Friday November 11, 2011 Play-offs Finished Bilino Polje
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Frustrated Portugal held to draw
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Portugal played out a 0-0 draw at the Bilino Polje stadium in the first leg of their Euro 2012 play-off tie. More
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Live Commentary
Time:90'- Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Portugal
90+3' Pepe hacks clear not far from the halfway line. You know he's happy with the draw. Dzeko is in the clear! But he's offside and Patricio saves his shot anyway. That's the last action of the match and it is still all to be decided.- 90+2' Maletic makes an important challenge on Coentrao as he looks to put the cross in. Veloso is in no hurry to take this corner...it's cleared at the near post.
90+1' From the corner Nani flicks it on and Spahic sticks out a knee. The ball flies off him, but luckily straight into the arms of Begovic.- 90' Begovic slips and his kick doesn't reach halfway. Coentrao can't take advantage on the left though. Seconds later Almeida hooks in a ball for the onrushing Ronaldo. A lovely clean tackle from Lulic though and it goes out for a corner.
- 89' Veloso with a poor ball, quickly followed by an equally bad one from Nani. Spahic takes his time and lets the ball run out of play.
- 88' A freekick to Portugal after a foul by Maletic. Veloso this time to put it in to the packed penalty area. It's scrappy and Alves eventually commits the foul.
- 87' Bosnia's last throw of the dice: Misimovic is replaced by Senijad Ibricic.
- 86' Moutinho delivers the corner and once again the delivery is woeful. Portugal are back in possession though, but a high foot from Nani puts paid to that.
- 85' Nani beats two men as he darts down the right. His cross is deflected out for a corner...
- 84' To be fair to the substitute that latest chance was only actually a couple of feet over, but he should have buried that with ease nonetheless.
- 83' Brilliant header from Pepe to clear a Maletic cross with Dzeko lurking.
- 82' Alves hooks in a cross on the turn. Begovic claims at his back post. He takes his time getting rid when really he should be getting going with Bosnia on top.
- 81' This guy, he can't hit a barn door! Ibisevic has the easiest chance of the lot. He breaks the offside line with ease. It's a one on one and he smashes the ball miles over the bar. Dear oh dear.
- 80' Alves makes a has of the clearance. Ibisevic gets free down the right , he loses the ball to the last defender!
- 79' In to the area from Meireles but there's no Portuguese shirt in sight and Begovic has all the time in the world to collect.
- 78' Bosnia are playing so much better now. They win the midfield battle and have runner darting into the box. The ball in is poor though.
- 77' Alves goes down as he's taken out by Ibisevic. Almeida now goes down holding his head, but he'll also be fine.
- 76' Ibisevic goes down in the area. There was definitely an arm on him and in this book, that's a penalty, though Webb isn't interested. A soft one, but still...
- 75' Dzeko fires in a dangerous cross for Ibisevic and it's just over his head. Bosnia will wish the roles were reversed there.
- 74' Ibisevic with the chance of the match! The cross coems over to the back post...his touch is awful, the chance still isn't gone though when he slices horribly horribly wide.
- 73' It is opening up now as Portugal start to pour forward. Dzeko is finding more space, but is getting very little support up front.
- 72' Dzeko goes for goal when he really should have layed off to hos team mate who is clear on the left. A left foot shot from 30 yards? It's unlikely to work.
- 71' Almeida tries to get goalside of Jahic, but the Bosnian is strong against the big man.
- 70' Good pressure from Portugal as they win a throw high up the pitch. The game should hopefully stretch out now with both teams hoping to grab the goal.
68' Bosnian substitutions: Medunjanin is replaced by Darko Maletic and Salihovic comes off for Vedad Ibisevic.- 67' A clever little header almost gives Almeida his first touch and a chance, but Begovic holds on well.
- 66' Portugal substitution: Postiga is replaced by Hugo Almeida.
- 65' Ronaldo decides to try it alone. He makes his way right to left along the edge of the penalty area. His left foot shot back across goal lacks power and Begovic stretches and holds.
- 64' Dzeko should not be strolling back from offside with his side in possession. The ball predictably comes over in what would have been a good position for the striker, but of course he's offside.
- 63' The Bosnian fans are showing England fans a thing or two about supporting your nation though as they continue to provide ample vocal support for thier team.
- 62' The final ball is shocking from Misimovic when in a very good position with acres of space on the right.
- 61' Ronaldo sprints to the byline, but he's chased by Rahimic who gets the block in and is further rewarded when the ball bounces off Ronaldo for a goalkick.
- 60' Bosnia break from a Portugal corner, though the Sellecao shepard it out for a throw.
- 59' Clumsy from Bruno Alves as he leans all over Misimovic trying to head away the ball. It's Alvers that gets the decision though, presumably for backing in.
- 58' Coentrao is fouled. The freekick drops in the area onto the foot of Postiga. He has to be taking that at this level! He volleys a yard or so wide from 10 yards.
- 57' Ronaldo cuts inside on the left and tries a clever pass to Nani inside the fullback, who reacts well and hacks away.
- 56' Dzeko lurks behind Veloso as the ball comes into the box. Portugal aren't taking any chances though and clear their lines for a corner.
- 55' A poor backheel in midfield hands the ball to Pepe, but he can't do anything positive with it. Alves is penalised for a cynical challenge on Misimovic.
- 54' Misimovic wins Bosnia a corner...it's taken quickly and almost falls to Pjanic 6 yards from goal, but it's hacked clear.
- 53' Nani tries to wriggle away from Salhovic, bt it's the Bosnian that wins the throw.
- 51' A lovely touch from Nani, an exquisite back heel fools the entire defence and plays in Ronaldo! It's on his left foot in the area and he slices horribly wide, though the ball did take a bobble as he pulled the trigger. Ronaldo picks up the offending turf and slams it to the floor.
- 50' The corner falls to Pepe at the back post. His poor touch almost falls to Ronaldo who is lurking on the six yard line. Pjanic clears just before the Portuguese gets his shot off and is hurt in the tangle.
- 49' Ronaldo stays onside and takes on a coupkle of players down the left. Quick feet wins a corner...
- 48' Dzeko with an exemplary piece of control on his chest. The flag is rightly raised as he plays forward though.
- 47' Veloso's clearance is blocked as Bosnia try and start this half on the front foot. Bruno Alves leans all over Dzeko as he heads clear in the area.
46' Portugal get us under way and they try a long diegonal towards Nani, which doesn't come off.- - Eurosport readers have kindly pointed out that Meireles is no longer a Liverpool player. That unforgivable mistake is now corrected. It just doesn't feel right seeing him in a Chelsea shirt...blue doesn't suit him.
- 45+1' A foolish foul from Pepe on Dzeko allows Bosnia a final chance to chuck it in...in by Misimovic, it's cleared away and that's it in this half.
- 45' Ronaldo gets to the ball first with his head. The ball bounces on to Begovic first though, who launches upfield.
- 44' A silly freekick to give away. Veloso to deliver in a promising position...he curls his effort towards the far post, and Begovic plucks it out of the air.
- 43' The foul on Lulic by Veloso, but it's just another terrible freekick. In fact just a terrible five yard pass.
42' Postiga is carded for a bit of petulance. Jahic was asking for the Portuguese to receive the card though and Webb gives him a bit of a telling off.- 41' Dzeko wins the freekick deep in his own half. Bosnia will be happy to get to halftime having offered very little in this first 45.
- 40' A very good cross from Dzeko in the circumstances. He turns on a sixpence by the corner flag and his low cross pings towards the far post. No Bosnian player has gambled though.
- 39' Pjanic goes down as if he's been shot, when of course he was barely touched. Good position for Bosnia though...a strange set piece, basically a complete mess and it's easily out.
- 38' Ronaldo does Salihovic and clips is a deep cross to the far post. Meireles picks it up, but has nowhere to go.
- 37' Ronaldo hits well over. It won't have helped that some idiot is shining a lazer pen into his face. Some fans really are disgraceful.
- 36' Portugal win the freekick, Spahic asks what it was for. This is probably just within the range of Ronaldo...
- 35' Moutinho this time takes the corner. It's put into a good area, but Bosnia break after heading clear.
- 34' Pepe claims he's fouled, but he was already going to ground as he was touched. Coentrao wins Portugal a corner...
- 33' Pepe plays a delightful pass in front of the sprinting Ronaldo. He jinks to the byline and scuffs in a low cross that's cleared.
- 32' A lax touch from Lulic loses possession after a nice bit of play from Bosnia. They win it back and a cross in to Dzeko is headed away by Pepe on the stretch.
- 31' Patricio very nearly drops a catch at Dzeko's feet. They then go up the other end and another fantastic Nani cross just evades the lunge of Postiga.
- 30' Pepe again is the last man and he clears away for a foul. Portugal are nervy in defence. A ball is put into their box and with no Bosnia striker lurking they still nearly manage to make a hash of it.
- 29' The cross makes its way deep to Pepe. His control is instant, but his cross is headed away.
- 28' A desperate challenge from Salihovic just nicks the ball away from the feet of Nani off a Ronaldo through ball.
- 27' A Pepe clearance goes straight to Ronaldo. He wriggles past one opponent, he's in a fantastic position to shoot or to lay off to another. He elects to shoot, but straight into the defender.
- 26' Ronaldo again goes down. This time Webb tells him to get back on his feet in what would have been a dangerous position.
- 25' Pareira and Postiga play some nice stuff between them, but it's ruined by the striker's slack control. Pareira is not happy with him as he darts into the box.
- 24' Ronaldis fouled on the halfway line and all he can do his shrug his shoulders. Howard Webb is in for a busy night.
- 23' Dzeko tries to go it alone and come through a huddle of Portuguese shirts. He's eventually hustled out of it and Patricio has the ball.
- 22' Pepe doesn't take any chances and hacks it out of play from in his own area. Make that a second time to deny Bosnia.
- 21' Nani puts in a wonder of a cross. Postiga tries a bicycle kick, taking it off the foot of Moutinho. Needless to say the ball goes nowhere near the goal.
- 20' Chance for Postiga on the edge of the box, but he takes the ball on way too early and smashes his shot well over the bar.
- 19' Salihovic picks up the first yellow of the night, crudely taking out Ronaldo. The freekick from Meireles is again poor and doesn't clear the first man.
- 18' Bosnia are just struggling to get out of their own half at the minute, though they almost do through Dzeko, who can't quite get on the end of a through ball.
- 17' Ronaldo this time fires in a couple of crosses. The first is dangerous as it is whipped in towards the near post.
- 16' Jahic clears and Coentrao picks up the lose ball. He plays it to Ronaldo who shoots from a huge distance. Begovic gets down at his near post and holds.
- 15' Postiga is caught offside as he tries to run on to a lofted through ball and Bosnia play it short out of defence.
- 14' Ronaldo's delivery isn't great. It bounces before it even reaches the near post adn is cleared away.
- 13' Pareira is tackled and wins the throw deep in Bosnia's half. Portugal win the corner...
- 12' Veloso commits the foul against Misimovic and yet again there wasn't much.
- 10' Portugal are stuck by their corner flag, but the hook away and win the freekick in midfield.
- 9' Nani picks the ball up in plenty of space. He hits a raking ball out to Ronaldo, who heads down for Meireles and the Chelsea man fires in a volley that Begovic gets down to well.
- 8' Dzeko commits the foul against Pepe, though again it isn't much. These teams are putting Tom Daley to shame at the minute.
- 7' Meireles puts in a very poor freekick with all his defenders having loped up to the opposite area. Big waste.
- 6' Medujanin plays a pinpoint pass into Dzeko, who nicks the ball away from the defender. That could well have been a foul in a dangerous position, but the referee waves play on.
- 5' Zahirovic goes down so easily from a slight nudge from Ronaldo. That was pretty pathetic.
- 4' Postiga is called up for a foul on Lulic, who goes down holding his head. Spahic is put under pressure in possession by the striker, but he clears.
- 3' Dzeko tries to run off the shoulder of Pepe, but the portuguese has the pace to keep up and intercept the through ball.
- 2' Nani fires across the six yard box, but Ronaldo hasn't made up the ground and it goes out for a Bosnia throw.
1' Bosnia are kicking off from right to left and hit long, giving the ball to Portugal. This pitch does indeed look not great, as Portugal earlier complained.- 18:55 Edin Dzeko is the obvious star, but Zvjezdan Misimovic and Miralem Pjanic provide a creativity in midfield, and Haris Medunjanin impressed as a deep-lying creator in Bosnia's draw in France alongside Elvir Rahimic. Safet Susic has created a more balanced side than Bosnia's previous incarnation and they'll hope to show it against the team they lost to in the 2010 World Cup play-offs.
- 18:50 Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 30 goals wearing the Portuguese colours, two short of Luis Figo in third place on the all-time list. Pauleta (47) and Eusébio (41) make up the top two. If he plays into his thirties he can surely get that record.
- 18:45 The teams are in - Bosnia-Herzegovina: Begovic, Spahic, Jahic, Rahimic, Zahirovic, Pjanic, Misimovic, Salihovic, Lulic, Medunjanin, Dzeko. Subs: Avdukic, Besic, Stilic, Muslimovic, Ibisevic, Ibricic, Maletic///Portugal: Rui Patricio, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Fabio Coentrao, Joao Pereira, Veloso, Joao Moutinho, Meireles, Nani, Ronaldo, Postiga. Subs: Beto, Almeida, Ruben Amorim, Rolando, Ruben Micael, Quaresma, Carlos Martins.
- 18:40 Portugal have reached the final tournament of the European Championships five times before. After conceding a goal in the 119th minute of the semi-final against France (2-3) on their debut in 1984, they returned to the finals in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008. They finished runners up in 2004 when they became the only hosts to ever lose the final - 0-1 against Greece.
- 18:35 Bosnia-Herzegovina can set a new national record if they remain unbeaten against Portugal tonight. They are currently undefeated in their last six international matches (4 wins – 2 draws), their joint longest unbeaten run ever. They last suffered defeat vs Romania 3-0 in Jun 2011.
- 18:30 Bosnia-Herzegovina and Portugal will face each other for the second time in the play-offs for a major tournament. In 2009, Portugal beat Bosnia twice -1-0, 0-1 in the play-offs for the 2010 World Cup. Sejad Salihovic was sent off in the return leg. Bruno Alves scored the only goal in the first leg in Portugal and Raul Meireles netted in the return in Bosnia.
- 18:25 Bosnia manager Safet Susic: "I knew very little before this game what team I would pick for the Portugal game and now I am none the wiser. It's not just the defence giving me a headache, it's also the midfield because we have a lot of attacking midfielders with an instinct to go forward. With a team structured like that, you have to score at least two or three goals to beat any opposition and that's not going to be easy against a team of Portugal's quality."
- 18:20 Portugal manager Paulo Bento: "We have to be mentally prepared to fight during 90 minutes. We have to be smart enough to play in a different way sometimes, without taking risks. I want our team to play with heart, but without losing our emotional control. We are going to have to work, run and jump. Portugal will be a team who want to win the game. Portugal have not come to Bosnia to get a draw. Before a match I never sign on a draw."
- 18:15 Bosnia and Herzegovina have problems in defence as both Sasa Papac and Boris Pandza are suspended for the first leg. Mensur Mujdza has also suffered a broken metatarsal and misses out. However, striker Edin Dzeko is in fine form at Manchester City and they'll rely on him to get the goals tonight.
- 18:10 Portugal are without Ricardo Carvalho after he withdrew his services at international level. Jose Bosingwa has done likewise but was not picked for the squad in any case. With Silvio Pereira and Danny absent, Portugal have called up Malaga's Eliseu and Vieirinha of PAOK.
- 18:05 Hello and welcome to Eurosport UK's live minute-by-minute coverage of the Euro 2012 First Leg Play-off match between Bosnia Herzegovina and Portugal from the Bilino Polje stadium.
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Summary
- 90+1' From the corner Nani flicks it on and Spahic sticks out a knee. The ball flies off him, but luckily straight into the arms of Begovic.
- 90' Begovic slips and his kick doesn't reach halfway. Coentrao can't take advantage on the left though. Seconds later Almeida hooks in a ball for the onrushing Ronaldo. A lovely clean tackle from Lulic though and it goes out for a corner.
- 81' This guy, he can't hit a barn door! Ibisevic has the easiest chance of the lot. He breaks the offside line with ease. It's a one on one and he smashes the ball miles over the bar. Dear oh dear.
- 80' Alves makes a has of the clearance. Ibisevic gets free down the right , he loses the ball to the last defender!
- 76' Ibisevic goes down in the area. There was definitely an arm on him and in this book, that's a penalty, though Webb isn't interested. A soft one, but still...
- 74' Ibisevic with the chance of the match! The cross coems over to the back post...his touch is awful, the chance still isn't gone though when he slices horribly horribly wide.
- 58' Coentrao is fouled. The freekick drops in the area onto the foot of Postiga. He has to be taking that at this level! He volleys a yard or so wide from 10 yards.
- 51' A lovely touch from Nani, an exquisite back heel fools the entire defence and plays in Ronaldo! It's on his left foot in the area and he slices horribly wide, though the ball did take a bobble as he pulled the trigger. Ronaldo picks up the offending turf and slams it to the floor.
- 31' Patricio very nearly drops a catch at Dzeko's feet. They then go up the other end and another fantastic Nani cross just evades the lunge of Postiga.
- 27' A Pepe clearance goes straight to Ronaldo. He wriggles past one opponent, he's in a fantastic position to shoot or to lay off to another. He elects to shoot, but straight into the defender.
- 9' Nani picks the ball up in plenty of space. He hits a raking ball out to Ronaldo, who heads down for Meireles and the Chelsea man fires in a volley that Begovic gets down to well.
- 18:45 The teams are in - Bosnia-Herzegovina: Begovic, Spahic, Jahic, Rahimic, Zahirovic, Pjanic, Misimovic, Salihovic, Lulic, Medunjanin, Dzeko. Subs: Avdukic, Besic, Stilic, Muslimovic, Ibisevic, Ibricic, Maletic///Portugal: Rui Patricio, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Fabio Coentrao, Joao Pereira, Veloso, Joao Moutinho, Meireles, Nani, Ronaldo, Postiga. Subs: Beto, Almeida, Ruben Amorim, Rolando, Ruben Micael, Quaresma, Carlos Martins.
Team Line-up & Ratings
Bosnia-HerzegovinaManager: Safet Susic
PortugalManager: Paulo Bento
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Line-up
Live Team Line-Up
Starting line-up
- A. Begovic
- A. Zahirovic
- S. Jahic
- E. Spahic
- S. Salihovic
- E. Rahimic
- H. Medunjanin
- Z. Misimovic
- M. Pjanic
- S. Lulic
- E. Dzeko
Subs
- V. Ibisevic
68′ - S. Stilic
- Z. Muslimovic
- D. Maletic 67′
- S. Ibricic 86′
- A. Avdukic
- M. Besic
Starting line-up
- Rui Patrício
- J. Pereira
- Bruno Alves
- Pepe
- F. Coentrão
- M. Veloso
- Raul Meireles
- J. Moutinho
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Nani
- Hélder Postiga
Subs
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