Portugal

Saturday morning at the Rally Portugal, there was excitement in the air as the top of the leader board displayed a name that wasn’t Sebastien Loeb.

The Citroen driver had won every World Rally Championship event this year, but that feeling wouldn’t last as Loeb rose from third place to finish the day on top. 

Sunday, Loeb showed why he is the five-time WRC champion as he pulled away from the field and added to his record victory total which now stands at 51. 

Mikko Hirvonen tried his best to challenge his Citroen rival, but conceded defeat early in the morning when the gap between them became insurmountable. The BP Ford team decided to play it safe and settle for second place points.

"It was incredibly dusty this morning," said Hirvonen. "I started the day thinking a win was possible, but the dust hung in the cool air and I realized after the opening stage that in those conditions I had no chance of catching Loeb. 

"I hoped to win here but it wasn't meant to be.  I think second place was the maximum I could achieve.  Eight points is good for me because many drivers scored zero.

"It's frustrating to see Loeb on top again, but I'm not giving up on the championship title just yet—we are only a third of the way through the season. I go to every event hoping to win and without him I would do that! 

"The car was excellent here and I really enjoyed the rally, although it was tough yesterday when I had to clean the road at the front," he added.

Loeb’s teammate, Dani Sordo's super claimed a strong third place, which moved him into fourth in the points standings and added to Citroen’s lead in the all important Manufacturer’s Championship

Privateer Petter Solberg Team again outperformed better funded, factory drivers to finish in fourth. This marks the third time that Solberg has finished in a top six position out of four rallies.

Matthew Wilson looked like he was once again set for a points paying finish, but crashed off course and was forced to retire on the final gravel stage. This opened the door for his Stobart Ford teammate Henning Solberg to claim fifth spot.

One interesting result that came out of the Rally Portugal was that for the first time three Norwegians finished in the top six of the WRC event. 

This was due to Mads Ostberg's fine, sixth-place result in his privateer Subaru. The other two Norwegians in the top six being the Brothers Solberg (Petter and Henning).

The next round of this year's championship will take place in Argentina, starting April 24.

Pos  Driver             Car         Time
 1.  Sebastien Loeb     Citroen     3h53m13.1s
 2.  Mikko Hirvonen     Ford        +    24.3s
 3.  Dani Sordo         Citroen     +  1m45.4s
 4.  Petter Solberg     Citroen     +  2m44.6s
 5.  Henning Solberg    Ford        +  5m46.3s
 6.  Mads Ostberg       Subaru      +  6m20.8s
 7.  Federico Villagra  Ford        + 12m59.5s
 8.  Khalid Al Qassimi  Ford        + 18m21.7s

Photo and quotes Courtesy of: WRC, BP Ford Rally Team

Mikko Hirvonen currently leads the pack after day one of the Rally of Portugal.

Dani Sordo in his Citroen had been in the lead at the mid-day service, but amazingly he committed the same blunder his teammate Sebastien Loeb had made in the morning and went off on the first corner of the Ourique stage when it was re-run at the start of the loop.

Hirvonen made a move to the front of the field as Sordo’s off cost the Citroen driver 20 seconds. The Ford driver will be first on the road tomorrow as he has established a 15s lead over the recovering Sordo.

"It's great to be leading and I will give everything tomorrow to try to retain that," Hirvonen said. "I don't know if my lead is big enough to offset that disadvantage, and I think start order will play a big part over the next two days, but I have defended my lead from the front before so it can be done," he continued on.

"This morning my pace notes were a little slow for these roads," Hirvonen also said. "I think that was a carryover from the previous round in Cyprus where the stages were much slower."

It wasn't a happy birthday for Latvala. The Finn, who is 24 today, took full advantage of his lower start position to set the fastest time through the morning's opening two tests to build a 10.6s lead.

However, Latvala crashed heavily in the following stage, his Focus RS plunging over a roadside barrier and rolling down a hillside, eventually coming to rest 150 meters from the track.

Video footage showed the car rolled almost 20 times. Incredibly both Latvala and Anttila escaped without serious injury thanks to the strength of the car.

Loeb made progress after his error this morning while running first on the dusty surface. He improved his position on the leaderboard from seventh to third, but is 18s behind leader Hirvonen.

After over a year away, Marcus Gronholm ran second on his return to the World Rally Championship, until losing 20s on the final stage of the day. That dropped Gronholm in his Prodrive Subaru to fourth, only 8s behind Loeb, and should benefit from a better starting position tomorrow.

Petter Solberg completes the top five in his privately run Citroen Xsara, maintaining a 42-second deficit, while pulling clear of the skirmish for sixth.

Improving his pace, as the leg progressed, Sebastien Ogier has now moved past his Citroen Junior's teammate, Evgeny Novikov and Stobart Ford's Matthew Wilson to break into the top six.

Stobart Ford's Henning Solberg was hampered by brake problems this morning, but was on pace for the repeat loop and caught Novikov, and is just 0.1s behind.

Leading Positions After Day One

Pos  Driver                Car             Time
 1.  Mikko Hirvonen    Ford            1h24m12.6
 2.  Dani Sordo          Citroen        +15.0s
 3.  Sebastien Loeb    Citroen        +18.0s
 4.  Marcus Gronholm Subaru        +25.9s
 5.  Petter Solberg      Citroen        +42.2s
 6.  Sebastien Ogier    Citroen        +1m04.0s
 7.  Matthew Wilson    Ford            +1m14.6s
 8.  Evgeny Novikov    Citroen        +1m33.7s
 9.  Henning Solberg   Ford            +1m33.8s
10.  Mads Ostberg      Subaru         +2m42.1s

Photo and Quotes Courtesy of BP Ford World Rally Team

After visiting Cyprus during its previous round, the World Rally Championship heads to Portugal for the fourth event of the season. The first pure gravel rally of the 2009 season, the Vodafone Rally de Portugal was an IRC event last year, but has returned to the WRC calendar in 2009.

One of the world of rallying's classic fixtures, the Rally Portugal has been the scene of some of the most memorable moments in the history of the sport.

The Vodafone Rally de Portugal returned to the WRC in 2007 in the Algarve region in the south. The event takes place in the hills above the town blending fast, open roads with more technical sections on hard, abrasive gravel roads.

Undefeated so far in 2009 Sebastien Loeb will be looking to build on his streak. For teammate Dani Sordo, the proximity of Spain will be an additional source of motivation.

As the current WRC points leader Sebastien Loeb will be starting first on day one, he is ideally positioned to comment on the road conditions.

"The stages this year are very good," he said. "They are wider than two years ago and a little harder so hopefully, they will not be so rough. They are also quite difficult, with lots of blind crests and corners, which make it very challenging and good fun to drive," he continued. "I hope for a good fight here this weekend and that I am not at too great a disadvantage running first on the road."

The Ford team enters the Vodafone Rally de Portugal with a revised engine for their Ford Focus.

The newly-homologated power plant available to drivers Mikko Hirvonen and teammate Jari-Matti Latvala includes an electric water pump and a lightweight flywheel. The drivers have reported an improvement in engine performance from the upgrades during a comprehensive testing program

"The engine upgrades are another step forward," said Hirvonen. "Although the nature of the regulations means huge steps forward are impossible to achieve, there is more power and a bit more response and that will all help."

This event also hosts the return of former Champion, Marcus Gronholm, to WRC competition driving a Prodrive Subaru Impreza WRC2008.  This will mark 25 years of WRC competition for Prodrive.

More than 52 percent of this year’s stags are new, including two all-new stage venues. The drivers will tackle 18 stages in total with a competitive distance of 361.36 km. The rally will be based at Estadio Algarve which will host the service park.  The stadium complex is also the site of a Super Special Stage that will be run at the start of the event on Thursday and closes the rally on Sunday afternoon.

Photo and Quotes Courtesy of: WRC, Citroen Sport, Ford World Rally Team

Portugal beat South Africa 2-0 in a friendly played in Lausanne on Tuesday night, as they returned to winning ways following their disappointing draw with Sweden.

Manager Carlos Queiroz made six changes to his starting line-up for the match, handing out debuts to Nélson, Edinho, and Gonçalo Brandão.

Captain Cristiano Ronaldo started on the bench, but Deco was restored to the starting line-up as Queiroz continued with his experiment of playing Pepe in midfield.

Held goalless at the weekend, Portugal didn’t have long to wait for the breakthrough on this occasion, as Bruno Alves headed home from Deco’s corner after only three minutes.

A set-piece also provided the second goal as the World Cup hosts were punished from another Deco corner, this time debutant Edinho claiming the goal, although it might well go down as a Lucas Twala own-goal.

The scoring of the second goal set off the usual plethora of substitutions frequent to friendly matches, and Cristiano Ronaldo was introduced, much to the delight of the crowd.

However, despite continuing to control the game there would be no further Portuguese goals and nothing of real note from the FIFA World Player of the Year.

Portugal line-up

 

Eduardo - Nelson, Ricardo Carvalho (Rolando, 46), Bruno Alves, Gonçalo Brandão - Pepe (Tiago, 74), Maniche (Raul Meireles, 57), Deco (João Moutinho, 62) - Danny (Simão, 57), Nani (Cristiano Ronaldo, 57), Edinho

Portugal’s World Cup hopes suffered a further blow despite not playing competitively as both Denmark and Hungary won their home fixtures last night to increase their lead at the top of the group.

Hungary triumphed 3-0 over Malta in Budapest, while Denmark also won by the same margin at home to Albania. Both are now seven points clear of Portugal, although Hungary have played one game more.

World Cup Qualifying: European Group One

Denmark           5          13

Hungary            6          13

Portugal            5          6

Sweden             4          6

Albania             7          6

Malta                7          1

It's the first knockout round of the Champions League in 2005. Man United are at home, playing against AC Milan. The score is 0-0, and tellingly there is a cry blasting around the stadium: "Ruud! Ruud! Ruud!" 

The fans are calling for Cristiano Ronaldo to be replaced with Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Ronaldo is being easily marked out of the game by Milan's defense. A couple of hopeful long range shots is the best he can produce. 

In the 63rd minute, the crowd get their wish and he is subbed for Nistelrooy. 

Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't deliver in yet another big game. 

Same Old Story

Milan eventually won the game 1-0 and progressed to the quarterfinals. Alex Ferguson, Ronaldo's manager, later labelled Ronaldo's performance as "immature."

And after four years, a Fifa World Player of The Year award, a Ballon D'or, and 43 goals in 52 games, for Ronaldo some things haven't changed.

Portgual played Sweden last Saturday in what was described by Ronaldo himself as a "must win" game. Before the game, all hopes were pinned on him. As the current official best player in the world, he was expected to make the difference. 

During the game, though, Ronaldo missed a host of chances, including a free header from 3 yards in the dying minutes of the game.

The score ended 0-0, and has left Portugal's World Cup 2010 qualification in jeopardy. 

Four years on from that game against Milan, and Ronaldo doesn't deliver when it really matters, yet again.

Here Come the Excuses

Predictably, Ronaldo defenders have played it down, moaning that while his finishing was poor, so was the finishing of the rest of the team.

This strikes me as just avoiding the fact that he didn't produce.

Ronaldo was expected to make the difference. Deflecting the responsibility to other players is cowardly and besides the point. Ronaldo, the individual, did not play well or make decisive contributions. It doesn't matter how well or bad the other players played.

Ronaldo defenders used the same deflection tactic after the recent match against Liverpool, one of United's biggest game this season so far, where players like Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres (who finished third to Ronaldo in last year's Fifa World Player of The Year votes) did produce.

And they used the same tactic again after the following week against Fulham, where he missed another free header from 5 yards.

And again after the recent friendly against Brazil, where his team lost 6-2 and he didn't score one goal.

And last summer when he completely flopped in Euro 2008.

And last April 2008 in the semifinals of the Champions League against Barcelona, where a 20-year-old Lionel Messi was the best player on the pitch, and completely outshone Ronaldo.

And in 2007 in the semis against AC Milan, where that time Kaka outshone him.

And in 2006 where he got knocked out of the World Cup by Zinedine Zidane's France.

And earlier in 2006 where he missed the golden chance to score to prevent United being knocked out of the Champions League at the group stages by Benifca.

And in 2005 in the first knockout round of the Champions League against AC Milan again, where he was a no-show and was taken off after cries for his substitution from his own fans. 

And in the Euro 2004 final, where he couldn't produce against Greece.

These games I've listed are not just random games, cherry picked for an agenda. Look carefully and you'll realise that they are a near exhaustive list of all the truly biggest games of each season that Ronaldo has played for United.

All throughout Ronaldo's career there has been a refusal by some to simply admit Ronaldo's ineptitude.

Instead there's just been excuses after excuses.

Isn't everybody tired yet of hearing "it's just a one-off game," or "it's someone else's fault," or "he was marked out of the game" (is this an excuse or an acknowledgement), or hear them point to other goals he's scored in other matches? 

Should We Be Surprised?

The very best players force the issue at the right times. They do it against the best. They shine when it matters most. That's what makes them the best. Kaka in 2007, Messi in 2008, Gerrard and Torres two weeks ago. Those are the calibre of players Ronaldo's supposed to be equal to. Those are the performances that he's purported to have eclipsed. 

Alex Ferguson once said that he saw Ronaldo as a combination of Pele, Diego Maradona, and George Best. Ronaldo, never one to hide his arrogance, has himeslf been reported to say that he thinks he's the "first, second, and third best player in the world." 

Yet Ronaldo has shown time and time again that he is invariably incapable of giving great performances, of forcing the issue, of delivering when it matters most, and in situations when his team needs him the most. 

That's why after the Sweden match finished I was not the slightest bit surprised that Ronaldo choked against an Ibrahimovich-less Sweden side.

And considering his career so far, should anybody be?

Update: as usual, a lot of people (mostly Ronaldo fans) have evidently shown that they either haven't read the article or they can't understand the argument, as nearly all their replies can be addressed using this paragraph in the article:

"How many more times are we gonna hear that it's just a one-off game, or that it's someone else's fault, or that he was marked out of the game (is this an excuse or an acknowledgement), or hear them point to all the other goals he's scored in other matches? More importantly, how many more times are people going to believe it?"

Portugal’s hopes of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa next year took a huge blow on Saturday night, as they were held to a goalless draw at home by a resilient Swedish side.

Carlos Queiroz’s team created more than enough chances to win the game but were once again found wanting when it came to their finishing, racking up their third consecutive 0-0 draw in the qualification group.

Back in October, they were held to scoreless draws in Sweden and then disappointingly at home to an Albanian side which played just over half the game with only ten men.

The home side dominated the first half at the Estádio do Dragão, as first Tiago then Cristiano Ronaldo wasted good opportunities. The closest they were to come was midway through the first period, when Duda’s cross from the left was misjudged by Isaksson in the Sweden goal and rebounded off the goalkeeper’s near post.

Chelsea’s José Bosingwa limped off injured just before the interval but the pattern of play remained much the same in the second half, although Sweden did threaten increasingly on the break, with Elmander forcing a smart, smothering save from Eduardo.

Simão and Danny fired wide and over from decent openings before Deco was introduced from the bench just after the hour mark with the hope of providing the ingenuity required to make the breakthrough. His low strike was kept out by Isaksson before he fired wide as Portugal gradually ran out of ideas.

The latest result leaves Portugal with a mountain to climb in terms of topping the group and gaining automatic qualification. They now trail Denmark by four points having also played a game more.

Denmark and Hungary both have a good chance to extend their lead at the top on Wednesday, as they host Albania and Malta, respectively, and could extend their lead over Portugal to seven points with home wins.

Queiroz will be hopeful of catching Hungary, as his side still have to play them twice but he will be more than aware that his side cannot afford any more slip ups on what is already looking a very rocky road to South Africa.

Portugal reached the semifinals last time out in Germany, but their World Cup record is generally very poor, having only ever qualified for four of eighteen finals. However, in their four appearances they have twice reached the semi-finals.

Whisper it quietly, but the FIFA Footballer of the Year is in danger of missing out on the world’s showpiece tournament if he and his team cannot drastically improve their form.

 

Portugal line-up:

Eduardo – Bosingwa (Rolando, 45), Carvalho, Bruno Alves, Duda – Raul Meireles, Pepe, Tiago (Deco, 61) – Ronaldo (c), Danny (Hugo Almeida, 65), Simão

Sweden line-up:

Isaksson – Nilsson, Mellberg, Majstorovic, Johansson – Rasmus Elm, Kallstrom, Svensson (S. Larsson, 80), Holmen (Wilhelmsson, 57) – Larsson, Elmander

World Cup Qualifying: European Group One

Denmark           4          10

Hungary            5          10

Portugal            5          6

Sweden             4          6

Albania             6          6

Malta                6          1         

It's a super weekend for football fans, as the European qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup continues.

Not surprisingly, teams will be playing their hearts out as they desperately try to make it to South Africa.

But would you guess that Portugal would be in panic mode?

Well, it's true. One of the top four teams from the last World Cup in Germany is in danger of not making the cut.

Portugal is embarrassingly trailing "mighty" Denmark, Hungary and the squad that some dare to call "the European Dream Team," Albania.

The team has a mere five points in four games, And yes, they've already played against Albania (they tied, by the way).

Let's go through their games, shall we?

Portugal played their fist match in Malta. The final was 4-0, and against all odds, Malta lost the match.

Their second match ended 2-3 in a loss to Denmark. The Portuguese lost to the Danish after losing their heads during the last four minutes, in which they conceded two goals.

After the disgrace in Lisbon, Portugal tied in Sweden with a score of 0-0.

Then they met Albania; commentators in Portugal were saying that Albania "is one of the toughest teams in the group" (of course, when Malta is in your group, that's not that hard to achieve).

Well, what do you know! Albania 0, Portugal 0!

Today, they face Sweden in Oporto. It's a must-win game for the 2006 semifinalists.

See, things in Portugal are getting a bit complicated.

When you have players, like Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, and...oh gosh, what's his name again...Cristiano Ronaldo playing together on a team, along with a bunch of other talented players, you're tempted to think they have it all covered.

Well, seems like they don't.

The thing is, Ronaldo hasn't yet scored a goal. Yesterday, he left this pleasant note for the press and Portuguese fans:

"If everyone had done what I have, then, maybe, we would become World Champions."

OK, keep your cool. I know Ronaldo is not your average Einstein, but let's try to interpret the meaning behind the declaration.

"If everyone had done what I have" translates to "if we had 11 Ronaldos."

And "we would become World Champions" means...well, that's pretty clear.

I think Ronaldo has a problem: He thinks that he only plays for Man United. And there, his statement would actually have meaning.

Well, for the national team Ronaldo hasn't netted a single goal, and his exhibitions are a step from poor. I'd hazard a guess that if Portugal had a team full of Ronaldos, it would actually be worse.

The thing is, Ronaldo's just not acting that intelligently in this case. As team captain, he should be talking about how he is more used to being a Man U player because he trains with them virtually every week. That would be an acceptable excuse.

By the way, Man U and Ronaldo have won a few matches in their last few games, haven't they?

In conclusion, this "anthem to individualism" clearly tells us one thing: If Portugal does not make it, please keep in mind that Ronaldo has nothing to do with it.

Top marks to Off The Post for unearthing this Portuguese penalty cock-up.

Scoring from the spot should be one of the more simple things for a professional footballer. With just 12 yards separating the kicker from the goal, the keeper should always be second favorite. It’s not complicated stuff. So when footballers try to be extra clever, and fail, it looks ridiculous.

And so it proved for the Portuguese under-21 side in their match with the mighty Cape Verde this week, as they not only managed to royally screw up their penalty, but so bad was their attempt that the keeper was never even put to the test, as no shot ever materialized.

The inspiration behind the attempt was Johan Cruyff’s famous spot-kick routine, in which the penalty-taker fakes a shot in order to roll the ball to a teammate who then comes storming in to score.

Though the plan all went horribly wrong after Sporting Lisbon midfielder Bruno Pereirinha (pictured) under-hit his pass to teammate Rui Pedro, a quick-thinking Verde defender became alert to the situation and was able to snuff out the danger.

The fallout from the penalty farce has seen Portugal head coach Carlos Queiroz personally order both Pereirinha and Pedro to be dropped from the squad ahead of their next match against Madiera XI, with the brains behind the operation left groveling his way out of the pit he dug for himself.

“It was something that had been decided with my teammate. Unfortunately, it went wrong,” Pereirinha said. “It was not an attitude of lack of respect for our opponents, but the circumstances of the game gave me the idea. I’m here to accept that. The coach talked to me and told me not to ever repeat it. I can only say again that the decision to try it was not out of any disrespect to our opponents.”

The awfully-bad Portuguese penalty can be seen here.

Arsenal fans will likely have plenty of sympathy.

FIFA published their world rankings for March 2009 today. As most of the matches played in February were friendlies, there are no new entries in the top 20. Portugal, however, do move up two places to regain their place in the top ten.

Spain remain FIFA’s top ranked side for the ninth consecutive month. Brazil remain just behind Italy in fifth place despite their 2-0 victory over the world champions in London last month.

The USA climb three places on the back of their fine 2—0 qualifying win over Mexico and are now ranked 17^th, their highest ranking since August 2007.

Colombia and Belgium both move into the Top 50 after friendly victories last month. The biggest movers in the Top 50 are Norway who rise 11 places up to 45 after their impressive friendly win over second-ranked Germany in Dusseldorf.

The home nations have mixed fortunes, England drop one place to ninth after losing in Seville, whereas Scotland are up four places to 28, just two places behind the Republic of Ireland, who rise three places to 26.

Northern Ireland are up seven positions to 42 after a competitive win last month, while Wales slip down three places to 68 after defeat to Poland last time out.

FIFA World Rankings, Top 20, March 2009

(movements from February rankings in parenthesis)

1.  Spain  (-)

2.  Germany (-)

3.  Netherlands (-)

4.  Italy (-)

5.  Brazil (-)

6.  Argentina (-)

7.  Croatia (-)

8.  Russia (+1)

9.  England (-1)

10. Portugal (+2)

11. Turkey (-1)

12. France (-1)

13. Czech Republic (-1)

14. Ukraine (-)

15. Paraguay (-)

16. Cameroon (-)

17. USA (+3)

18. Israel (-)

19. Greece (-)

20. Romania (-3) 

Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA World Player of the Year award Monday. The accolade completes a hat trick of titles for Ronaldo, who was honoured as the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year in August before collecting the Ballon d’Or last month.

“It is an overwhelming moment, a very special moment in my life,” Ronaldo said. “I would like to say to my mother and sister that the fireworks can be fired off now.”

Ronaldo is the second Portuguese to receive the award, Luis Figo won in 2001 and the first English based player.

Ronaldo received 136 first-place votes and 935 points in a worldwide poll of national team captains and coaches. He was followed by Barcelona and Argentina midfielder Lionel Messi (678) and Liverpool and Spain striker Fernando Torres (203), with the results announced by Brazilian great Pele.

AC Milan and Brazil midfielder Kaka, the 2007 winner, was fourth (183), followed by Barcelona and Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez (155), Liverpool and England midfielder Stephen Gerrard (98) and Barcelona and Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o (58),