- Country: Portugal
Portugal
Nickname: The Navigators
Manager: Carlos Queiroz
Group Opponents: Brazil, Ivory Coast and North Korea
Recent Form & News: In spite of being good on paper with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Carvalho among many others, Portugal just sneaked through the qualification by managing a second spot in their group below Denmark. Portugal have had a decent run in the friendlies as they drew against Cape Verde, beat Cameroon 3-1 and beat Mozambique 3-0. The match against Cameroon was the real test here. The scoreline seems comprehensive but the match was closely contested.
Cristiano Ronaldo
The Team:
| Goalkeepers | |
| Eduardo | Sporting de Braga |
| Daniel Fernandes | Iraklis (GRE) |
| Beto | FC Porto |
| Defenders | |
| Miguel | Valencia (ENG) |
| Ricardo Costa | Lille (FRA) |
| Paulo Ferreira | Chelsea (ENG) |
| Ricardo Carvalho | Chelsea (ENG) |
| Bruno Alves | FC Porto |
| Rolando | FC Porto |
| Pepe | Real Madrid (ESP) |
| Midfielders | |
| Fabio Coentrao | SL Benfica |
| Duda | Malaga (ESP) |
| Pedro Mendes | Sporting CP |
| Tiago | Juventus (ITA) |
| Deco | Chelsea (ENG) |
| Raul Meireles | FC Porto |
| Miguel Veloso | Sporting CP |
| Simao Sabrosa | Atletico Madrid (ESP) |
| Danny | Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS) |
| Nani | Manchester United (ENG) |
| Forwards | |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid (ESP) |
| Liedson | Sporting CP |
| Hugo Almeida | Werder Bremen (GER) |
Carlos Queiroz
The Portuguese boast of a quality line-up with big names like Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco, Simao, Miguel, Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho. The Portuguese have optimum resources on paper and they cannot be classsed as heavyweights. The good news for them is that they have a couple of experienced campaigners along with young blood. Deco, Simao, Carvalho and Ronaldo have had ample experience on the international stage.
Key Players: Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco and Simao
Deco will have to play the role of a guiding force in the Portuguese mid-field and will have apt assistance from the likes of Tiago and Miguel. They have quality finishing available to them and creating chances for them to finish will be the most critical thing.
Cristiano Ronaldo has the great burden of captainship with the Portuguese team and he has to lead from the front if they are to go the distance. Simao will be his key colleague in the adventure.
Prediction: Portugal are in what is famously called “The group of Death”. Their chances of survival in the cup will depend on how they do in the group stage. With Brazil going into the Cup as hot favorites the running for the second spot will be against Ivory Coast. On their day they can beat Brazil, Ivory Coast and any other team but on current form they seem to be losing out.
So, if they get through the group stage; quarter finals atleast. Otherwise you might have to see some early bye-byes.
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