World Cup

[ClementeFanOh]

Hi Peter- I know you're just having fun, but you may have a point. Portugal
had been fine without him, just ran into a surprisingly tenacious Morocco
team today. Maybe Ronaldo could have provided a spark- despite all his
character flaws (on and off the pitch), he's not a typical Portugal player who
looks for grass to fall on Maybe he could have added spark. Problem is he's
made his own bed, and teams (not just his national side) have decided his
talent no longer merits the bucket full of headache that goes with him.

Trent King

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by ClementeFanOh

Hi Peter- I know you're just having fun, but you may have a point. Portugal
had been fine without him, just ran into a surprisingly tenacious Morocco
team today. Maybe Ronaldo could have provided a spark- despite all his
character flaws (on and off the pitch), he's not a typical Portugal player who
looks for grass to fall on Maybe he could have added spark. Problem is he's
made his own bed, and teams (not just his national side) have decided his
talent no longer merits the bucket full of headache that goes with him.

Trent King

I get the negatives but in a game you're not virtually certain to win (unlike the prior one which was a joke), how do you really justify not playing a scorer of that caliber?

[ClementeFanOh]

Peter- yep, I get it. You can say the same for Brazil though- did you see the
firepower on their bench? These managers have to balance what they think
will work best and, until Port ran into a staunch Morocco, it held up. Can't
wait for semis! Trent King

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by ClementeFanOh

Peter- yep, I get it. You can say the same for Brazil though- did you see the
firepower on their bench? These managers have to balance what they think
will work best and, until Port ran into a staunch Morocco, it held up. Can't
wait for semis! Trent King

Right, and who knows if it would have changed the outcome, but I can't imagine too many people in the soccer world would have benched Cristiano Ronaldo in the knockout round of the World Cup.

[Shoeless Moe]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Right, and who knows if it would have changed the outcome, but I can't imagine too many people in the soccer world would have benched Cristiano Ronaldo in the knockout round of the World Cup.

If I was coaching I'd of benched Pele!

....of course he's like 82 years old so probably the right call.

[ClementeFanOh]

Peter- I did find an interesting stat about Ronaldo, as it relates to World Cup
knockout matches. Across 5 WCups, he scored exactly ZERO goals when it
was win or go home. Zero. Perhaps this consistent lack of production within
vital Cup games tipped the scales in his manager's mind; after all, the
manager already knew Ronaldo was a) ageing and b) a cancer. Who knows,
maybe it would have been best to leave him off the team completely? At
any rate, the semis should be fun. My heart says Croatia, but before yesterday
I was hoping for a feud W Cup rematch between Argentina and England

Trent King

[Peter_Spaeth]

Trent that is indeed surprising, although still a small sample size. As for the semis, I think France and Argentina, Morocco feels like a Cindarella team whose time is going to run out although with that goalie who knows.