Kathaarian wroteWoo he's coming in for Simao now, let's see how he does.
lol he scored. Simão played a poor match today, they closed him down and he barely fought it. Quaresma was at the right place at the right time..
all-round a good match for Portugal. had some shaky moments but stood firm even after the Czech goal. Scolari's substitutions did more harm than good, imo, with the defensive Meira coming in leaving only Deco and the uninspired Simão to handle offensive midfield (plus Ronaldo, but he's more a "doer" than a "thinker" you know?). our football lost some quality then.
Deco was man of the match, it's hard to believe it's the same player who had a shitty season for Barcelona. Nuno Gomes was discrete but crucial (nice one-touch pass in the first goal).
also a note for Petr Cech - BEST GOALKEEPER IN THE WORLD
as for favourites, i see Germany winning this, or maybe Italy if they get their act together. Spain and Portugal are playing some good football but they always screw up against teams with a solid defense (obviously i hope this changes this time round). i definitely have higher hopes for Portugal now than before the competition started, though.