Brazil plays Portugal plays Brazil

A disclaimer at the outset.  I didn't watch all of this match.  I scanned through it quickly online.  Isn't it a miracle that we can do that?  Was it just a few years ago I was making videotapes of games so I could watch them?  And thinking it might be cool to save the tapes of the good games to watch them in some future year?  When I could say, "Well, let me show you a real game..." as the merits of some future contest were discussed.


Back to the match.  The verb "play" is really operant here.  I had the strong impression that neither team was willing to risk very much.  Portugal only needed a draw to go through.  A win for either would have been a plum but not at the risk of a loss.   The Portuguese,  as John Harkes noted early in his commentary,  chose to play compact in their own end,  giving Brazil space on the far side of the half line but stymying opportunities to peel open the defense because there was less space.  I considered that my team might do well to use this strategy tomorrow against Volga.  But I digress.


The most notable thing that struck me was the physicality of some of the play.  Felipe Melo threw a full on body check to draw a card close to the end of the first half that 'weren't purty' much less an exemplar of the 'beautiful game'.   And by the end of the match fouls,  most appearing to be Brazilian,  were taking place that I believe would have drawn a card in another game.   Ramires, for example, almost at game end with a late, needless slide tackle.  Interesting.


Maybe everyone in the world but me knows this.  I watched Ronaldo make a great run down the left wing late in the first half, and was struck by the fact that this heralded player made his cross to go right with his right foot.  I was astonished!  Does this guy not have a left foot?  He would have been much more dangerous had he been able to cut the ball with his left foot.  It would have been easier to pull it back from the defender who, in the instance, cleared it.   Oh well.  Interesting.   Will hope to see more from both these teams in the next round.  I'll bet we do.