Euro 2008 Live Blog: Portugal v. Turkey

Match number 2 for the day and the tournament pits one of the favorites Portugal against the mighty Turks. Well, they were mighty back in the day. Way back in the day. Portugal is "led" by all-world player Cristiano Ronaldo. But, the Portuguese squad has a lot of other top-notch talent with Quaresma, Deco, Carvalho, Ferreira, Nani and so on. A surfeit of offensive talent with some stout defenders. The question is whether they can play as a team. Whether the Ronaldo Real Madrid saga will weigh him and them down.

Turkey on the other hand. I know absolutely nothing about them. That doesn't mean they aren't good, it just means they are not covered by the English media. I hope they can take Ronaldo down because I am tired of his winking, diving and spotlight chasing. It seems he can't get enough of his name in the headlines and likes to tease his team and suitors. It's sickening. Oh well, such is life. He is supremely talented and a joy to watch really.

Lineups after the jump...

Turkey

23 Volkan Demirel (G)
2 Servet Cetin (D)
4 Gokhan Zan (D)
3 Hakan Kadir Balta (D)
7 Mehmet Aurelio (M)
22 Hamit Altintop (M)
5 Belozoglu Emre (M)
8 Nihat Kahveci (F)
17 Tuncay Sanli (F)
18 Colin Kazim-Richards (F)
26 Mevlut Erding (F)

Portugal

1 Ricardo (G)
4 Bosingwa (D)
16 Ricardo Carvalho (D)
2 Paulo Ferreira (D)
15 Pepe (D)
8 Petit (M)
20 Deco (M)
11 Simão (M)
7 Cristiano Ronaldo (M)
10 João Moutinho (M)
21 Nuno Gomes (F)

You can hit me up on Gmail Chat (thefansattic[at]gmail[dot]com) or on AOL at thefansatticblog.

Still can't find an English feed.

So, I think this will be a 3-1 win for Portugal. There will be 836 stepovers by Ronaldo in this match as he tries to show off to the world and 47 dives.


0:00 And we're under way!

2:00 An early corner for Portugal as they have been on the Turkey half since kickoff.

4:00 An early booking for Kazim Richards. For what? I don't know.

6:00 Ronaldo does a few stutter steps and the pushes to the right into the center of the pitch and skies one over the goal. Like Ronaldo of old.

9:00 Servet Cervin down for turkey after an awkward slide left his left knee folded under him.

11:00 Turkey has a free kick way out on the left sideline about equal with the 18, but it only results in an easy save for Ricardo.

13:00 A very nice buildup by Turkey but in the end the final cross was lacking as the striker could not get on the end of it.

17:00 Turkey is lucky that goal by Pepe was called back as he was in an offside position on the header from a nice cross on the sideline.

18:00 The ref isn't really letting anything go at this point, which will favor Portugal with their technical proficiency.

20:00 Dangerous free kick outside of the box for Turkey that deflects off the wall for a corner, which proves harmless. On the other end, Turkey then concedes a corner.

23:00 Ugh...Portugal is the worst. A bunch of nancies (Simao) that go down with the lightest of touch. I hate that.

Portuguese Manager Felipe Scolari would be played by Gene Hackman in a movie, right?


27:00 I have to say I have been impressed with Turkey so far. The back line has played fairly well and they are counter-attacking creating some opportunities. That's all you can ask I think.

32:00 Deco offside. Portugal is really pushing the attack looking for that first goal. It will come eventually as the Turkish backline is starting to leak.

37:00 Dangerous Portugal free kick just outside the box.

38:00 Ronaldo lined up over it and almost put his side in the lead, but the ball bounced off the far post as Ricardo was beaten well.

41:00 Successive corners but no blood yet for Portugal. Turkey concedes another.

42:00 And another. I think it is officially a siege now.

45:00 +1 And that's the half. 0-0 Turkey must be pleased. Portugal looks dangerous and Ronaldo hasn't had much to do with it.

See you in 15.

Slate has an article up about the best websites and books to read during Euro 2008. The list is incomplete. We were not listed.

46:00 And we're back. Food in me belly and 45 minutes left. I'm ready. I had a nice two-hour pickup game this morning (Pacific Coast time), but didn't sleep much last night.

50:00 High comedy. Simao was taken out just outside the box, but the ref played advantage but Portugal could not capitalize hitting the left post with no damage inflicted. It's like they are the Swiss but with more talent.

53:00 If Turkey can keep Portugal out of the net, they will have to be happy about the result. But, there is an interminable amount of time until the whistle.


60:00 Somebody applied the defibrillator to the Turkish offense. Finally getting some chances again.

62:00 Goal!!! 1-0 Portugal. Pepe with goal after a nice 1-2 with Moutinho Gomes up the middle of the box. Finally. Maybe the Turkish offense should have stayed vegetative.

64:00 Ian writes: not a fan of the portugese kits.

I agree. They are just a bit too tight for my liking.

65:00 Gomes almost makes it 2-0 with a nice header off the crossbar.

68:00 Nani comes on for Gomes and Ronaldo gets the captain's armband. Really? Is he that much of a leader or are they just stroking his ego?

73:00 The ref missed an obvious handball on Simao and Sabrioglu gets a yellow for protesting. Ain't that a bitch.

76:00 Senturk on for Altintop who is not match fit coming back from the dreaded broken metatarsal.

78:00 As Nani holds the ball too long, the announcer on my feed keeps saying "Nani, Nani, Nani, Nani" but he sounds like one of the aliens from that SNL skit where the boyfriend meets the family and they are totally weird eating melted ice cream and very uncomfortable seating.

82:00 Again, Turkey cannot capitalize on its few chances sending a header from a corner wide left. That has to get on frame at a minimum.

85:00 Mike Georger asks "Why doesn't Quaresma play more for Portugal?" A: FIFA caps the number of stepovers a team can have in each match. Portugal doesn't want to exceed the cap and face penalty.

90:00 Turkey just blew another great chance to level. At the spot kick mark, a Turkish player completely whiffed, or as I know it "Fraziered", on a volley as he was unmarked in the area. Turkey really needed to capitalize on its chances to win today and it has been painfully obvious that has not happened.

90:00 +2 Deco off for Meira

90:00 +3 GOAL!!! 2-0 Portugal. Meireles scores the capper and Portugal gets the victory. A game of missed chances on both sides, but Portugal had more chances and finally knocked a couple in.

See you all tomorrow. Not sure if we will have a Live Blog, but most certainly an open thread.

Thanks for stopping by.