Portugal's finishing woes return despite China win
Source: Agencies |
March 5, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
GOALS by Hugo Almeida and Liedson gave Portugal a 2-0 win against China in a friendly in Coimbra on Wednesday, though the World Cup finalist was dogged by poor finishing and a lack of cohesion.
Poor finishing dogged Portugal for much of its World Cup qualifying campaign and it only qualified for the June 11- July 11 finals in South Africa after a playoff victory over Bosnia.
Portugal is in Group G with Brazil, African heavyweight Ivory Coast and North Korea and will have to be much more clinical in front of goal than it was on Wednesday if it is to avoid an early exit.
The hosts dominated the first half, but were only able to produce the one goal, through Almeida following a counter-attack before Liedson, who had replaced Cristiano Ronaldo at halftime, deflected in a Joao Moutinho shot deep into injury time.
Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz had chosen to play China as preparation for its World Cup match against North Korea on June 21, and the team welcomed the return of Ronaldo, who had missed the two-legged playoff victory with an ankle injury.
"We could have scored five more," Queiroz said. "This game taught us some things as we get ourselves ready for the World Cup."
With Deco injured, Queiroz used Almeida up front with Simao Sabrosa sitting behind him and Nani and Ronaldo on the wings.
The quartet tormented the Chinese defense throughout the first half though they also failed to convert several chances.
Nani sent a volley and a header wide in the first 15 minutes before Almeida forced keeper Zhang Lu to a tight save on 18 minutes and then had a header cleared off the line by Rong Hao.
Portugal's opener came on the counter when Ronaldo chased a loose ball from China's first corner, galloped ahead and passed for Almeida to fire in unchallenged to give the hosts a 1-0 lead at the break.
Queiroz made five changes at halftime, including replacing Ronaldo with Liedson, and with several of the replacements playing out of position his side failed to gel or maintain the tempo of the first half.
China, the East Asian champion, had two half chances in the final 10 minutes, which caused the home fans to voice their disapproval and Portugal's second goal in injury time failed to appease the fans.
Poor finishing dogged Portugal for much of its World Cup qualifying campaign and it only qualified for the June 11- July 11 finals in South Africa after a playoff victory over Bosnia.
Portugal is in Group G with Brazil, African heavyweight Ivory Coast and North Korea and will have to be much more clinical in front of goal than it was on Wednesday if it is to avoid an early exit.
The hosts dominated the first half, but were only able to produce the one goal, through Almeida following a counter-attack before Liedson, who had replaced Cristiano Ronaldo at halftime, deflected in a Joao Moutinho shot deep into injury time.
Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz had chosen to play China as preparation for its World Cup match against North Korea on June 21, and the team welcomed the return of Ronaldo, who had missed the two-legged playoff victory with an ankle injury.
"We could have scored five more," Queiroz said. "This game taught us some things as we get ourselves ready for the World Cup."
With Deco injured, Queiroz used Almeida up front with Simao Sabrosa sitting behind him and Nani and Ronaldo on the wings.
The quartet tormented the Chinese defense throughout the first half though they also failed to convert several chances.
Nani sent a volley and a header wide in the first 15 minutes before Almeida forced keeper Zhang Lu to a tight save on 18 minutes and then had a header cleared off the line by Rong Hao.
Portugal's opener came on the counter when Ronaldo chased a loose ball from China's first corner, galloped ahead and passed for Almeida to fire in unchallenged to give the hosts a 1-0 lead at the break.
Queiroz made five changes at halftime, including replacing Ronaldo with Liedson, and with several of the replacements playing out of position his side failed to gel or maintain the tempo of the first half.
China, the East Asian champion, had two half chances in the final 10 minutes, which caused the home fans to voice their disapproval and Portugal's second goal in injury time failed to appease the fans.
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