Quotes about Eduardo's performance

The press and the fans are far from being flattering towards the performance of Portuguese team and players. However, there is one person whose efforts had been valued.

It's Eduardo.


PortuGoal named Eduardo a man of the match.

"There can be no doubts as to the PortuGOAL man of the match – Eduardo – who kept the Spaniards at bay for over an hour with a series of breathtaking saves."

Eduardo: 9.5/10 PortuGOAL man of the match
"A cat-like leap to turn a Fernando Torres shot round the post in the first minute set the tone as Eduardo proved an almost impregnable shield against the incessant Spanish attack. Further superb saves in the 3rd, 6th, 60th, 69th, and 76th minutes kept Portugal in the game, and as a disconsolate Eduardo left the pitch bathed in tears one could not help feeling the Braga man deserved a better supporting cast."


More quotes:

"I think Eduardo was the man of the match. He was very good. He provide the team with a feeling of security and gave them hope. He made a great show, but everyone played well."

- Ricardo, the former goalkeeper of Selecção, a commentator at Maisfutebol


"Eduardo kept the team in the fight for most of the time; he was just unfortunately that the rebound from him fell to a Spanish player"

Eduardo gave us a brilliant performance

– Carlos Queiroz, the coach


Eduardo, was very assured, and did not deserve this defeat.

- News24

World Cup: Paraguay vs Japan 29 June 2010 penatly shootout 5-3

First penalty shootout in this World Cup. Didn't I say before that I like watching goalkeepers in action when it comes to penalties?

Elij Kawashima seemed to have a good intuition. He did save a penalty in Denmark - Japan match (although the goal was scored anyway, finished after Kawashima bounced the ball). He guessed the direction right at least two times but he wasn't able to reach the ball. The shots were perfect, strong and out of the reach.







Villar... that was impressive - he looked so self-confident, easy going as if he was defending penalties on big championships every day ;) Wonder what he did really fell... His skills didn't seem to be too high, he guessed right only once I think.

Did his attitude made Japanese players more nervous? Probably the tension was high enough, no matter what Villar was doing in the goal.











Villar celebrating with fellow goalkeepers.

Paraguay won 5-3 in the penalties and now is going to face Spain in the quarterfinal.

Liked the pictures in both teams. Every player approached his goalkeeper to give him a support. Noticed Villar talking with Paraguay's deputy goalkeepers. He was also looking on a piece of paper which a member of staff was holding. Were there tips written how Japanese players score the penaties?

Video: Watch penalty shootout Paraguay-Japan.

Post-game interview with Eduardo

Eduardo, the goalkeeper of the national team, analyzes the defeat by Spain in 1/8 finale of the World Cup 2010 and talks about his future.

“It was hard to take", he says. "Given the quality that this team had, we could have gone further. We gave everything but we couldn’t do it.

Asked if he is happy with his individual performance:

"Am I happy with my performance? The performance is of the whole team. Individuals are of secondary importance, so I can’t be happy now."

"I feel I did my work and lived up to my expectations. We all know we gave everything we had. It’s frustrating. We can only be disappointed."

About the future:

“People were waiting to see how I will be doing at the World Cup. It’s normal. We will see if it opened any new doors. It’s very important stage of my life, let’s see what is going to happen”

What Queiroz did say in the dressing room:

"He told us thanks for everything".

Source: http://www.maisfutebol.iol.pt/.

A goalkeeper cannot win a match alone

I'm sorry Eduardo. You were great, you did everything you could to stop Spain but you couldn't win the match alone.

I will write more about the match later.

The real test is ahead...

It's only 30 minutes till the beginning of the match with Spain. Be or not to be for Portugal. I see all weaknesses of Selecção. Although the defense is good, they have problems with scoring. It's not as strong team as it used to be at the previous World Cup I think.

Do they have a chance to stand against Spain? Spain is not invincible... Switzerland showed that, as well as US at the Confederation Cup.

What's the possible result? A draw, an overtime and then penalties? If it come to penalties will Eduardo and Casillas manage to make a save?

Or it's going to be decided in regular time?

I don't know. I like both teams. I like both goalkeepers. But in this match I give my full support to Portugal.

Força Portugal!

World Cup: Brazil vs Chile 3-0 28 June 2010 Julio Cesar photos

Chile did try but Brazil was unstoppable. Still waiting for Julio Cesar to show his skills. He had to make only 2 saves. Chile's goalkeeper Bravo made 3 saves.

Need to cut down on making those picspams so this time Julio Cesar photos.

Ricardo no Maisfutebol: „ I hope we can show them where their place is”

What is happeing with Ricardo, a former goalkeeper of the Portuguese national team? Well, he is not with Selecção in South Africa of course, but he is writting articles for Maisfutebol page.

Some excerpts of the newest text. He writes about upcoming match with Spain and comments also about referees case.

“We are not afraid of Spain”, said Simão and he was right. We have no fear. The Spanish team is not as strong as it used to be. However, we have to pay them the respect. Those who underestimate the opponent can easily lose.

I think that in the first few minutes the game will to be a bit monotonous, unless some goals are scored. Portugal will try to not let Spaniards control the ball, which they love to do. But after the first 15-20 minutes the game will become faster and I believe it’s going to be a great show.

Spanish has a great offensive power and the defensive is even better. However, we have a lot of individual strength which may turn out to be our advantage.

In our team every players is supposed to support the others. There is a place of individuals but not for individualism. They are 11 players on the field.

There must be some aggression aimed in the right direction. You can’t be too cautious, because now it means the team will be eliminated. (...)

Some of our players play in Spain, so keeping in touch with Spanish colleagues is normal. Friendship exists before and after games but during the match there is no friendship. (...)

In the knockout stage there is a possibility of overtime and then going to the penalties. It’s normal that the coach tests players to check who feels more comfortable under such pressure. All responsibility is when it come to it in the game. Mark of defend a penalty is not easy. You must be very cold blooded.

No matter if the match is going to last 90 or 120 minutes or if there are going to be penalties, the most important is to have humility and respect, which helps win and make a good show. In the end I hope we are going to be the winners of course!

The 17th day of the World Cup and everyone is talking about the refereeing... in the two games of the day. We have witnessed huge errors which may have change the course of the event. Lampard’s goal which was disallowed and Tevez’s, which was scored from an offside. However, in that second case don’t blame the referee, because the assistant had a better view on the situation and should notice this.

Original article (Portuguese) can be found here.

Quim signed three year contract with Braga

Portuguese goalkeeper Quim has signed a contract with Sporting Clube de Braga on a free transfer until June 2013.

Quim's career started in Braga in 1994. He played in the club for 10 years before transferring to Benfica. His contract was due to expire this summer. Águias chose not to extend it.

He earned 144 caps during his 6 years of career in Benfica. In 2009/2010 the club won the Portuguese League with 76 points and also Taça da Liga second time in the row. Braga finished second with 71 points.

A constant deputy for Ricardo during Scolariada times, he spent years waiting till finally he become no. 1 in Selecção's goal when Carlos Queiroz became the coach. However, he lost his spot in 2008 and Eduardo became the no. 1. He was not called-up for the World Cup squad.

Moments of glory? Taça da Liga 2008/2009 finale Sporting Lisboa - Benfica. After 1-1 draw eventually it came to the penalty shoot-out. Quim defended three and became man of the match.

Good luck in Braga, Quim.

World Cup: US vs Ghana 1-2 26 June 2010

Sadly US team finished on 1/8 stage. Ghana was just better, but I think it was not an opponent they were not able to defeat. They should be more careful about the defence. They were losing goals way too quickly, on the beginnings.

Tim Howard did well in all of the four matches. Perhaps could do a bit better when the first goal was scored... Was without a chance, however, when the second was scored. For sure he made to the list of my favorite goalkeepers and I'm going to watch all Everton games I can in the next season to follow him. Hope he will be still no. 1 in the goal both in the club and in the nation team.

On the opposite side of the pitch was Richard Kingson. He was absolutely amazing! He saved at least two situations one to one. USA needed a penalty to defeat him. He did a lot for his team to keep the good result. Was great, just great.

According to ESPN stats Howard made 4 saves, Kingson 5.



Richard Kingson. The man of the match for me.











































Tim Howard





This photo looks funny ;)





Unfortunately US quickly lost a goal.

















































Howard was without a chance to stop the second goal.





















































One of my favorite moments - two goalkeepers in one penalty area. A rare sight. Sometimes a goals are scored by goalkeepers in such situations. Not this time, unfortunately for USA.

















The end of the game. Ghana won 2-1.













Seems Howard and Kingson exchanged the jerseys. TV never shows this. There is also no photos. Pity.











Good luck in the future US team! I have a feeling that soon you are going to teach Europe how to play in this soccer of your! ;)