Portugal losses out in diving competition
History was against Portugal in their match against France today. These two nations have never met in the World Cup but in the last six international meetings between them, France has won all.
France has also been the stumbling block for Portugal in the European Championship, twice denying Portugal a place in the finals. In both 1984 and 2000, France emerged winners after dramatic periods of extra time.
So Portugal went into this semifinal today with the determination to break this cycle of losing and gain revenge over the French. As for the French, it was just a matter of continuing where they left off against Spain and Brazil in the World Cup.
Sadly for Portugal, this wretched record continues. France beat them yet again, this time through a Zidane penalty in the 33th minute, just as how his penalty sent the Portuguese home in the 2000 European Championship semifinals.
Apart from that goal, France however did not contribute much in this dull match. It was Portugal who had all the possession and did all the attacking. They tried everything to get level in this match. They tried the long shots, putting the ball into the French penalty box, crossing from either sides and diving everywhere in the pitch.
As the final minutes drew closer, their dramatic divings and falls happened very often in the French penalty box – they were all at it, none guiltier than Cristiano Ronaldo, Pauleta, and Helder Postiga.
If only they had stood firm on their feet and tried to shoot the ball! They also had one splendid opportunity when French keeper Fabien Barthez fumbled a Ronaldo freekick, giving Figo an opportunity to head into the open net. Figo headed wide.
Thankfully the referee was never conned by the Portuguese theatrics but still the match was decided on a dive which resulted in the French penalty. I thought Thierry Henry fell in a dramatic manner when his leg was caught unintentionally by Carvalho. The referee thought it was a foul and Zidane made no mistake from the spot.
So as it happens, Portugal now play Germany for the third spot while France will take on Italy on July 9. However the French will have to improve tremendously if they want to be a worthy world champion.
History was against Portugal in their match against France today. These two nations have never met in the World Cup but in the last six international meetings between them, France has won all.France has also been the stumbling block for Portugal in the European Championship, twice denying Portugal a place in the finals. In both 1984 and 2000, France emerged winners after dramatic periods of extra time.
So Portugal went into this semifinal today with the determination to break this cycle of losing and gain revenge over the French. As for the French, it was just a matter of continuing where they left off against Spain and Brazil in the World Cup.
Sadly for Portugal, this wretched record continues. France beat them yet again, this time through a Zidane penalty in the 33th minute, just as how his penalty sent the Portuguese home in the 2000 European Championship semifinals.Apart from that goal, France however did not contribute much in this dull match. It was Portugal who had all the possession and did all the attacking. They tried everything to get level in this match. They tried the long shots, putting the ball into the French penalty box, crossing from either sides and diving everywhere in the pitch.
As the final minutes drew closer, their dramatic divings and falls happened very often in the French penalty box – they were all at it, none guiltier than Cristiano Ronaldo, Pauleta, and Helder Postiga.
If only they had stood firm on their feet and tried to shoot the ball! They also had one splendid opportunity when French keeper Fabien Barthez fumbled a Ronaldo freekick, giving Figo an opportunity to head into the open net. Figo headed wide.
Thankfully the referee was never conned by the Portuguese theatrics but still the match was decided on a dive which resulted in the French penalty. I thought Thierry Henry fell in a dramatic manner when his leg was caught unintentionally by Carvalho. The referee thought it was a foul and Zidane made no mistake from the spot.So as it happens, Portugal now play Germany for the third spot while France will take on Italy on July 9. However the French will have to improve tremendously if they want to be a worthy world champion.
posted by Kabilan K at
11:05 PM
1 Comments:
I would have really liked to see the outcome of the match had that penalty not been awarded to France. They shed their attacking mode the moment they scored the goal. Though I was rooting for France, i thought the refree awarded them an unfair advantage.
With a nil-nil on the board the match would have been so much more entertaining. It was a stark contrast to the Italy-Germany match that packed in the action from the word go and didn't lose it till the wee minutes.
I think France would have won whether or not that penalty came their way. But it did and it deprived us of some world class action that was displayed in the Brazil match.
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Anonymous, at 5:54 AM
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