Portugal vs Brazil: Semi Predictions
On the eve of the Quarter finals, here are my thoughts on the matches.
England vs Portugal
England has been god awful and the only thing that has saved them thus far is that they have played some pretty weak teams. I can’t see them getting past Portugal this weekend. Yeah, Deco & Costinha are blows, but Portugal has made it this far without Deco (he has played in, what 2 matches?) Last I read Ronaldo should be good to go as well and if he is facing Gary Neville I think Ronaldo will win the battles.
England just look brutal playing with a lone striker up front – and the midfield is awful, for the amount of talent they have there. Lampard has had about 60 shots on net and hasn’t scored, and the heat seems to kill all of them (the sight of Beck’s losing his cookies on the field in the Ecuador game was quite funny – I wonder if he can get an endorsement deal from Gravol for that little purge?)
Portugal beat them in 2004 and 2002 at the Euro and last WC and I think they will do it again. And the English will be left wondering what kind of magic might have happened in 2010 if they had signed Scolari.
Brazil vs France
Brazil has so much depth. Take their entire starting 11 off the pitch and they could still field a wining team. That said, it is one game and anything can happen. And even though they are old and their manager is an idiot, if France can click with Henry, Trezeguet, Ribery and Zidane scoring some goals and the French defense holds strong (and, despite the creaky limbs they are strong), they might just do it. Brazil seems weak in their central defense and both Henry and Trezeguet have the speed and skill to undress them.
But watching Henry has been such a frustrating experience. Again, like England, playing a lone striker role when you’ve got a guy like Trezeguet (or Saha, for that matter) on the bench doesn’t make sense to me. For this reason, I’m picking Brazil.
I think a Portugal vs Brazil semi would be a fabulous game, if only for the political overtones of former colony/colonizer and the fact that Scolari, Brazil manager in 2002, is now the Portuguese manager. I think that would be a fascinating match up. No one knows the strengths and weaknesses of Brazil like Scolari and should they meet in the semi-finals, I think Big Phil and the Portuguese would give Brazil a run.
Germany vs Argentina
The Germans are surprisingly strong – and, against type, have scored a bucket of goals from all over the pitch. Home field advantage I guess. But while Germany has been strong the Argentina attack has been devastating – this game will be a cracker and the toughest to call. I think it will go to penalties and I relish the thought of seeing Riquelme line up against Lehmann to see if he can extract a bit of revenge against the German keeper for his save against him in the Champions League semi-final.
Italy vs Ukraine
Zzzzzzzzz….Unless Shevie wakes up to shake things up, look for the Italians to roll over them on their way to the semi’s.
