June 7, 2008
Portugal 1 Turkey 0
Unlike the 1st game of the tournament, on paper this tie looked dishy and in the 1ts half it was as both teams played entertaining football.
Deco was quite simply the best player on the park in the 1st half as he produced the pass of the tournament so far with a 50 yard pass that should have resulted in a goal scoring opportunity for
Ronaldo provided 2 great moments, 1st was a brilliant run that took him past 4 defenders but finished with a weak shot that was off target and the 2nd was a brilliant free kick from a ridiculous angle that was superbly saved by Volkan.
Pepe did think that he had put his side in front but his header was ruled out by the linesman.
In the 2nd half Portugal had a great chance to score as Simao caught out Gohkan and he took a wild swing at Simao taking him out but as the referee was about to blow for a foul, Nuno Gomez pounced on the ball but hit the post.
Fantastic goal by Pepe in the 60th minute as he played a great 1-2 with Nuno Gomes and then beat the goal keeper to make it 1-0.
Gomez hit the post in the 64th minute following a great cross from Ronaldo.
Asik should really have scored in the 81st minute from a corner kick that he headed wide when unmarked.
Meireles made it 2-0 from a breakaway goal started by Ronaldo, who passed it to Moutinho and his trickery in the box was enough to put him through.
Ratings
Ricardo 5.5 He did not really have too much to do and what he had to do he did competently.
Bosingwa 6.5 He attacked very well as he is very pacey but he seems to take far too many touches than are necessary.
Pepe 6 He took his goal very well and defended well enough but he still prone to the odd error or 2.
Carvalho 7 He just oozes class and nothing went past him all night as he read the game superbly.
Ferreira 5 He was given a torrid time by Kazim-Richards and that sums up his lack of quality both at right and especially at left back.
Petit 6 He was the insurance policy for his side as he made many timely interventions for his more talented team mates.
Moutinho 6 I was not convinced and still not totally convinced about him but he played well enough in patches and his contribution for the 2nd goal was excellent.
Deco 7.5 It was his show tonight as it is great to see an artist at work that does not rely on just pure pace and athleticism as he beat his opponents and sprayed passes at will.
Ronaldo 6 He had a good enough game and gave the Turks lots to worry about throughout.
Gomes 5.5 He had a few chances but he does not seem to be made for the lone striker role as he is too lightweight.
Simao 5 Disappointing display from an overrated player as he struggled to impose himself on the game even when he came across Altintop, who is essentially a right winger.
Substitutes
Nani 5.5 He had some good moments when he came on but was almost kicked out of the tournament by Aurelio.
Meireles 6 He took his goal well.
Meira He was not on the field long enough to be rated.
Scholari 6 He had the far superior side so he did not really have to do much to win but his sticking with Simao always baffles me.
Volkan Demirel 6 He had a good game with some solid saves and 1 world class save.
Altintop 5.5 He is a right winger cum striker asked to play at right back and it showed as he struggled against Ronaldo but held his own against Simao and still went forward whenever he could.
Servet Cetin 6 He showed what sort of hard man he is by continuing to play after what looked like a nasty injury when he saved a shot from Ronaldo but he seems a tad slow.
Gokhan Zan 6 He made a great tackle in the 1st half on Moutinho but he injured himself whilst trying to half Simao is 2.
Hakan Balta 5 He was okay but nothing to crave about.
Kazim-Richards 6 He had a good enough game but it was annoying the ITV commentator kept going on about his performance.
Emre 5 He had a disappointing game as he could not impose himself on the game.
Mehmet Aurelio 6.5 He was
Mehvlut Erding 5.5 He had a decent game as he tried to help his defense against Ronaldo and also try and support the attack as best he could.
Tuncay 4.5 Apart from his diving there is nothing to write about his performance.
Nihat 4.5 Like Tuncay he was hopeless as I was expecting more from him but he did nothing whatsoever.
Substitutes
Sabri 5 He did not really affect the game in any way as he tried a couple of shots that were off target.
Asik 4 He missed a very good chance and apart from that, nothing.
Semih He did do anything to warrant a score
Terim 5 At no point did he indicate that he actually believed he could win this game as he tried nothing at all to go for the equalizer at 1-0.
