Euro 2008 Quarter-Finals Day One

[Newshound]

19 June 2008<br>
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PORTUGAL 2 (Nuno Gomes 40, Postiga 87)<br>
GERMANY 3 (Schweinsteiger 22, Klose 26, Ballack 61)<br>
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Deco, Simao and Bosingwa combined to create a great early chance which Nuno Gomes headed way off target. The trio combined again after Germany quickly lost possession having successfully defending a corner. Bosingwa picked out Moutinho at the near post and he was shaping to head the ball before changing his mind and it bounced off his knee over the bar. Germany gave the Portuguese a lesson in possession football by scoring a fantastic team goal which spanned 17 passes and involved seven players. Germany's centre backs spread play out wide to Lahm who in turn passed to Podolski, now stationed on the left wing, Podolski flicked the ball inside Bosingwa, played a give and go with Klose then did the same this time using Ballack to steal a yard on Bosingwa and power upfield, he took one touch before rolling a centre into the box and Schweinsteiger arriving from nowhere to slide the ball into the bottom left corner. Another contender for goal of the tournament. The Portuguese were still reeling when the Germans doubled their lead from a more predictable route. Schweinsteiger swung a free kick into the box and Klose took advantage of ridiculous marking to power his header past Ricardo. Nuno Gomes gave the Portuguese a lifeline five minutes before half time. Schweinsteiger lost possession deep in the Portuguese half and they quickly broke, Deco showed great strength to hold off Klose before sending Simao down the right, Simao switched flanks with a crossfield pass out to Ronaldo, he had too much pace for Mertesacker but botched the finish, shooting straight at Lehmann but the rebound fell kindly to Nuno Gomes who scored via a deflection off Metzelder. <br>
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Portugal should have drawn level just before the hour but Pepe blazed over from a corner. Minutes later Ballack restored Germany's lead. The pathetic excuse for a goalkeeper that is Ricardo got caught in no man's land (a great series of movies) on a Schweinsteiger free kick, as Ballack pushed Ferreira out of the way to attack the ball Ricardo cowered to his knees and feebly put up his hands. Watching that twat pick the ball out of his net will NEVER get old. Despite having their fair share of possession Portugal's second goal came out of the blue. Nani, a late second half sub for Nuno Gomes, showed tremendous strength to hold off the determined Ballack on the left flank, he put on the breaks, checked onto his right foot, sold Fritz with a brilliant dummy then clipped a marvellous ball between two defenders and Postiga headed over Lehmann. Podolski should have added a fourth on the break but having wriggled past Pepe shot straight at Ricardo with Borowski unmarked at the back post.<br>
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Simao looks absolutely ridiculous with his jerry curl, tight shirt and shorts which are clearly one size too small. Ronaldo? Isn't so effective when Tevez and Rooney aren't creating space for him. With an early exit there's a good chance he's blown the Ballon D'or. I would say, and obviously this depends on what happens during the rest of the tournament, Wesley Sneijder is the front runner. <br>
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Attendance : 42,000<br>
Assists : Podolski, Schweinsteiger (fk), n/a, Schweinsteiger (fk), Nani<br>

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