PORTUGAL LATEST NEWS

[Frank Cunha]

u18 International Tournament of Viseu
Rep. Ireland wins these year edition

Portugal tied last game against Turkey
Marcio Sousa of Porto, nickname Maradona, was voted the best player of the tournament

http://www.fpf.pt/noticias/ver_noticia.jsp?n_id=8250

[Frank Cunha]

Coimbra the biggest city in the central of Portugal, the home of the biggest and best portuguese University, they waiting and ready to receive England, France and Switzerland, many of the students will be on the summer vacation, the local people will be taken there vacations
they will have a lot of entertainment, and the local waiters at cafe's, restaurants will speak english, french etc.

the home team Academica Coimbra in the middle 60's finish in the second place in the Portuguese league behind Benfica with a team made of only students, many of the top portuguese players just played for the education, players like Artur Jorge, Toni Oliveira, Rocha, Malo, Wilson etc, after the 25 of April 1974 the club went went profissional

[Frank Cunha]

Last chances to shine for borderline Portuguese players



By Kevin Fylan

LISBON, April 27 (Reuters) - Hugo Viana, Helder Postiga and Fernando Meira have one last chance to push their claims for Euro 2004 places when hosts Portugal face a weakened Sweden in Coimbra on Wednesday.

Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari left five Porto regulars out of his squad ahead of the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Deportivo Coruna next week.


That decision gave the Brazilian room to include several fringe players for Wednesday's game at the rebuilt City stadium in Coimbra, the last before he names his squad for the finals on May 16.

Midfielder Viana, striker Postiga and defender Meira have most to gain from Scolari's generosity.

Viana has rarely featured in the starting line-up at Newcastle United and Postiga is experiencing similar problems at Tottenham Hotspur. However, they have been assured that their club form is of secondary importance.

"I'm not interested if a player is a regular in his team or not," the coach said. "I choose the team on the basis of my convictions."

Meira last played for Portugal in a dismal 3-0 defeat by Spain in September but his form at VfB Stuttgart has been good enough to wipe that performance from Scolari's memory.

The coach is under pressure after a 2-1 defeat by Italy last time out.

Portugal have failed in all six attempts to beat teams that will join them at Euro 2004 since Scolari took over and the Brazilian World Cup winner could do with breaking that sequence now.

He will be helped by the absence of key Swedish players. Midfielder Freddie Ljungberg has been ruled out after missing Arsenal's league title-clinching 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur because of a hand injury.

Defender Michael Svensson has a knee injury and has been replaced in the squad by Heerenveen's Petter Hansson.

Ajax Amsterdam's Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored the goal in Sweden's 1-0 friendly win over England in March, is almost certain to lead the attack but the question of who should partner him up front is still open.

Marcus Allback has had a dreadful season with Aston Villa and his place is under threat from NAC Breda's Johan Elmander, who will move to Brondby in the summer, and Malmo's Niklas Skoog.

Portugal are in Group A in Euro 2004, with Spain, Russia and Greece. Sweden are in Group C, with games against Italy, Denmark and Bulgaria. The tournament runs from June 12 to July 4.

Probable teams:

Portugal: Ricardo Pereira; Miguel Monteiro, Jorge Andrade, Fernando Couto, Rui Jorge; Armando Petit, Nuno Frechaut, Rui Costa, Luis Figo, Simao Sabrosa; Pauleta Resendes

Sweden: Andreas Isaksson; Erik Edman, Johan Mjallby, Olof Mellberg, Teddy Lucic; Kim Kallstrom, Tobias Linderoth, Anders Svensson, Mikael Nilsson; Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Johan Elmander

Referee: Darko Ceferin (Slovenia)


U

[Carlo Ramos]

There is already a thread about this!!

[Carlo Ramos]

Game is on RTP at 21.15, from the Coimbra City stadium.

[Frank Cunha]

half time 1-1, what blunder for Ricardo

-1 at half time, Pauleta to the rescue

Figo missed a penalty

Quim his going to take over for Ricardo, don't be surprise if Baia get's the call in the next game with Luxemburg

[Frank Cunha]

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Quim takes Ricardo spot in goal

Quim with one save in the first minute of the second half

Tiago his also out, he had a bad very first ha

[Frank Cunha]

Simao out Boa Morte in

Figo out and Cristiano Ronaldo in

Pauleta out and Nuno Gomes in

[Frank Cunha]

Fernando Meira In and Hugo Viana also in

Frechaut took over for Tiago at half time

[Frank Cunha]

Fernando Meira playing like he did with Benfica in the midfield

[Frank Cunha]

Miguel out and Helder Postiga in

[Frank Cunha]

Rui Jorge own goal

Portugal-1-Sweden-2

two own goals in the last two games, 5 minutes to go

[Frank Cunha]

Goal Nuno Gomes assisted by Ronaldo

2-2

[Frank Cunha]

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game over

2-2

[Carlo Ramos]

It was a good game to watch until all the substitutions were made and I was very pleased by our first half performance, in particular Figo. I think that if Scolari has any sense then Ricardo has played his last game for Portugal. I think that Quim should be no 1, as he made 2 or 3 good saves in the second half, with Baía the no 2 goalkeeper. This is the second game in a row that Ricardo has made a stupid mistake and it WILL cost us in Euro 2004 if he continues playing.

Also if I was the coach I would not pick Simao. He is crap and we must have a player who is better than him surely. Example: We had a good counter attack in the first half, with 3 attackers against 2 defenders, Simao has the ball and instead of passing to Pauleta or Figo (I think) he shoots a weak shot from 35 yards. What a dick.