Euro 2012 Player Spot: Group B: Portugal: Nani

Time to deliver for Portugal.

Many fans might disagree with me for choosing Nani over the great Cristiano Ronaldo as the player to watch out for, as the Portuguese take on Germany, Denmark and Holland in the group of death. What strikes me when both players take to the field for the Portuguese national team is Nani’s desire to feed Ronaldo and others. Yet, Ronaldo is a far better player than many in this world let alone Nani, but the latter is a better bet when playing for Portugal. In the qualifying campaign Portugal had to endure the difficult transition of a managerial shuffle after just two games when Carlos Queiroz was replaced by Paulo Bento, and despite the team returning to attacking ways of football under Bento, Cristiano Ronaldo and company had to endure a two legged play off against Bosnia to book their tickets to Poland and the Ukraine.

Nani has been instrumental in providing assists to Ronaldo throughout the qualification campaign, and Paulo Bento opting to play both the players has paid rich dividends in Portugal becoming more attack minded than they were under Carlos Queiroz. Over reliance on Ronaldo in the recent past meant the country needed someone who can share the load with the Real Madrid forward and Manchester United‘s Nani fits the bill perfectly. With a similar playing style but by no means the same sort of ability, tactically and technically, Nani was often compared to Ronaldo when both of them played for Manchester United and the former had to live in the shadow of his more illustrious team mate until the sale of Ronaldo to Real Madrid in 2009. The 25-year old is now a fully matured footballer who is equally revered across Europe and Portugal as a technically correct winger who is devastating on both the wings and is more interested in providing assists by utilizing his pace, ball control and strength.

Nani’s performance along with Ronaldo, Joao Moutinho and Raul Meireles in the qualification matches proved that coach Paulo Bento can call upon enough creativity and trickery to trouble the likes of Germany, Holland and Denmark come this June. As a matter of fact in addition to all the assists, Nani also found the net five times in ten qualifying matches. No mean feat for a player who is most of the time ignored by the media whenever Portugal wins. Born in Cape Verde, Nani would be the player to watch out for if he keeps his fitness level at the highest point and with Ronaldo by his side this could be Portugal’s tournament if they can get past Germany and Holland in the group stage. Consistency is key for this side and no one knows this better than Nani who has seen over the past few years how Portugal’s promise had been dealt a serious blow at crucial stages providing the country with an unwanted tag of underachievers.

With the player himself evolving as a superstar with Manchester United, Nani knows that he may not be as potent as Ronaldo when it comes to scoring goals at regular intervals but the Cape Verde born youngster is more than capable of outwitting the opposition defence with his silky skills and god gifted ability to shoot at the goal from a fair distance. No doubt all eyes will be on the Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo yet Portugal as a whole would be banking on Nani to deliver the necessary balls to his flamboyant national team captain when the Iberian nation kick off their Euro 2012 campaign against favourites Germany on June 9 in Lviv.

In Sir Alex Ferguson’s own words, Nani has developed into a world class player due to his sheer determination and ability to learn on a daily basis. Maturity is what has enabled the talented former Sporting Club de Portugal player to bring out the best of his skills since 2009.

Euro 2008 has provided valuable experience to Nani and the Manchester United winger has admitted that his maiden international tournament has left a huge impression. Sometimes in these high profile tournaments where names are made or destroyed mind plays an important role in an individual’s development towards football greatness. In an interview with uefa.com Nani spoke of his utter delight in representing his country, “It was something huge, and I was very happy. The full stadiums, feeling the human warmth of our fans, it felt as if we were playing at home. There were Portuguese everywhere. Whenever we were on the team bus, there were queues of Portuguese people. It was fantastic.”

Nani is more calm and collected than many would like to think. He is a player who does not want go to the ground easily when challenged, an allegation that many associate with Ronaldo. The player was quoted as saying, “I’ve already evolved a lot, I’ve already learned a lot. I’m much more developed as a player in all respects, much more mature. I have a calm which I didn’t have when I was 21, I’m much calmer on the pitch, and that’s very important because then you can develop your football. Here in the national team it has been like that – I have been able to play and to contribute to team, and that’s the most important thing.”

For once it seems Portugal are headed to an international tournament not relying heavily on their charismatic captain but rather as a team full of squad players ready to use their individual brilliance for the betterment of the team. Gone are the days of Luis Figo and Rui Costa but the onus is fairly upon the current crop of players to live up to Portugal’s reputation in Europe.

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