PORTUGAL

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Team Profile

World Cup 2010 South Africa will be the fifth World Cup appearance for Portugal. They defeated Bosnia in the UEFA Group Stage playoff round 2-0 to reach South Africa 2010. Their first appearance to the World Cup was in 1966, which was their only World Cup appearance Between 1930 to 1982. Surprisingly, Portugal managed to place third in their first World Cup appearance by defeated USSR (now Russia) with a final score of 2-1. The next two times Portugal qualified for the World Cup were 1986 and 2002, with Portugal going out in the first round both times.

Portugal’s best result for a major FIFA tournament came in the European Championships 2004 in Greece when they reached all the way to the finals. However, Portugal fell short of the title, losing to the host team Greece by a final score of 1-0. Although the Greeks stole the European crown from them, the setback did not prevent Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari and his men from easily overcoming their next hurdle: qualifying for World Cup Germany 2006. The 12-game campaign brought nine wins, three draws and a goal difference of +30 goals (11 of which came from Pauleta, the top scorer in the European qualifying rounds).

Led by the charismatic Luis Figo, Portugal topped the group stages with three hard-fought wins over Angola, Iran and Mexico. Close as those results were, there was no doubting that the Portuguese were a highly contended team, Netherlands and England both found out. Portugal defeated both these team in the the Round of 16 and in the quarterfinals respectively. However, their goals of reaching the World Cup Finals came to a stop with a lost to France with a final score of 1-0, which eventually lead to a fourth place finish as they were defeated by Germany 3-1 in the bronze medal round.

The immediate future looks bright for the Portuguese. The vast experience of the likes of Deco, Maniche and Costinha, together with the youthful, but polished Cristiano Ronaldo, Ricardo Quaresma and Nani, points to a seamless transition from the old guard to the new, one that ought to ensure recent standards are maintained. However, Portugal only managed to squeek by the Group Stages to qualify for South Africa 2010 after winning the playoff round against Bosnia with a sub-par record of 5 wins, 4 draws, and 1 loss. World Cup 2010 South Africa will be a challenge for this young group.

Official Site: http://www.fpf.pt