Where is the Love for Joao Moutinho?

A lot of noise has been made, and is still made about Cristiano's goals against Sweden. I am still waiting for Obama to proclaim his support for Cristiano getting the Ballon D'Or. I just sit back and I laugh. Then I sift through all the crap and garbage and pick out one of the KEY men that was very important in getting Portgual to Brazil. The boy's name is JOAO MOUTINHO.

I first saw this guy playing at Euro 2012. There is where I was mightily impressed with his eye for a pass and ability to maintain control of the midfield. It was very unfortunate he decided to MISS a damn penalty against Spain. Forget that though, he had a very good tournament and along with Cristiano, was one of the best performers at that tournament.
   There are two types of strikers in my eye. There are the Real Ronaldo's and Messi's, who don't necessarily need a perfect ball for them. It helps, but they can also create their own chances through the skill of dribbling and their footballing intelligence to find space for a shot. Then there are other strikers like Cristiano, or Inzaghi, who NEED service, and when they are given a chance, it's as good as a goal.
  For the latter kind of striker, they need their sidekick, their Robin, their supplier. Cristiano REQUIRES Moutinho for him to flourish and those two EXPERT passes that Moutinho delivered were of a high quality that gave Cristiano a great chance to score, which he put away. I need people to recognize and appreciate the role of a creative player. In my younger days, HA, when I played, my thing was the ability to pick out a defence-splitting through ball, so I know how important that is. I know eyes will always get glued and drawn to the finisher, but spare a thought for the man who had to CREATE that chance for the finisher. Would you put money on Cristiano having to beat two defenders in order to score? Nah...I'll put money on the little guy from Argentina.

Portugal are in Brazil, and they OUGHT to be, they speak the same damn language! Everyone will have their eyes on Cristiano and will wonder if he can carry his team. But I tell you this now, if Moutinho somehow gets injured or can't play...that will seriously hamper Portugal's chances of progression. But nah, nobody will worry about that....go figure...


HH