Portugal 2 Germany 3
Big Phil Scolari is glad he signed his Chelsea contract before this fiasco !
Otherwise, Abramovich might have gone for Slaven Bilic.
Michael Ballack was steely and composed, a colossal leader. When Ballack coaches Germany, they’ll win three World Cups in a row.
Germany reached the semi-final because they had far more bottle than Portugal. And, as ITV pundit Gary Neville said, “Portugal are a rhythm team who never got their rhythm going tonight.”
The Germans will play the winners of tonight’s Croatia-Turkey game.
Germany started at a high tempo and sustained that well. Lahm was magnetic in the tackle, Ballack imperious, Podolski merciless as a snake with his early kick on Simao’s ankle. Without the atrocious Mario Gomez, Germany looked slick, purposeful and dynamic.
This was, immediately, a different Germany, much more like they were under Klinsmann two summers ago. Lahm was far too good for Simao and when Portugal failed to convert two great crosses from overlapping right back Bosingwa, it was clear this would not be their night.
After 22, a fantastic goal by Schweinsteiger, stabbing in Podolski’s killer cross from the left wing after he was allowed to run unmarked to the near post. After 26, the unmarked Klose headed in Schweinsteiger’s free kick. Looked like game over. In 40, great work by Deco and Simao gave Ronaldo a chance to use his pace and hit Lehmann with a shot which rebounded to Nuno Gomes, who smacked it in off the leg of Mertesacker for 2-1. Ronaldo’s power go him into a shooting position.
A good contest. In 46, a Ronaldo shot beat Lehmann and the far post, not by much. Right back Friedriech stepped on Ronaldo’s foot after bringing him down. Lahm, too, got a yellow card for a foul on Simao. When Deco flicked on a corner, Pepe headed over from three yards. Four minutes later, Schweinsteiger took a long free kick, an inswinger, and Ballack pushed his Chelsea teammate Paulo Ferreira just enough and headed in with keeper Ricardo nowhere yet again. I knew Ricardo would be like that, so I didn’t bet on the game.
Big Phil waited 66 minutes before replacing the powderpuff Nuno Gomes, a passenger, with Nani, a vibrant winger who can make things happen. The game was over, really, as Portugal took pot-shots from 25 yards. Then in 87, Nani crossed and Postiga headed in.
Cristiano Ronaldo had good 15-minute spell but by the last ten minutes he had completely gone mentally. He was not concentrating at all. Best player in the world? In a Manchester United shirt, yes.
Scolari played Nuno Gomes for political reasons and that was a mistake. Ronaldo hates playing in the middle but Nani likes it, so Nani should have come on much sooner, had some shots, won some free-kicks.
When you have a keeper as bad as Ricardo, your back four does things it would never do with a good goalkeeper in place. And having Carvalho playing left centreback, the John Terry position, didn’t help either, when you are relying on habits and angles to judge where people are to within two feet.
As always, Portugal missed the chances you need to convert if you want to win big games. They had as many chances as Germany but didn’t take them.
Overall, Ballack Lahm and Podolski were excellent in a very good team effort by Germany. On last night’s form, only Deco and Bosingwa would have got into the German side.
Deco is 31 in August and out of a job but he was the hard-grafting, resourceful, abrasive playmaker he has always been. A big game player, always, just like Ballack
If Cristiano Ronaldo had 25% of Deco’s bottle, he would score 35 goals a year for the next five years. But if he joins Real Madrid, he will only have 3 or 4 great games next season, all of them at home in the Champions League.
PORTUGAL (4-2-3-1): Ricardo (Real Betis); Bosingwa (Chelsea), Pepe (Real Madrid), Carvalho (Chelsea), Ferreira (Chelsea); Petit (Benfica), Moutinho (Sporting Lisbon); Ronaldo (Manchester United), Deco (Barcelona), Simao (Atletico Madrid); Nuno Gomes (Benfica). Subs used: Meireles (Porto) for Moutinho, 31; Nani (Manchester United) for Nuno Gomes, 67; Postiga (Sporting Lisbon) for Petit, 73.
GERMANY (4-2-3-1): Lehmann (Stuttgart); Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Metzelder (Real Madrid), Lahm (Bayern Munich); Hitzlsperger (Stuttgart), Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen); Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Ballack (Chelsea), Podolski (Bayern Munich); Klose (Bayern Munich). Subs used: Borowski (Werder Bremen) for Hitzlsperger, 73; Fritz (Werder Bremen) for Schweinsteiger, 83; Jansen (Bayern Munich) for Klose, 89.
Referee: Peter Frojdfeldt (Sweden)
Booked: Petit, Pepe, Postiga, Friedrich, Lahm