Euro Watch May 13th
Maniche Out As Scolari Finalises Euro 2008 Squad
Portugal boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has named his squad for Euro 2008, and left out Inter midfielder Nuno Maniche.
Goalkeepers: Quim (Benfica), Ricardo (Betis), Rui Patrício (Sporting).
Defenders: Bruno Alves (FC Porto), Fernando Meira (Stuttgart), Jorge Ribeiro (Boavista), Bosingwa (FC Porto), Pepe (Real Madrid), Miguel (Valencia), Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea).
Midfielders: Deco (Barcelona), Petit (Benfica), João Moutinho (Sporting), Miguel Veloso (Sporting), Raúl Meireles (FC Porto), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Nani (Manchester United), Ricardo Quaresma (FC Porto), Simão Sabrosa (Atletico Madrid).
Strikers: Hélder Postiga (Panathinaikos), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen), Nuno Gomes (Benfica).
Aside from Maniche and Marco Caneira I don’t think they can be many complaints about this squad. Maniche past is catching up to him. He was kicked off Benfica, never adjusted to playing at Dynamo Moscow and he is on the outs at Atlético Madrid. To be the fair the only person to blame for Maniche being left off the team is Maniche. One day he’ll realize the error of his ways but more then likely it will be too late. Shame really, I still remember his wonder goal vs Holland at Euro 2004 and Maniche was clutch in other big games for Portugal at Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006.
What a goal
Threw that in for good measure. I’m sure Maniche will hope for someone to get hurt. Well anyone expect his brother Jorge Ribeiro
The rest of the squad I’m fine with. Some people may take issue with Nuno Gomes but I’m ok with him on the team. With Figo and Pauleta no longer around it’s good to have a veteran to calm things down. While he hasn’t done much with Benfica, Gomes has a history of scoring big goals for Portugal. Even his meaningless goal vs Germany in the World Cup was class. That being said I sure hope Nuno Gomes doesn’t start.
Overall I’m happy, all the players one would expect to be there are plus players for the future like Patrício, Veleso, Nani, and Moutinho are included. That gives them some experience heading towards World Cup 2010 where all four should feature heavily.
Gattuso may’ve played final game for AC Milan
Rino Gattuso may have played his last game for AC Milan.
As the song goes I think Gattuso is tempted by the fruit of another.
Fabio Can Win Euro 2008
Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro believes the Azzurri are good enough to win Euro 2008 and he had some kind words for Roberto Donadoni
Like most of Italy, I’m not sold on Roberto Donadoni as coach. Mind you he has some pretty large shoes to fill taking over from Marcello Lippi. Despite that it wouldn’t shock me at all if Italy won. The bigger the stage the more composed Italy play. You have to admire that.
May 13th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
What a fantastic blog, are you Portuguese?
May 14th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Thanks for checking out the site and for the kind words. Short answer is yes but this site is based out of Canada.
May 14th, 2008 at 12:12 am
By the way very nice pictures of Portugal on your site. I enjoyed them. Below is the link in case anyone else want to check it out. http://alohanuiloa.blogspot.com/
May 14th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Maniche always plays well for portugal or so it seems to me anyway. I wonder if he didn’t keep playing so well for the national team would we even been hearing about him anymore its been a long time since Porto