Why Portugal haven't gone the extra mile in international tournaments

Cristiano Ronaldo reacts to Spain’s win.

The Portuguese national team has always been one for entertainment, as well as dominance: free flowing, attacking football while regularly performing well at international tournaments in the last 12 years have made Portugal a very likeable team for many neutrals.

However, the team currently ranked 10^th in the world have always come up short during the final stages of tournaments (EURO 2000, World Cup 2006, EURO 2012) and are still yet to win a major trophy. What is missing in such a talented team boasting the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, Joao Moutinho and Fabio Coentrao that is preventing them from going the extra mile?

It’s fair to say that Portugal’s best chance of winning a trophy came in the period of 2004-2006 – when the golden generation of Portugal were present, featuring the likes of Luis Figo, Rui Costa, Pauleta, Maniche, Deco, Nuno Gomes and many more, not to mention a teenage Cristiano Ronaldo.

Beaten in the final of EURO 2004 finalists and coming fourth in the 2006 World Cup, Portugal, despite being unlucky on a few occasions, looked a team on the rise nonetheless. With the departures of most of Portugal’s golden generation, it was Cristiano Ronaldo’s time to lead the new generation to success.

The new generation.

As Ronaldo rose to stardom, other Portuguese stars were on the rise as well – Raul Meireles, Joao Moutinho, Nani, Pepe, Hugo Viana and many more were to be introduced in the team. Portugal started well ar EURO 2008, only to be knocked out 3-2 by eventual finalists Germany in the quarterfinals. The 2010 World Cup was a disappointment too –Portugal reached the round of 16 and were knocked out 1-0 by eventual champions, Spain, having played 4 games and only scoring in one of those games – a 7-0 win, albeit against a weak North Korean team.

Portugal currently have a quality team: a strong and balanced back four, an organised and consistent midfield three in Joao Moutinho, Raul Meireles and Miguel Veloso, and the unpredictable explosiveness of captain Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani – the only problems they have, are in two departments – goalkeeper and striker . The Selecção never really permanently replaced the likes of goalkeeper, Ricardo Pereira (instrumental in EURO 2004 and the 2006 World Cup) and strikers Nuno Gomes, Joao Pinto or Pedro Pauleta and have suffered in recent times due to this.

Bowing out in the semi-finals yet again last night to the reigning European champions Spain, albeit on penalties, the Portuguese were yet again denied a chance to reach the final and possibly win their first trophy – their displays at Euro 2012 under Paulo Bento have been promising, but we need to look at their two weaknesses again; the goalkeeper and the striker.

Rui Patricio: Can leave the tournament with his head held high.

24-year-old Rui Patricio currently has 16 caps and was pretty solid in this tournament as Portugal seem to have found a long term goalkeeper for keeps. He certainly is the answer to Portugal’s goalkeeper issue – however, the striker role still needs questioning. 28-year-old Hugo Almeida and 29-year-old Helder Postiga, despite the latter having a goal to his name at Euro 2012, aren’t the type of strikers to spearhead a nation like Portugal to international glory if you look at the strikers of other nations – their movement, link up play and speed aren’t up to the mark especially for a pacy, counter-attacking team like Portugal. Portugal’s answer to this problem lies in the player who was so minimally used in the tournament – 20 year old, Nelson Oliveira.

“I would describe myself as a fast player, with a decent shot and good movement.” – Nelson Oliveira.

Despite being very young but talented nonetheless, Oliveira possessed what Portugal really needed – a real threat up front. The only downside was that Oliveira, likened to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, is hugely inexperienced both for club and country and so was behind in the pecking order.

Nelson Oliveira: Spearhead of Portugal for years to come?

With the right development as he grows older, it seems Oliveira will be the spearhead of the Portugal team for years to come and with their goalkeeper problem all but solved, the future for Portugal certainly looks bright, especially if they maintain the same continuity within the squad. 2014 just may be their year.