Golden Generation v Golden Ball - BEL-POR

[ad hoc]

Belgium have really got away with this
They totally didn't deserve to win that.

[jason voorhees]

Portugal beat France when they had to, finally won one when they had to, and taught the Belgians what they will need to do to be champs. They went out like champs.

Belgium is like Spain in 2008. They're finally putting it all together. That last 30 minutes of defense was a steel wall made of iron that was made of diamond. That's dangerous when you're a team known for its offense.

Just sad that Belgium-Italy is next round.

[Ray de Galles]

Belgium aren't very good are they?

One shot on target all night. Without de Bruyne they're looking a bit underwhelming at times.

[Logan Mountstuart]

De Bruyne and Hazard most likely out. And that heat will do for a lot of the others in the next game. Shame, but I can't see Belgium going much further.

[ooh aah]

Indeed. I'm not looking forward to another 3 rounds of the supposed best team in the world taking the 'Lump ball up to Lukaku, Lukaku backs into defender, ref awards him a free kick, rinse and repeat for 90mins' approach. It's fucking stone age stuff.

[Ray de Galles]

Roy Keane very amusingly furious about Portugal's deficiencies on ITV, hoping Ronaldo digs out all the other forward players in the dressing room for their appalling finishing.

[Satchmo Distel]

Belgium will have to play better to beat Italy, but the Italians have a similar problem with their forwards not putting the chances away.

[San Bernardhinault]

Neither Portugal nor Belgium were very good. Nor were Italy yesterday. I’m not sure that either half of the draw is particularly “stacked”, despite what the media keep telling us.

[ooh aah]

Neither Portugal nor Belgium were very good. Nor were Italy yesterday. I’m not sure that either half of the draw is particularly “stacked”, despite what the media keep telling us.

That's a tad harsh on Portugal, they created far more chances in the game, I thought they were pretty dominant in that 2nd half. Their finishing, particularly that of Jiota, was poor though.

[Satchmo Distel]

If France click into gear, there's nothing in either half that should worry them. If they don't, it's wide open. There are probably fewer teams who definitely can't win it (ageing Croatia, useless Ukraine) than those who can, again assuming France have a bad night at some point.

It's strange how many big sides have lacked a finisher. Ratio of chances to goals is mind-boggling. Again that brings more teams into contention because you just need strikers like Schick rather than Jota et al.

[scratchmonkey]

Even if they're the land of some of my forepeople (my great-grandmother was born in Honolulu in the Kingdom of Hawai'i to Portuguese immigrants) I have a hard time rooting for Portugal, mainly because of their dedication to constantly toeing the line of legal play. They looked great in the opening stages, operating a marauding mid-block that kept the Belgians pinned back in their half and generating a chance that Jota should have done far better with. Overall they looked like they were in control until T Hazard's swerving strike badly wrong-footed Patricio (I think he could have done better and should have at least gotten a hand on it given his starting position). Then they couldn't hit the broadside of a barn in the second half, also being largely too content to try their hand at long-range drives, practically of which got sprayed into the crowd, an impressive feat given the width of the athletic track.

Begium seem to be set out far too naively by Martinez, and I can't see them getting past Italy, especially if KDB is out.

[anton pulisov]

Belgium have had two clueless managers in a row now, but have winged their way to a quarterfinal four tournaments in a row thanks to some individual moments of genius from a few star players.

Anyway, I think the Italians will be too good for them. The Belgian back line is fairly past it. Vermaelan hasn't been a regular starting player since 2012-13 and has been playing in the J-League for the past two seasons.

[Satchmo Distel]

They need to support Lukaku rather than asking him to make runs at a block of defenders. Eden Hazard used to have that role but hasn't been up to it here. Maybe one of the squad players will step up?

And yes, Martinez might as well not be there. The team has to work out its own tactics on the fly and it's clearly not feasible to do that against the better sides. Yet they keep beating England...

[anton pulisov]

Yep, they are just punting hopeless long balls up to Lukaku. He looked knackered at the end. Potentially a very good striker to link up with but he's forced to do everything himself.

TV director does like zooming in on Martinez doing his parallel parking directions.

[Patrick Thistle]

Portugal are probably the best team so far to go out.

[Snake Plissken]

Portugal fall into that bracket of teams that if they didn't concentrate so much on being a bunch of shits, might have accomplished far more than they have.

[imp]

Indeed. I'm not looking forward to another 3 rounds of the supposed best team in the world taking the 'Lump ball up to Lukaku, Lukaku backs into defender, ref awards him a free kick, rinse and repeat for 90mins' approach. It's fucking stone age stuff.

Lumping the ball up was what the Dutch did to Weghorst yesterday - long balls they vaguely hope he'll get a head on. Belgium tend to play the ball up to Lukaku at a height where he can control it, and then he either waits for support (it didn't come last night too often) or runs with it himself (doesn't often work against savvy defenders). But that's one of his many strengths, and I can see why they'd adopt that approach in a tight game when they're 1-0 up against a team like Portugal. Lukaku was poor, and de Bruyne was absent until he went off, so that speaks for the Belgian midfield and defensive strength in depth. For the goal alone they deserved to win, and I'm glad they did because Portugal's just a travelling fucking circus.

Kicker ragged on their home ref Felix Brych today - gave him a '5' rating (6 being the worst), said his foul judgment was off (he certainly let too much go - though that's exactly what kicker's been encouraging German refs to do so that the Bundesliga flows "more like the Premier League"), that he lost control of the game, and that he should have sent Palhinha off for his tackle on de Bruyne (agree with that).

I don't much like Brych - he comes across as pompous and arrogant - but I feel sorry for any ref in a game like this. It's happened to me - all of a sudden things escalate, players are being wankers, and everyone's accusing you of having lost control. But maybe an early yellow and a strict talking to might have curbed the Portuguese, who always seem to adopt the uglier, cuntier side of their game when it comes to the tournament knockout stages.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Portugal beat France when they had to, finally won one when they had to, and taught the Belgians what they will need to do to be champs. They went out like champs.

Belgium is like Spain in 2008. They're finally putting it all together. That last 30 minutes of defense was a steel wall made of iron that was made of diamond. That's dangerous when you're a team known for its offense.

Just sad that Belgium-Italy is next round.

Oh no they didn't...unless I'm misreading this?

[Ray de Galles]

I think he meant in 2016, though it isn't exactly clear.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Ah....ok

[jason voorhees]

Yeah, I meant they didn't have to beat France this year, but did it in the final when they had to. In other words, they didn't need to win this tournament as much as 2016. They finally got their first major title.