Quote:
Originally posted by Aragorn1:
quote: Originally posted by johnny:
Planting your foot in someone's crotch right under the ref's nose isn't a very smart thing to do
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Funny thing is the ref seems not to have noticed this, and sent him off for the push for Cristiano Ronaldo, in that respect it was a bit harsh, but for what he did before he did deserve it.
Portugal didn't seem to have the best sports manship, like you said diving and always little niggiling fouls pushing, little kicks, not that bad in themselves, but persistant.
As for penalties, great keeping from Ricardo, althoug a couple of the shots weren't the best. [/QUOTE]Rooney has to share the blame for getting himself sent off. We've had a record for red and yellows set in this tournament, he should have known better. He needs to learn to control himself on the pitch. This is not the first time this has happened to him. He was frustrated and stomped on the bloke. You can't do that. You could see it coming - he was starting to lose it even halfway through the 1st half, getting frustrated, getting angry, and losing a bit of discipline.
In any case, England never really got going, and all the concerns about their inability to fashion a goal from anything other than a set piece came back to haunt them. The dodgy form against the weaker teams in T&T and Ecuador proved to be a harbinger of what was to come. If ever a match was skewed in their favour it was this one, with Portugal missing a number of players.
I do feel for England though - it sucks to lose to PKs as it's basically a roll of the dice at that point. It's whoever has the mental strength to prevail.
I have mixed feelings about Portugal going through - at times they can play sublime football, but at other times they're the dirtiest team in football, with their Hollywoods and their ill-discipline. If I were playing against them I'd probably have been sent off too.