PORTUGAL LATEST NEWS

[Frank Cunha]

Greece
Nikopolodis 8
Seltaridis 6
Dellas 6
Kapsis 6
Fyssas 6
Giannakopoulos 4
Karagounis 2
Zagorakis 8
Tsartas 4
Charisteas 6
Nikolaidis 6

subs
Basinas 6
Lakis 6
Venitidis 4
Katsouranis 4
Papadopoulos 2
Georgiadis 4
Dabizas 2

coach Otto Rehhage 6

ref E. Torres [Spain ] 8 good rate for the referee

[Frank Cunha]

I forgot Simao 6.

[Frank Cunha]

5,000 portuguese will be in France to support the team, in the Stadium of Gabriel Montepied, anybody know the capacity?
20,000 portuguese work in the city of Clermont-Ferrand


EMIGRANTES EM FORÇA
Sub-21: Cinco mil a apoiar Portugal

Portugal tem pela frente uma selecção reconhecidamente poderosa como é a França mas escusa-se de se preocupar com o ambiente. Mesmo actuando em solo gaulês as "jovens pérolas" lusas vão actuar praticamente em casa já que está prevista a presença de mais de cinco mil portugueses nas bancadas do Stade Gabriel Montepied esta noite.

A presença da selecção das quinas tem motivado forte agitação na comunidade portuguesa (estimada em cerca de 20 mil emigrantes) radicada em Clermont-Ferrand, cidade fabril que emprega muitos lusos. Os preços dos bilhetes variam entre os 8, 15 e 25 euros.

Autor: JOÃO RUI RODRIGUES. CLERMONT-F

[Frank Cunha]

Ronaldo scored one in the first half, assisted on the other

on penalties Postiga scored, Ronaldo scored the last penalty

[verde-rubro]

Portugal have it all to do
Tuesday, 18 November 2003
Portugal have a small mountain to climb when they visit Clermont-Ferrand to face Raymond Domenech's in-form France side in one of Tuesday's four UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-off matches.

Remarkable run
France's 2-1 first-leg victory in Guimaraes on Saturday makes them favourites to advance to next May's finals. It also continues a remarkable run of form for Les Espoirs, who are unbeaten in 15 games and have yet to concede a home goal in the competition.

Return of Tiago
However, it is not all gloom for Portugal who will be strengthened by the return in midfield of SL Benfica's Tiago, who skipped the first leg with flu. What is more, they will have the support of some 5,000 Portuguese supporters in Clermont-Ferrand, an area with a large Portuguese immigrant population.

'Best shot'
Coach José Romão, who has lost Jorge Ribeiro to suspension, insisted the tie was far from over as he said: "There are still 90 minutes to play, and even when there's just a minute left, we will be giving it our best shot. We know it is going to be difficult but we also recognise that we have the ability to win through."

The cards are in our hands
Uli Stielike
'In our hands'
Germany coach Uli Stielike insisted the pressure was on Turkey as his team look to defend a 1-0 advantage in Istanbul. Stielike, who is missing the suspended Alexander Madlung, said: "The cards are in our hands and we are capable of challenging the Turks. They are under pressure, not us."

Schied called up
Maik Franz is expected to replace Madlung in Germany's defence, while Stielike will hope forwards Mike Hanke and Benjamin Lauth recover from their respective calf and hip problems. The coach has called up Marcel Schied from VfL Osnabrück as a precaution.

In the first game, we suffered a surprise defeat but I trust my players
Rasit Çetiner
'I trust my players'
His Turkish counterpart, Rasit Çetiner, has doubts over Ibrahim Toraman and Servet Çetin because of injuries. Cetiner stressed the importance of the match when he said: "We want to complete our two-and-a-half year project. In the first game, we suffered a surprise defeat but I trust my players."

Suspended defenders
Scotland have a tough task as they look to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit at home against Croatia. Coach Rainer Bonhof is without suspended defenders Gary Caldwell and David McCracken, which means a likely start for Stewart Duff at full-back. Bonhof is hopeful, however, that Caldwell's fellow centre-back John Kennedy will shrug off an ankle injury and play. Garry O'Connor may have to settle for a place on the bench after recovering from a virus.

Two goals is not such a hard deficit to come back from
Rainer Bonhof
Croatia missing pair
Bonhof said: "We simply didn't play in the first half in Croatia, but we showed a lot more in the second. We need a repeat of that. Two goals is not such a hard deficit to come back from - imagine we get an early goal, it can happen." It certainly helps Scotland that Croatia are shorn of Marko Babic and Niko Kranjcar, who have joined the senior squad to face Slovenia.

'A step away'
The side most confident of progress must be Serbia and Montenegro, following their 5-1 defeat of Norway on Friday. Coach Vladimir Petrovic is without the injured Vladimir Disljenkovic and Nemanja Vidic, together with captain Marjan Markovic, who is suspended. Petrovic has not drafted in any replacements, though, and said: "The three missing players will not affect us. We know we are just a step away from the finals."

1-2 to portugal 3-3 on agg 1-4 on pens to portugal :danc:


dirty frogs diveing and time wasting playing for the pens dirty cheating frogs net: man of the match cristian ronaldo with 1 goal and 1 short against the post that came back and hit the keeper on the head and went out for a corner , unlucky not to have gone in. :danc:

[Jager]

:danc: :danc:

[Frank Cunha]

great win for Portugal, the final of the European Cup U21 will be a couple weeks before the Euro 04, some of this players will be left out to play with the A team

[Carlo Ramos]

:danc: :danc:

Força Portugal!!!!

C. Ronaldo

Did Danny play?

[Carlo Ramos]

Fantastic result. Shame RTPi never put it on TV!!! :x

Are we qualified for next years Olympic Games in Athens?

[Frank Cunha]

he also scored the important and final penalty

when Postiga scored the goal on a penalty I knew we had it.

[Frank Cunha]

Danny will play next year in the finals of the Euro U21, some players like Ronaldo, Tiago, Quaresma will be with the A team for the European CUP

[Carlo Ramos]

Did Danny play today?

[Frank Cunha]

I don't think so, believe the subs were Lourenco, Makukula and Carlos Martins

Meireles had a great game, he looks like Petit and he also plays for Boavista

[Frank Cunha]

UEFA probes trashing of Portugal under-21 dressing room

PARIS, Nov 19 (Reuters) - UEFA will investigate incidents at Tuesday's European under-21 championship playoff between France and Portugal after the Portuguese dressing room at Clermont-Ferrand was trashed.

Portugal won in a penalty shoot-out after their 2-1 victory over 10-man France in the second leg left the two sides tied 3-3 on aggregate.

L'Equipe newspaper reported on Wednesday that France under-21 manager Raymond Domenech had complained to the Portugal delegation about the damage to the dressing room.

"It's a disgrace," Domenech was quoted as saying.

A French federation spokesman said: "To leave a dressing room in such a state can only be done deliberately or they were out of their minds. If it was done deliberately, then that's serious."

European soccer's governing body said in a statement on Wednesday: "UEFA has ordered an investigation into incidents that took place on the bench and in the dressing room."

The French federation spokesman said that while passions ran high during the game, he had heard of no incidents involving players either on the bench or in the tunnel.

The Portuguese delegation also refused to take part in doping controls that French officials conducted at the game.

The game fell under UEFA jurisdiction and the French federation spokesman said the Portuguese were within their rights to refuse to take part in national doping controls.

UEFA has also launched a disciplinary inquiry after crowd trouble marred Tuesday's under-21 qualifier between Turkey and Germany in Istanbul.


Updated on Wednesday, Nov 19, 2003 11:02 am EST

[Frank Cunha]

Portuguese blame it on a low ceiling, that came down, the portuguese federation was represented and saw what happen, and by been young and wild, how many teams beat France at any age group.l :danc:


Futebol – Sub-21 justificam incidentes com «euforia de gente jovem»


ASF
O «capitão» Ricardo Costa, Bruno Alves, Tiago e Raul Meireles já justificaram os estragos causados nos balneários do Estádio Gabriel Montpied, após o jogo frente à França, que valeu o apuramento de Portugal para o Campeonato da Europa de sub-21.


«O que aconteceu foi o resultado de muita euforia e emoção, até porque a Direcção da Federação e os técnicos estavam lá. Atirámos pessoas ao ar e o tecto era muito baixo e frágil, pelo que acabou por cair», explicou Ricardo Costa, para quem não houve qualquer espécie de exagero nos festejos.

Também Raúl Meireles justificou os incidentes nos balneários com o facto de o tecto ser demasiado baixo, mas já Bruno Alves alinhou pelo mesmo diapasão de Ricardo Costa, considerando mesmo que, caso a vitória tivesse sorrido à França, teria acontecido o mesmo. «É a euforia normal de se ter vencido um adversário muito forte. Talvez apenas se tenha festejado efusivamente de mais», realçou.

A finalizar, Tiago mostrou-se o jogador com mais sentido auto-crítico deste quarteto, atribuindo os «lamentáveis» incidentes à juventude: «Foram festejos naturais entre gente jovem. Exaltámo-nos um pouco, o que foi lamentável e por isso mesmo pedimos desculpa», rematou.

19/11/2