Chances

Benfica beat Estrela Da Amadora after penalty shootouts, just to resume i'd like to say it was a terrible performance by Benfica, who benefited of a bad penalty call by the linesman to tie the game and to send the game into penalties.. With that out of the way i'd like to concentrate on the players who were given playing time and what they made of that playing time.

Butt: one capital mistake that tarnished his performance, setting up the wall in a frontal area with 3 men. What was he thinking? Yes it was a great shot but a wall with a minimum of 4 men, which should be standard for a free kick in a frontal area, could have very well blocked a shot that was driven and entered the goal at medium height. He also missed one of the penalty kicks, which i was hoping would be the downfall of Benfica, because they did not deserve to be in the penalty shootout.

Nelson: nothing too flashy, but it was good to see him the full 90 minutes, he is clearly better than Luis Filipe and i hope he will start soon.

Luisao : still showing lack of competitive rhythm, yet his sense of positioning is undeniable, hope to see him in the starting line up also.

Zoro: Had a discreet performance with no major mistakes, barring the "almost" penalty he caused.. But also nothing that would make him stand out.. still needs rhythm.

Miguelito : clearly proved why he isn't called up to the game roster.. simply has nothing to add to the team.. does not take advantage of his speed, he is just a common player, that should be back at Nacional.

Binya: Not as much of a flashy performance as on Sunday, but the same work rate, made a lot of bad passes. A player that recovers a lot of balls should be able to have a high percentage of completed passes or else you might as well not be recovering those balls to start with. Will most likely sit the bench on Saturday if Luisao starts and Katsouranis comes to midfield.

Nuno Assis : Simply horrible, not even starting can Assis make a significant contribution. He is unable to take control of the game and be an influence, It won't be too long until he stops being an option off the bench. It's hard to understand how Luis Felipe Vieira declared him an important "acquisition" for the new season.

Dabao: I find Dabao to be extremely naive to the game, slow, too predictable and maybe that is due to the fact he played alone up front, or maybe it's due to the fact that he still needs to log a lot of Bwin league competiton minutes. I wouldn't be surprised if he is on the list of available for loan, come January.

Andres Diaz : continues to be just a common player.

Fabio Coentrao: Tried his best to bring speed and creativity into the game, but without much follow up from his teammates but not a bad night out..

Freddy Adu: Adu came in at half time and showed some some interesting pieces of skills, he brought a new hope for the fans at hand, yet, his efforts could not find continuity in his teammates. Showed what he is made of by deciding to take the non-existing penalty that would eventually send the game into the penalty shootout, something worth noting, Freddy seemed happy and did not waste the chance given to him by Camacho.. it will not be long until he is on the game roster week in week out.

Looking back at the game, i'm thinking that it would have probably have been better if Benfica had lost, not because i hate winning games on dubious calls, but because it just adds to the already full schedule Benfica has... Not to mention i would give up the League cup over a berth into the next round of the champion's league or even well deserved rest to be full strength for the Bwin.

Porto lost on penalties to Fatima, a second division team, yet, i can't feel bad for them as they have gotten rid of the burden that is to play the Carlsberg cup, especially when you have the Champions League to worry about and if the Champions league fails the Uefa cup, so without the Carlsberg cup to worry about Porto can now concentrate on the Bwin and champions league's. Sporting also beat Vitoria de Guimaraes in penalty shoot outs.

Saturday Benfica plays Sporting in a very important game, I'm curious to see the game roster.