-truly opened. Simão took a pass from that man again Cristiano Ronaldo on 82 and found the top right hand corner from 25 metres. The Benfica captain passed to co-Benfiquista Petit on 88 for him to drive low into the left of the net, and in added time the same Petit crashed a 25-metre free-kick into the top-left hand corner.

At the end of the game, the Portuguese players, who too often slink off when performances are less than perfect, stood in the centre-cricle and milked the crowd. Ad this time, nobody could say they didn't deserve it.