WC2010 review: Portugal

Once again they were touted to do well and once again Portugal failed to deliver on the big stage.

Admittedly they were in a very tough group and faced eventual winner Spain in the Round of 16 but the way the Portuguese went about it was not in their nature.

The Most Entertaining Team at Germany 2006 were only able to score in one of their four matches and although it was a seven-goal haul, it came against the lowly North Koreans who were the worst-performed team in South Africa.

Carlos Queiroz’s men were great defensively but were often toothless in attack which eventually led to their downfall.

Finished: 11th
Record: Wins – 1; Draws – 2; Losses – 1; Points – 5
Matches: Ivory Coast (0-0), North Korea (7-0), Brazil (0-0), RO16-Spain (0-1)
Goals: 7
Against: 1

tribalfootball.com’s Star Man
Fabio Coentrao (The 22-year old wingback was a surprise packet for the Portuguese side and heightened his stocks immeasurably with consistent performances)

Official statistics

Minutes played
Cristiano Ronaldo 360
Eduardo 360
Bruno Alves 360
Ricardo Carvalho 360
Fabio Coentrao 360

Top scorers
Taigo 2
Liedson 1
Raul Meireles 1
Cristiano Ronaldo 1
Hugo Almeida 1
Simao 1

Total shots
Cristiano Ronaldo 21
Raul Meireles 8
Tiago 6

Pass Completion Rate
Ricardo Carvalho 89%
Pedro Mendes 82%
Bruno Alves 79%
Fabio Coentrao 76%

Most Fouls
Raul Meireles 9
Tiago 8
Fabio Coentrao 7

Yellow cards
Tiago 2
Duda 1
Cristiano Ronaldo 1
Pedro Mendes 1
Pepe 1
Hugo Almeida 1
Fabio Coentrao 1

Red cards
Ricardo Costa 1

Saves
Eduardo 19