Jun 18th saw a dismal Group F game between Portugal and Austria. Dismal not because it lacked shots, action or drama, dismal because of the tactics the Portuguese set out for. As the game progressed, it started becoming seemingly clear that the Portuguese had come out with nothing but a single plan. PASS IT TO RONALDO. Having a three time Ballon d’Or winner tends to make this style of game play the most logical however as we have seen again and again with Real Madrid, when these plans don’t work, they always have a Plan B to go out with.
Ronaldo had a total of ten shots, three off target, three on target and four blocked by the keeper. Ronaldo also earned himself a penalty which he failed to score making it his 4th miss in his last five penalties (the last he scored a penalty was in the UEFA Champions League final). Ronaldo also took it upon himself to take all the free kicks in and around the penalty box, either of which he thumped against the wall or missed the target with his late in dipping free kicks. Ronaldo has now attempted 36 direct free kicks for Portugal in major tournaments and has failed to score. The Madrid man could have found some redemption after he scored an excellent header, only to be turned down by the ref for deeming it to be off side.
Much of Portugal’s misery is not entirely concentrated around Ronaldo’s performance. Portugal’s qualification run for the Euros speak for their performance as well. The Portuguese managed to win their matches with only a difference of one goal. It is no surprise they are ranked 48th in “Opta’s list of the most thrilling and entertaining teams”. Jao Moutinho, Nani, Carvalho, Quaresma and Pepe are some of the big names in an ageing Portuguese squad. The squad has a lot of potential and promise but little to show for on the pitch where all you are told is to find the superstar.
“Any team that has Ronaldo has to be dependent on Ronaldo” – Fernando Santos
The Portuguese coach Fernando Santos has to be blamed for the poor overall team performance, lack of ideas, creativity and an uninspirational display. The former Greece coach is overlooking talented youth and playing aged players like Carvalho (38). When you set out a game plan around one person it makes you predictable for opponents. Austrians did man mark Ronaldo a lot of the times and didn’t isolate him often inside the box. Austrian goal keeper Robert Almer had a good performance last night with numerous safes in a match which saw his team sit deep and defend
Portugal now sit in third place with two points along with Iceland. A win for them against Hungary would confirm their place in the last 16.
