But since I am now a widely read author (one of my dissertation readers is in Greece!), I feel a certain duty to my loyal readers and the occasional spambot (check out AirJordan's constant encouragement in the comments section, if you're interested). I've been busily hacking through the final sections of my current project, and I became so intensely bored by what I've written that I'm giving up for the day. Unfortunately, there is just enough time between when I ran out of inspiration (a few minutes ago) and when my evening recreations can officially start, that I felt obligated to do something semi-productive with these next few minutes. Please accept my apologies, if you've read this far.
Some of you will know by now that Portugal is about to embark on what could very realistically be a heart-wrenching disaster of the 2002 variety. By this I mean that in less than 4 weeks the 2010 World Cup will officially begin (June 11). Gametimes are from 7Am to 2PM Eastern Time, but you can get all the details from this website (which is still, so far as I know, officially accurate): http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2010/01/espn-inc-2010-fifa-world-cup-schedule/
If Portugal crashes out of the cup early, which won't surprise me in the least, I will grudgingly throw my support first behind Brazil (Portugal's team is getting to be mostly Brazilian anyway) and then behind the U.S., despite the fact that many of my friends support the latter. I expect the U.S. to do pretty well, so either way I guess I'll have something nominally invested throughout the tournament. Portugal's chances are pretty slim this year, mostly because the entire team is built around C.Ron., who has been known to perform in less than stellar fashion for Portugal. In fairness to the lad, however, I should point out that his performances are not really Portugal's problem - the rest of the team's mediocre support for his performances has been the real problem. See, any team can double or triple up the pressure on C.Ron., and in fact every team will try to do so. This is to be expected. Portugal's problem throughout qualification was that, when teams did the obvious and expected, nobody stepped up to contribute meaningfully to the team. Simão Sabrosa and Nani were the most impressive flops in this role, but we can add to them Moutinho, Veloso, Tiago, Quaresma, and so on. At this point, we hope that Simão and Nani reproduce their currently decent form (for Atlético the Mighty and Manchester Ulame-ted, respectively) for the national side. I guess Liedson gets the starting nod up front, maybe with C.Ron. just behind in a sort of 4-4-1-1 or something like that, and hopefully we can get something good out of Deco and Moutinho to round out the top half. I know this leaves Danny and Almeida on the bench, and I am aware that Tiago and Veloso will want to play, but I'm not confident that any of them can do anything impressive. I also don't know what to expect out of Pepe, but I am glad to see he's listed as a midfielder and not a defender. He's suspect at the back, so it's good to know someone will be backing him up. Duda is also suspect, or worse, at the back, but Queiroz seems to like him. So I suppose he'll start, along with Carvalho and Bruno Alves. Or maybe we'll get to see Miguel or Ferreira, both of whom are more reliable than Duda.
So let's review:
Gk: Eduardo
D: Miguel, Carvalho, Alves, Ferreira
M: Pepe, Deco, Nani, and Simao (or Veloso/Moutinho)
F: C.Ron. and Liedson
Well, we're going to have to do some serious playing, but I think we can compete. And speaking of competing, my foot feels great, my brain hasn't fused in two weeks, and I have to go now.
Happy mid/late May!
