EURO 2012 Replay w/Randomised Groups (PS3)

[Canada_Carlos_Ball]

Portugal is my team.
They obviously came up just a little short this summer, so I figured I'd have some fun with the EURO 2012 DLC (Which was SLIGHTLY overpriced at $20 might I add) before FIFA 13 comes out in two days and I inevitably never play FIFA 12 again. So, I figured why not relive the EURO?
With a twist. I've randomised every team slot exactly three times and came up with these groups (note that not all the big teams are in the tournament and some small fries are):

Group A

Azerbaijan (2 stars, 61ATT, 58MID, 59DEF)
San Marino (0.5 star, 57ATT, 46MID, 49DEF)
PORTUGAL (4.5 stars, 82ATT, 80MID, 80DEF)
Netherlands (4.5 stars, 80ATT, 81MID, 73DEF)

Group B
Israel (3.5 stars, 71ATT, 75MID, 64DEF)
Croatia (4.5 stars, 77ATT, 78MID, 77DEF)
Kazakhstan (2 stars, 60ATT, 62MID, 61DEF)
Spain (5 stars, 85ATT, 87MID, 83DEF)

Group C
Romania (3.5 stars, 74ATT, 67MID, 71DEF)
Luxembourg (1 star, 56ATT, 55MID, 56DEF)
Switzerland (4 stars, 78ATT, 75MID, 75DEF)
Turkey (4 stars, 75ATT, 77MID, 74DEF)

Group D
Faroe Islands (1 star, 57ATT, 56MID, 53DEF)
Finland (3.5 stars, 72ATT, 70MID, 69DEF)
Belgium (4.5 stars, 77ATT, 77MID, 78DEF)
Italy (5 stars, 82ATT, 81MID, 80DEF)

[Canada_Carlos_Ball]

Pre-Tournament Press Conference

Paulo Bento, Portuguese National Team Manager.

"Mr. Bento, Darren Anderson, Sky Sports, how do you feel about your draw? The fact you have to play the Netherlands, one of the best teams in the world, in your opening game?"

'Well, Mr. Anderson, I feel it is always best to play the best. You need to beat them to be the best anyways, so why not get it out of the way first?....you in the red!"

"Coach, Darryl Kyle, ESPN Soccernet, is it true that there is some dissension in the squad between Cristiano Ronaldo and the other players?"

"I will not say, all I know is Cristiano is a great leader and he exemplifies the kind of drive we need to be successful in this tournament."

"Mr. Bento, what do you expect from Azerbaijan on the 12th, and San Marino on the 16th?"

"Those games will be treated as qualifying games, important but without a doubt, winnable. We have far superior talent to those teams, and our results should reflect that accordingly."

"Coach, you've been criticized for your not starting a true striker, such as Helder Postiga or Hugo Almeida, instead electing to start wingers at the position like Quaresma or Silvestre Varela....why?"

"My coaching staff and I feel those players give us more of a scoring threat than Hugo and Helder..."

"Thanks for you time coach...good luck in the tournament!"

"No problem, see you later."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Portugal's Schedule:
Netherlands, June 08
Azerbaijan, June 12
San Marino, June 16

[Canada_Carlos_Ball]

Portugal 2, Netherlands 2

Portugal
(4-1-2-3)
GK Rui Patricio
RB Joao Pereira
RCB Bruno Alves
LCB Pepe
LB Fabio Coentrao
CDM Miguel Veloso
RCM Raul Meireles
LCM Joao Moutinho
RW Nani
ST Varela
LW Cristiano Ronaldo

Netherlands
(4-2-3-1)
GK Stekelenburg
RB van der Wiel
RCB Vlaar
LCB Mathijsen
LB Willems
RDM van der Vaart
LDM de Jong
RAM Robben
CAM van Persie
LAM Sneijder
ST Huntelaar

Ronaldo Shines as Portugal Draw Late
Netherlands' defense exploited repeatedly

It was an exciting start to EURO 2012 today in Wroclaw, as Portugal managed to climb back into a match they'd seemed to have lost against the Netherlands.

Wesley Sneijder scored on the first shot of the game, beating Rui Patricio from just inside the 18-yard box with a fantastic left-footed strike, and just like that, Portugal were behind the eight ball.

The next 14 minutes were spent almost entirely in the Dutch half, with Portugal pressing but a lack of finishing in front of goal prevented them from tying the match.

Robin van Persie then picked up Arjen Robben's rebound and deposited it into the defenseless Portuguese net in the 17th minute, and the Netherlands doubled their lead, in the process seemingly putting the match out of reach early for the hard-working but misfiring Portuguese.

Then, the captain put the team on his back. Just four minutes after the van Persie marker, Cristiano Ronaldo waltzed his way through three Dutch defenders before firing a hard, low shot past Stekelenburg to cut the lead in half.

Despite Portugal's best efforts, the score remained 2-1 to the Dutch going into halftime. An injury note, Portuguese defender Bruno Alves was stretchered off with a presumed concussion after knocking heads with Huntelaar on a ball in the air. Rolando came on to replace him at half.

The 2nd half was also mostly spent in the Dutch half, with Stekelenburg making key saves to preserve the lead for the Dutch.

In the 76th minute, sensing his forwards were tired, Portugal manager Paulo Bento subbed off both Nani and Varela in favor of Hugo Almeida and Ricardo Quaresma.

While neither scored they did inject some creativity into an offense which, with the exception of Cristiano Ronaldo, had been fairly flat all evening.

Then, in the 83rd minute, with the Dutch buzzing around Rui Patricio's goal, Fabio Coentrao collected a rebound and sprinted the length of the field before setting up Hugo Almeida in front, whose effort was well parried by Stekelenburg for a corner.

On the ensuing corner, Cristiano Ronaldo headed home an absolute cracker to deservingly tie the game for Portugal.

The Portuguese continue to press in the final 8 minutes of the match, and in the final minute Hugo Almeida hit the goalpost from well outside the 18-yard box, nearly winning the match in its dying moments for Portugal.

Both teams will be satisfied with the point, but both will also think they could have, and probably should have, won the match.

In other Group A action, Azerbaijan comfortably handled European minnows San Marino 3-0.

Next up for Portugal will be Azerbaijan on June 12th in Warsaw.

[Canada_Carlos_Ball]

First Matches Recap

Group A
Azerbaijan 3, San Marino 0
Portugal 2, Netherlands 2

Group B
Israel 1, Croatia 1
Kazakhstan 1, Spain 2

Group C
Romania 4, Luxembourg 0
Switzerland 1, Turkey 0

Group D
Belgium 1, Italy 3
Faroe Islands 0, Finland 1

Spain barely managed to hang on against a late Kazakh surge in their Group B opener, Juan Mata and Sergio Ramos scoring for them early on (5', 13') there.

Israel managed to work out a tie against group-favorite Croatia, Tamir Cohen equalizing for the Israelis late there (87').

[Canada_Carlos_Ball]

Azerbaijan 2, Portugal 3

Azerbaijan
(4-4-1-1)
GK Abdayev
RB Yunusov
RCB Sayadov
LCB Asidov
LB Allahyarov
RM Shubukov
RCM Chernokanov
LCM Amurgiyev
LM Vadirov
CF Alyibiyev
ST Jabrailov

Portugal
(4-3-3)
GK Rui Patricio
RB Joao Pereira
RCB Rolando
LCB Pepe
LB Fabio Coentrao
RCM Miguel Veloso
CM Raul Meireles
LCM Joao Moutinho
RW Nani
ST Danny
LW Cristiano Ronaldo

Portugal Win, But Not Comfortably

The end outcome was as expected, but the way Portugal won was anything but conventional.

Everything seemed to be going according to plan for Paulo Bento's men in the third minute, when Cristiano Ronaldo easily stripped an Azerbaijani defender of the ball before putting the ball into the top corner with ease and grace, giving Portugal a 1-nil lead inside five minutes.

However, the tide turned quickly and the Azerbaijani began to come in waves of attack at the Portuguese back four and bombarded Rui Patricio (below) with shots on goal. In the 17th minute, the Azerbaijani squad finally broke through, with Vadim Jabrailov finishing off a pretty passing play

Rui Patricio instructing his defenders after
another Azerbaijani attempt on goal.

into the unguarded Portuguese goal. 1-1.


Cristiano Ronaldo then took over the game. It was clear he was the best player on the pitch for either side, and in the 38th minute, as if hitting the switch on a button, broke through the Azerbaijani back four before smashing a powerful strike into the back of the net to restore Portugal's lead.

Six minutes later, in the 44th minute, he ran almost the same route to break in clear on the Azerbaijan goal. He faked out a helpless Abdayev, then chipped a shot into the net to expand the Portuguese lead, which they held, 3-1, going into halftime.

The 2nd half was no cakewalk for the Portuguese, who relied on Rui Patricio to bail their weak-kneed defense out multiple times. Azerbaijan actually outplayed the Portuguese in the second half, and in the 85th minute, Konstantin Shubukov cut the lead to one with a fantastic strike from 30 yards out that caromed off the crossbar before landing on the other side of the goal line.

Azerbaijan domianted the final minutes of the game, and Rui Patricio was the only reason Portugal got all three points from this game.


Ronaldo celebrates his third goal
against Azerbaijan.

Next up for Portugal, it'll be 0-0-2 San Marino on the 16th of June, while a dejected Azerbaijan squad have to face the powerhouse Netherlands.

[ZeekLTK]

Re: Azerbaijan 2, Portugal 3

The groups are too random IMO. San Marino, Luxembourg, and Faeroe Islands make this pretty uninteresting. Euro Cup is suppose to be very difficult but these groups are a piece of cake.

[Canada_Carlos_Ball]

Re: Azerbaijan 2, Portugal 3

The groups are too random IMO. San Marino, Luxembourg, and Faeroe Islands make this pretty uninteresting. Euro Cup is suppose to be very difficult but these groups are a piece of cake.

That's what makes it all the more interesting IMO, the normal EURO is your traditional powerhouses, this way you have the chance to see teams like Azerbaijan + San Marino compete on a big stage, I think it's cool :P