Portugal - World Cup 2006 Team Profile

Ozren Podnar reports: Looking to Make Amends as Figo Says Goodbye

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Last Chance for Figo and Rui Costa

Luis Figo, Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo lead a fine Portuguese team which hope to do better than they have in World Cup competition over the past 40 years: go beyond the first round, and maybe even to the quarterfinals. They had better do well, because the 2006 World Cup will be an international farewell for long-serving stalwarts Figo and Rui Costa.

Background

Although the name Portugal resounds powerfully in the world of soccer, this nation has been represented only three times at a senior World Cup finals. In spite of numerous star players, club exploits and great results at younger levels, Portugal have not fulfilled the many expectations after Eusebio lead them to a third place finish in England 40 years ago.

It is curious that their best showing came on their debut in 1966, with a bronze medal when a young Eusebio scored nine on the way to the top-scoring title. After that magnificent achievement, accomplished by beating the Soviet Union in the third place playoffs, Portugal have rarely made their presence felt among the best.

It took 20 years and the overthrowing of a major tradition for Portugal to reach another final stage. In order to qualify for Mexico 1986, the Luzitans had to defeat Germany away from home, something no team had ever done in a World Cup qualifier, and they did so 1-0.

They also had a tremendous start across the Atlantic by beating England 1-0 in the first group match, but then their campaign disintegrated as they fell to Poland 0-1 and 1-3 to an unfancied Morocco.

Another 16 years later, a talented Portuguese squad made it to a World Cup final stage in Japan and Korea, but there they bitterly disappointed their fans by losing to the USA (2-3) and Korea (0-1) on their way out after the first round.

The overall Portuguese record at World Cup final stages is 12 matches played, 7 wins, 5 losses, 25 goals in favour and 16 against.

Best Result the Greatest disappointment

In other competitions Portugal have redeemed themselves, notably over the past six years. In 1984 a squad guided by a tricky Fernando Chalana and spearheaded by Rui Jordao as the chief goalscorer came within minutes of beating France in the semifinals, but eventually had to surrender to the genius of Platini and Tigana.

Road to Germany

The current European championship runners-up qualified for the forthcoming World Cup with relative ease, in spite of suffering one major upset, a 2-2 draw away to lowly but improving Liechtenstein.

Then came a 7-1 thumping of Russia, as if to show that the Liechtenstein affair had been just a slight incident. From that moment onward, Portugal made no false steps, earning draws at major rivals Slovakia and Russia and beating the Slovaks 2-0 at home. The final balance reflected a huge Portuguese superiority over the competition: nine wins, three draws and zero losses and a splendid 35-5 goals difference.

In spite of this splendid record, the Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is cautious, claiming he would be happy to lead the team to the quarterfinals.

To tackle the World Cup challenge, Scolari will continue to rely on the same bloc and the playing system used in the qualifiers: two defensive midfielders, three offensive midfielders of which two as quasi-wingers and one playing "in the hole", and a single striker.

The back-portion of the midfield consists of Maniche, now at Chelsea after finding it tough in Russia, and the more defensive Costinha. Closer to the penalty area is the roaming Deco Sousa, Brazilian-born and a two-time Champions League winner with Porto and Barcelona. Right of Deco we are bound to see Luis Figo, whose counterpart across on the other side of the field should be Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo.

The sole striker's role is reserved to the all-time Portuguese top-scorer Pedro Pauleta (43 goals, one more than Eusebio), with Nuno Gomes or Helder Postiga providing other options, while Simao Sabrosa could fill in for each winger as the circumstances may require.

The attack looks fine on paper and in fact has scored plenty of goals in the qualifiers, but has yet to instill fear to the top rivals' defenses.

The defense, commanded by Chelsea's Ricardo Carvalho, is classy and effective, but the goalkeeper Ricardo of Sporting Lisbon is known for occasional slips, although he decided the penalty shootout against England in the Euro 2004 quarterfinals.

Latvia 0 - Portugal 1
Portugal 4 - Estonia 0
Liechtenstein 2 - Portugal 2
Portugal 7 - Russia 1
Luxemburg 0 - Portugal 5
Slovakia 1 - Portugal 1
Portugal 2 - Slovakia 0
Estonia 0 - Portugal 1
Portugal 6 - Luxemburg 0
Russia 0 - Portugal 0
Portugal 2 - Liechtenstein 1
Portugal 3 - Latvia 0

Qualified as group winners

Three Stars

Luis Figo (1972) * Nearing his 34th birthday Figo could be nearing the end of the road, but instead he is still playing in a top club of a major European League (Inter of Serie A) and has added another Cup medal to his impressive collection. A great dribbler and passer will want to bid farewell to a magnificent international career with a good individual and collective showing in Germany. FIFA's player of the year in 2001, European Golden Ball in 2000.

Cristiano Ronaldo (1985) * A splendid, flashy forward capable of playing on both sides of the pitch. Snatched by Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 after the Lions beat the Devils by 3-1 in a friendly. "It's better to have this guy with us than against us in the future", said Sir Alex Ferguson and so it was. Has plenty of skill and pace, but has proven too inconsistent to earn a five-star rating. At 21, he has still a lot of time for that. Male model looks; has trouble keeping all those girls away.

Pedro Pauleta (1972) * With all his prowess in the national team and the French League, where he has again finished as top-scorer with 21 hits, Pauleta has never found a golden streak at final stages. In Korea and Japan he managed a hat-trick against Poland, but remained edgeless in the other two losing games, whereas he failed to score altogether at the European Championships.

Fact File

Federaçao Portuguesa de Futebol (FPF)
Founded: 1914
Admitted to FIFA: 1923
Chairman: Gilberto Madail
Coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari (58)
Official web site: www.fpf.pt
Top clubs: Porto, Benfica, Sporting, Boavista, Braga

World Cup appearances: 3 (1966, 1986, 2002)
Honours: 1 third place at WC (1966), 1 Euro finals (2004), 2 Euro semifinals (1984, 2000)

Famous players

Eusebio, Coluna, Simoes, Torres, Nene, Alves, Diamantino, Sheu, Chalana, Carlos Manuel, M. Fernandes, F. Gomes, Futre, Rui Aguas, F. Couto, Paulo Sousa, Figo, Rui Costa, Nuno Gomes, Simao, Cristiano Ronaldo

Likely Lineup

Ricardo; Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Jorge Andrade, Nuno Valente; Figo, Maniche, Deco, Costinha, Cristiano Ronaldo; Pauleta.

World Cup Squad

Bet on the World Cup

Goalkeepers:
Quim (Benfica)
Ricardo (Sporting Lisbon)
Bruno Vale (Estrela da Amadora)

Defenders:
Marco Caneira (Sporting Lisbon)
Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea)
Ricardo Costa (Porto)
Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea)
Fernando Meira (Stuttgart)
Miguel (Valencia)
Nuno Valente (Everton)

Midfielders:
Boa Morte (Fulham)
Francisco Costinha (Dinamo Moscow)
Deco Sousa (Barcelona)
Luis Figo (Internazionale)
Maniche (Chelsea)
Armando Petit (Benfica)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Simao Sabrosa (Benfica)
Tiago Mendes (Olympique Lyon)
Hugo Viana (Valencia)

Forwards:
Nuno Gomes (Benfica)
Pedro Pauleta (Paris Saint Germain)
Hélder Postiga (Saint-Etienne)

Flights To Germany
Opodo

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