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Some didn't want to, others couldn't. This is how we can characterize the match that the whole world was waiting for with great impatience. A lot of fight, intransigence and desire came from both teams, but, in some ways, it played a cruel joke on them. In fact, both teams had nothing to fight for. The situation in Group H, which this quartet advances to in the 1/8 finals, is confusing beyond belief. The first, as well as the last, places can be taken by almost all teams, therefore, for those who wanted to avoid the match with Spain in the reporting match, it was akin to playing roulette.
Another debutant appeared on the field as part of the Portuguese national team, whom Queiroz had been counting on for a long time and was waiting for his recovery after a severe injury received about six months ago as part of Real Madrid. Pepe did not spoil the porridge, but at the beginning of the second half it became clear that the defender physically could not keep up with his partners, which did not go unnoticed by the Portuguese coach, who replaced Pepe with Pedro Mendes.
The Brazilians had a lot of changes in their lineup compared to the last match against Ivory Coast. Two of them were caused by the inability to play the injured Elano and the disqualified Kaka in the match. Dunga decided to save his leader Robinho, releasing Nilmar in his place. Appeared on field Daniel Alves (who, together with Maicon, was active on the right side) and Julio Baptista, who, looking ahead, looked rather slow and clumsy compared to his partners.
About the game... And there's not much to say about it. At moments it seemed that the teams were not competing in a World Cup match, but in an ordinary friendly match with a certain element of passion. Sometimes these passions developed into rudeness, which resulted in 7 yellow cards, inexplicable for such a fight. You can also remember the moment among the Portuguese in which Juan interrupted Ronaldo's one-on-one with his hand, for which he received only a yellow card...
Nilmar had his own ordinary chance, who was unable to complete the cross from the left flank at the far goal post. But it’s also worth noting Ramirez’s clumsy but successfully ricocheted shot at the end of the match and Eduardo’s brilliant save. The result is a fighting but boring draw, which puts both teams participating in the playoffs in anticipation of the evening match, where they will root for the victories of Chile and Switzerland.
Maxim GROZNY, website
Portugal - Brazil - 0:0
Portugal: Eduardo, Bruno Alves, Danny, Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul Meireles (Miguel Veloso, 84), Pepe (Pedro Mendes, 64), Ricardo Carvalho, Ricardo Costa, Sergio Duda (Simao, 54), Tiago, Fabio Coentrão.
Brazil: Julio Cesar, Luis Fabiano (Graffite 85), Daniel Alves, Gilberto Silva, Felipe Melo (Josue 44), Joao Silveira, Lucio, Maicon, Michel Bastos, Nilmar, Julio Baptista (Santos Ramirez 82).
Sergio Duda, 25. Tiago, 31. Pepe, 40. Fabio Coentrao, 45. - Luis Fabiano, 15. Joao Silveira, 25. Felipe Melo, 43.
The decisive matches of the 2010 World Cup in Group G were not at all fateful in nature, because in order for a sensation to break out there had to be a coincidence of two outcomes that seemed completely unrealistic in both matches.
Brazil: Cesar, Maicon, Lucio, Joao, Bastos, D. Alves, F. Melo (Josue 43), Gilberto Silva, Baptista (Ramirez 82), Nilmar, L. Fabiano (Graffite 86).
Judge: Benito Archundia (Mexico).
Warnings: Duda, 24, Tiago, 31, Pepe, 40, Coentrao, 44 - L. Fabiano, 14, Joao, 24.
June 25. Moses Mabhida Stadium (Durban).
Brazil, calmly and pragmatically, having not yet demonstrated its signature bright football, scored six points in matches against the national teams of the DPRK and Côte d'Ivoire. The style of play that Dunga instills in the national team caused criticism from aesthetes and football gourmets, but the players, who spent an incredibly difficult and eventful club season, in no way conflicted with the “coach,” realizing that the game shown was far from the limit of the “Seleção.” In particular, Lucio said on the eve of the match: “Our plan is to improve our game from match to match, as was the case at the World Cup in Korea and Japan. Portugal is at the same technical level as Brazil, we shouldn’t expect an easy games."
The Portuguese, having finished a dry peace with Côte d'Ivoire, had plenty of fun in the match against the DPRK, scoring seven unanswered goals to Kim Jong Hun's team. The match with the Brazilian national team was a kind of test of strength for the Portuguese, the result of which would not affect anything. Carlos Queiroz radiated obvious satisfaction after the match with the team from the DPRK: “The most important thing for us is to secure access to the next round. It’s good that in the last meeting we managed to score a lot of goals and now we don’t have to beat Brazil.”
Interestingly, both teams have not yet lost in 2010. The Brazilians have a 100 percent record (5 wins out of 5 matches), and Queiroz's men won four matches and twice peacefully disagreed with their opponents. Before the matches, specialists from the well-known bookmaker Betfair did not give a clear preference to any of the teams (2.5 for Dunga’s team to win and 3.8 for the Portuguese), but naturally, they put the chances of the “Samba Kings” a little higher.
The coaches decided to slightly shuffle the squads after the previous matches in order to provide playing practice to the players of the close reserve. Noteworthy is the appearance of Dani Alves, Julio Baptista and Onorato Nilmar, who replaced the injured Elano, Robinho and the suspended Kaka. For the Portuguese, Ricardo Costa and Sergio Duda came on from the first minutes. The Brazilians seized a territorial advantage in the opening, but Maicon's connections to the attack, as well as Daniel Alves' shots from distance, turned out to be ineffective. The Portuguese were targeting Thiago, but his shot immediately after a flank cross from Raul Meireles turned out to be inaccurate. A few minutes later, another dangerous moment happened for Queiroz's team: Ronaldo's pass was interrupted by Juan with his hand behind the defenders, who received a yellow card, with which Duda clearly disagreed, whom Benito Archundia also awarded the yellow card for his indignation.
The Brazilians' sharp attack was completed by Nilmar, who broke away from the defenders and shot from three meters, but the ball from Eduardo's hands, hitting the post, did not fly into the goal. The teams did not please the fans with an abundance of dangerous moments in the first half, but the number of yellow cards and minor fouls in the center of the field was unnecessary. The blows of Maicon and Nilmar were powerful, but not aimed. The same Douglas Maicon, with a serve from the flank, found Fabiano in the penalty area, who was missed by the defenders, but Luis’ shot did not change the score on the scoreboard. The teams then went to the break without showing even a hint of double-edged football in the first half. So yourself friendly match with unreasonably harsh actions of football players in the selection.
In the opening of the second half, temporary activity came from Ronaldo. The Real Madrid player broke through twice along the left flank, but Cristiano failed to make a targeted pass, and with a free kick from 35 meters, Ronaldo could hardly have seriously disturbed Cesar. Luis Fabiano's attempt to head Eduardo after Alves' cross was unsuccessful. The Portuguese succeeded in a most dangerous counter-attack: Ronaldo brilliantly beat his opponent on the flank, but Lucio was unable to get past. However, he threw the ball across the goal, right into the path of Meireles, who was unable to push the ball into the net from a ridiculous distance - Cesar parried the ball and, apparently, strained his back. After receiving medical attention, the Brazilian goalkeeper continued the game.
Knowing the score in the parallel match, the teams did not show any activity. Everything suited the Portuguese, who did not strive to win and take first place, because the possible opponents of the first team of Group G were not just anyone, but the Spanish national team! Occasionally they tried to create something in front, but all their attempts were in vain. Substitute Simão stood out and livened up the game a bit. In one of the episodes, Simão broke through on the left flank and crossed to Ronaldo, who got ahead of Juan and shot - again inaccurately.
Both coaches made a number of substitutions, but those who came to Moses Mabhidu did not see any goals scored in this match. Substitute Ramirez was active, but he also failed to score. The match turned out to be one of the first round matches of this World Cup group stage. The teams retreated throughout the match without spending much effort, secured their place in the playoffs and turned their attention to the evening matches, where in Group H the Chileans, Spaniards and Swiss will fight to continue their fight at the World Cup.