Carlos Queiroz tried to give a convincing reason why he WON'T call-up Nuno Gomes. The more he says the more, shall we say, ridiculous his reason sounds. Here are his words, you decide:
Carlos Queiroz went on the show "Dia Seguinte," April 14, 2009, SIC Noticias
"The truth is that the Portugal team, with or without Nuno Gomes, had Pauleta, the top goalscorer in Spain and France. Nuno Gomes plays in that position and even has a good record. Nevertheless, the reason why he's not called up is not just because he's not in the starting lineup in his club. The truth is that based on what I've seen in the trainings and games, I understood that today, the football style of Nuno Gomes doesn't fit with the Portugal team."
"A verdade e que Portugal, come ou sem Nuno Gomes, de 1997 a 2006 teve Pauleta melhor marcador de sempre da Seleccao, goleador de Espana e de Franca. Foi sempre um descanso... O Nuno Gomes joga nessa posiciao, tem ate um recorde muito positivo, mas o motivo pelo qual nao e convocado nao e somente o facto de nao ser titular. A verdade e que, pelo que tenho visto em treinos e em certas observacoes de jogos, entendi que, hoje, o futebol do Nuno no se casa nem se coaduna com o futebol da seleccao.
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Monica08- Did his reason satisfy you? Convince you?
Queiroz makes it sound as if Portugal is scoring goals left and right that there is no need for a striker. Someone please tell him Hugo Almeida hasn't scored for Portugal in at least 3 consecutive games. Almeida scores in the UEFA Cup but can't in a qualification match. Edinho instead of Nuno Gomes.
I'd like to ask Eusebio if he thinks Nuno Gomes should be called up for the next Portugal game.
Queiroz speaks too highly of Pauleta. How come he couldn't easily score 1 or 2 goals in the 2006 world cup?
Portugal Tickets, World Cup Portugal Jersey, Soccer blog by Monica 08 for fans of players in the Portugal team. Player photos, and videos. Comments with fans of Portuguese players like Miguel Veloso, goalkeeper Eduardo, Nuno Gomes, and Ricardo Quaresma.