|
|
Other News |
Lazio’s hattrick helps Portugal dump Germany |
|
News |
|
|
June 22, 2000 ROTTERDAM (AP) - After overpowering England and Romania, many pundits reckoned Portugal had the most creative team in Euro 2000. Following the demolition of Germany, some are saying the two most exciting teams in tournament are both Portuguese.
The side that humiliated reigning champions Germany 3-0 Tuesday was effectively the reserve team. It contained just two players who started against England and Romania. There was no Luis Figo, no Rui Costa, no Joao Pinto, no Vitor Baia.
And yet, the free-flowing, one-touch soccer was just as exhilarating
Just as Figo and Costa ran rings round England, Germany was tormented by Pauleta, Capucho and most of all Sergio Conceicao, the winger from Lazio who fired in three goals to become the fifth hattrick hero in European Championship history.
With a quarterfinal against Turkey looming Saturday in Amsterdam, Portugal's squad is now brimming with confidence and the papers back home were grasping for euphoric, one-word headlines.
"Magic" trumpeted the sports daily Record. "Party" proclaimed its rival O Jogo.
It all gives coach Humberto Coelho a happy conundrum. Who does he leave out in the match with the tricky Turks?
The mustachioed former Benfica and Paris St. Germain defender who has done so much to meld Portugal's gifted individualists in to a coherent team, dismisses any talk of reserve teams.
"This is not a second team, that doesn't exist here. We've got 22 players and any one of them can play at any time, as you have seen," Coelho said after the match with Germany.
The wins over England and Romania guaranteed Portugal first place in Group A and allowed Coelho to rest some players and experiment with other. Now all 22 players have seen Euro 2000 action and Coelho's options seem unlimited.
Conceicao has fumed at being on the left on the bench after helping Lazio win the Italian championship last season. His speed, dribbling and passing have long been renowned. Last night he showed remarkable finishing ability too, scoring first with the head, then with a right foot shot, finally basting home with the left.
The little winger has never hidden his frustration at not playing and he channelled his pent up passion into his play.
"All 22 of us are fighting for a place in the team, that's natural, its a good thing," Conceicao said after the game. "My personality is like that, sometimes I get irritated because I want to play so much, to help my teammates team."
Like Figo, Conceicao has shown he can play on both flanks, drifting hither and thither to bewilder defenses.
The supporting cast was also excellent. Striker Pauleta, little known outside the Iberian peninsula, but a champion in Spain with Deportivo La Coruna, was a constant menace to the flatfooted Germans.
Costinha, the substitute goalscorer against Romania, ran tirelessly in midfield popping up to unsettle the Germans in both penalty areas. He too is a national champion, this time in France with AS Monaco. FC Porto's Capucho and striker Ricardo Sa Pinto both bedeviled the poor Germans.
Amazingly players like Rui Costa and Joao Pinto suddenly find themselves fighting to a place on the team.
Portugal's strength in depth as not escaped the attention of Europe's club scouts.
After writing all through the tournament about big money offers pouring in for Figo, Costa and Pinto, Lisbon's sports press said the rest of the squad was now prominently displayed in soccer's shop window, with Real Madrid interested in Costinha, while Manchester United and Roma are reportedly homing in on Sporting Lisbon defender Beto after his part in Germany defeat.
UNF-75 Sports Belgian
goalkeeper’s ill luck ROTTERDAM, (AP) - The misery for Belgian goalkeeper Filip De Wilde just doesn't end. Already blamed for Belgium's early elimination out of Euro 2000, UEFA slapped him with a two-game suspension for his red card in the game against Turkey. With Belgium trailing 2-0 against Turkey on Monday, De Wilde made a wild charge off his line and into the countering Arif Erden, flattening the midfielder with a body slam well outside his box. He was sent off and a Belgian defender had to take his place. The expulsion followed De Wilde's earlier blunder when he allowed Turkish forward Hakan Sukur to head into an empty net. De Wilde's two-game suspension will most likely start with Belgium's early qualification games for World Cup 2002. END/UNB/MS 1609 Hrs
|