Indeed. Especially with tactical football Milan plays a striker like that is important. Shevchenko was like that before he moved to Chelsea. Ronaldinho certainly is getting back to his old form. I think the Olympics were a great stepping stone for him to get back into form. Not some irrelevant friendly games.

Argentina was very unimpressive, and Riquelme gave so many passes away. OMG. THey all did. Lavezzi scored by luck. Argentina had so many chances and close to 80% of possession but they squandered most of it. They had two uninspiring games, and Messi isn't all that. I can say Ronaldinho and Rossi/Giovinco has left more an impression.

speaking of olympic performances...i saw this goal, and it instantly became one of my favorite goals of all time. This Sao Paolo midfielder Hernanes produces something of ABSOLUTE master-class, and he also has diego to thank..Hernanes i believe plays in the pirlo role but is clearly more than comfortable coming forward..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU7tsTjNZzg

But he has improved A LOT since that game, which is only good. that was a friendly and perhaps the defenders didn't take it hard on him. but it's a completely different story now. playing like this in the Olympics, even if the opponent was New Zealand, shows he's getting his mojo back.


And what if Italy lost to Brazil with a Pato goal? you'd hate him!


Really!?

I haven't watched them play yet but I thought they have a strong team, at least on paper. Messi, Lavezzi, Aguero, even their Turtle... and not to mention they're the defending champions. hope what you say turns out to be the case in the end. I can't stand Argies winning two consecutive Olympic gold medals while Brazil's yet to win any.

The Argies have been a lot like Milan was last season. Pretty play but having a hard time finding the net. That in itself is rather shocking given who they've got in attack (Messi, Aguerro, Lavezzi and Riquelme). They've only scored 3 goals so far in the tournament. I'd have expected more.

Then they will have problems if they face Brazil. Selecao's defense is rather good!... but it's fair to mention they've played against stronger opponents compared to Italy and Brazil.

Nah, she said that because she doesn't really think he'll be quaking in teh final


*runs and hides behind Jack*

^^^

Oh...no problem bro...I got your back.


@Tennie: You can't win Tennie, ban me now and I shall become more powerful than you can ever imagine.




[If you haven't seen Star Wars sister...I will be pissed!! ]

YOU ARE ALL MEANIEHEADS!

Does anybody know why Pato did not play one minute in the Brazil game today? (Brazil 2 - 0 Cameroon) (Sobis, Marcelo)

They plaid with Sobis... the whole match...

Actually, yes. We've been speculating about that the whole time in the U23 and below thread. Rossoneri7 says he got injured during warm-up. So can't be anything real bad.

From what I heard, Pato has been injured.

According to Fifa.com Pato came in as a substitute

Brazil sink battling Cameroon

Brazil were made to work hard by their numerically-inferior opponents, but they eventually prevailed to beat Cameroon 2-0 and reach the semi-finals of the Men's Olympic Football Tournament. A tight, chance-shy 90 minutes failed to separate the two sides, before extra-time goals from Rafael Sobis and Marcelo earned the Seleção a meeting with either Argentina or the Netherlands.

Dunga curiously left Thiago Neves and Alexandre Pato out of his starting line-up and without them, Brazil appeared shorn of their usual spark during the first half, with the mercurial right-foot of Ronaldinho from set-pieces their only genuine source of opportunities. He tested Cameroon goalkeeper Amour Tignyemb with one curling effort on four minutes, and then directed a teasing cross on to the head of Rafael Sobis midway through the half, only for the striker to nod wide.

The Africans defended resolutely, with their best efforts coming from long range. The pick of them was a Gustave Bebbe piledriver, which went narrowly over the crossbar on 30 minutes.

Cameroon were reduced to ten men soon after the restart when Albert Baning pocketed his second yellow card for a foul on Lucas. However, despite their numerical advantage, Brazil struggled to break down their opponents, even after the introductions of Thiago Neves and Alexandre Pato. They did, nevertheless, dominate possession and every time their opponents attempted to launch a counter-attack, tireless midfielder Anderson was there to stop them in their tracks.

With 101 minutes on the clock, Diego unlocked the Cameroonian defence with a long ball. Rafael Sobis raced on to it and with only the keeper to beat, he made no mistake to put Brazil in front. They effectively sealed victory four minutes later when, after sublime interchange between Ronaldinho and Thiago Neves, Marcelo somehow scored with his thigh from close range

FIFA.COM

oo boy

Thanks for the report, Gal Kenny.


Yeah. You can say that again!

No problem...I was kinda nervous when i heard Rossoneri7 say pato's injured..But thank God he isn't..However, Cameroon played a very aggressive n rough match...

Er. I watched the match. Pato didn't play. Fifa got it wrong.

Fifa must have gotten it wrong then..Ma bad guys...But hopefully Pato isn't injured..Or Tennie did the commentators give any commentary on Pato?

Tennie say right , in this page there is substitutes :

http://www.fifa.com/mensolympic/matches/ro...ttling+cameroon


but we must know acid source , i hope it is not true and if it is , no serious

Why didn't he play? Did they think Cameroon was probably a tad bit too physical and didn't want to risk injury?

This competition sucks anyways. Seriously, bad refereeing really is a trade mark.

I don't know why he didn't play. The US commentators didn't say anything at all about injuries. There were shots of him on the bench and the commentators were screaming for him to come on from the beginning of the second half on. I'm wondering if they didn't want to risk injury. Cameroon played an extremely physical game.

Yeah..I guess that's why..Cuz Cameroon usually plays football from a physical point of view and maybe Dunga probably needed fresh blood and physical possession..That's why he opted to go with Rafael Sobis

If he was, it would be like the story of 'the boy who cried wolf' ... Try convincing Zd again, Gluck

Yeah..I guess that's why..Cuz Cameroon usually plays football from a physical point of view and maybe Dunga probably needed fresh blood and physical possession..That's why he opted to go with Rafael Sobis

I think Milan probably told Dunga not to risk him... I wouldn't have either. It was purely a tactical move.

Anyways, I hope whoever faces Belgium next destroys them.

I know right..Very Very shocking to see Italy out of the competition..

Personally it doesn't surprise me. Poor refereeing and Italy in one sentence does not surprise me at all. Belgium had more than just 11 men on the field. They had the referees too.

Anyways, I hope Pato plays the next Brazil match and that Brazil goes to glory in this... even though I do not view this competition as legitimate.

I think Sobis is a FANTASTIC player and slightly more along in his development than Pato (obviously given his age). Pato is more talented though....what I wouldn't give to see him play for us

It was our friendly neighborhood Rossoneri7 playing a joke on zd. And I tagged along for the ride. So in all probability Pato is fine and dandy, nothing to be worried about. He's perfectly healthy.

Hopefully

Hopefully. But I'd be very, very surprised if he isn't. Here's to seeing the duck in the semis!

Strictly a tactical move not playing him... it could pay off later...

I can't agree with that. He sent a Belgian off and gave Italy after 15 minutes! Italy were at fault for everything, they went from 1-0 to 2-1 down against 10 men, it just aint good enough. Then the referee gave them another penalty. To say he was on Belgiums side is a bit harsh. He did alot to help Italy.

But as in the Euro's, Italy do have this very "The World is against us" attitude, whenever they don't win, it's the refs fault.

In fairness, Kurt, the first Belgian goal should probably not have been given. There's a legitimate complaint about that one being a bad call. The rest...not so much. They just didn't bring enough to the table.

The Italian press I've read so far does mention the questionable calls but they're actually more critical of the subpar performances.

Totally utterly disagreed. Italy played a lot better in this competition, and they were penalised unfairly on several calls. You simply don't have a case. Not at all. And what rubbish. He didn't help Italy, he only harmed Italy and it is verified fact that one of the Belgian goals DID NOT CROSS THE LINE. Simple facts like that can tilt the game towards the Belgians.

It is the referee's fault. So your statements are utterly wrong.

If the first Belgian goal wasn't awarded the balance of game WOULD MOST CERTAINLY BE DIFFERENT.

I don't mean to come down harsh on you, but I think you're simply wrong.

Let's take this one down several notches, shall we?

Sure thing... it's just this is a touchy subject for me. The ball really never crossed the line (example, 1966 world cup final).

Don't even think about bringing that up. The goal has never been proven to NOT cross the line, and the only player that said he saw it was Martin Peters who said it DID cross the line. Why would he lie? It's not like they're going to take the WC from us is it? and that goal was irrelevant anyways, the German 90th minute equaliser shouldn't have counted. They were lucky to even get ET. Won won the game by 2 clear goals anyways. End of.

It never crossed the line and some people have their own agendas. Of course you would stick to that story, but historically, all the photographs have been analyzed and the ball NEVER crossed the line. This isn't the thread for it... this is the Alexandre Pato thread.

At the risk of incurring zd's wrath, I'm including here a quote from Brazil coach Dunga. This version's from Mediaset but I've seen it in other places.

Secondo il ct brasiliano Carlos Dunga, molto difficilmente Pato tornerà titolare nella nazionale olimpica. Il deludente asso del Milan, infatti, sostituito durante i quarti con il Camerun, sembra aver perso la fiducia del suo allenatore. "Ho scelto Rafael Sobis - ha spiegato Dunga - perché sa affrontare una marcatura stretta, aprire gli spazi e non andare in fuorigioco. Pato deve crescere ancora e imparare a liberarsi dalle marcature.

[According to the Brazilian NT coach Carlos Dunga, it'll be very difficult for Pato to start again for the Brazilian Olympic team. The disappointing Milan ace, substituted during the quarters with Cameroon, seems to have lost the faith of his coach. 'I chose Rafael Sobis,' said Dunga, 'because he knows how to confront tight marking, open spaces, and not go offside. Pato needs to grow still and learn how to get away from his markers.']

Rather harsh words, those.

I don't know if he wants to charge him up with those words but if it affects Pato in a negative way, it's a pretty stupid thing to say when Brazil are still in the competition and he might need Pato's services...

Besides, I don't know where this is coming from... Pato has been poor but Sobis has been ever poorer!

Those are some stupid words from a stupid coach under whom Brazil has played the ugliest brand of football in many years. what makes Pato special is what he's been doing at such a young age. any dork can see he needs to learn many things still. he's 18/19, the youngest member of Brazil's Olympic team (along Breno) for ****'s sake. how can he 'grow' if you don't let him play?? thank god he's not the coach of Milan, and thank god it's only two/three games. it won't hurt his confidence.

^^

Exactly. Brazil haven't been all that smooth either in the Olympics so far. So I'm not entirely sure why Pato has been singled out, especially when there still in the competition.

He needs tender care with a correct supervision .

(so, zd, shall we put Dunga into a tank with siamese fighter fish?)

Yes, sure! ()

Ronaldinho, Anderson, Leiva have all been poor... it's not like Pato is getting proper service...


Come on!!!

zd, the fish doll loves you forever for that smiley.

EXACTLY!! I saw Brazil against New Zelanad and Pato never got proper service by the midfielders, no more than two or three times in the whole game.

oh no ... Now she will abuse us

you're welcome!