Group G
Brazil
North Korea
Ivory Coast
Portugal
NOTE: Thanks to the Zinedine Zidane of the Columbus Cancer Crawl for putting together this post.
Nickname: Seleccao das Quinas (Team of the Shields)
Colors: Maroon (red?), Green and White
Current World Ranking: 3rd (This is the highest Portugal have ever been ranked and it’s probably a bit generous)
Manager: Carlos Queiroz
This is Carlos Queiroz’s second installment as manager for the Portugal national team. He first coached the national team from 1991-1993 but failure to qualify for the 1992 Euro’s and 1994 World Cup brought his early dismissal. He has been back at the helm since 2008 and is no doubt eager to erase his earlier failures with the team at this year’s World Cup. Between 1993 and 2008 Queiroz has coached teams all around the world including Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), Real Madrid (Spain), NY/NJ Metro Stars (United States), Nagoya Grampus Eight (Japan), the United Arab Emirates and South Africa national teams. Queiroz has also had a very successful position as an assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson with Manchester United where he got the chance to work with Portugal stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani. There’s no doubt that Carlos Queiroz has a wealth of coaching experience and has the advantage of firsthand knowledge of the opponent but Portugal have been struggling under his command so the 2010 Finals will be a true test of his ability as a manager.
History:
Where to start? Portugal has been on the world soccer map since 1914 and had some truly world class teams and players but has only made four World Cup appearances prior to this year and despite coming close, has never won an international competition. They qualified for their first World Cup in 1966 where they finished third by losing to the eventual winners England. Unfortunately, Portugal wouldn’t make it back to the World Cup until 1986 where they got knocked out in the first round. In the 2002 World Cup, their next appearance, they also failed to make it out of the group stage due to an upset win by the United States and a controversial loss to South Korea where they were knocked down to 9 men. Despite their poor performance in 2002 Portugal would bounce back in the 2004 Euros making it to the finals where they were upset by underdogs Greece. Another disappointing finish for a team full of great players. In fact, the team during this time period was referred to as the “Golden Generation” including Portugal greats Luis Figo and Jorge Costa. The Golden Generation would continue their success to the 2006 World Cup where they made it to the semi-finals and finished overall 4th after losing to France and Germany.
Qualification for the 2010 Finals was not an easy road and despite all their high profile talent they barely made it into the tournament. Denmark won the qualifying group forcing Portugal into a play-off with Bosnia which they won both legs 1-0.
It should be noted that Portugal has a rich history with Brazil as they have met 18 times prior to this World Cup. Brazil used to be a colony of Portugal so in addition to the soccer rivalry; there is a deep rooted national rivalry. Portugal v. Brazil has the same implications that England v. USA does. Former rulers v. country who won independence, which means high emotions on both sides of the field. Plus, both teams had/have players named Ronaldo. This will definitely be a game to watch.
Players:
Because of the link between Brazil and Portugal their playing styles are very similar. Fast paced, fluid movements and lots of trickery, including some unnecessary drama on the field.
Cristiano Ronaldo – Winger – Capitan
Let me just preface this with the fact that I love Cristiano Ronaldo and consider him my boyfriend (much to the dismay of my husband) so this will most definitely be a very biased profile. There are two truths about him: 1) you can’t deny the guy has mad skills on the pitch, 2) most people can’t stand him (I’ll let John elaborate on this point). I know I just said I loved him, but like those who fall into category two, I started out hating him from watching him in the 2006 World Cup, specifically the game against England where he got Wayne Rooney sent off (see the England post). Then I started following Manchester United where he won me over (and he and Rooney made up).
Ronaldo currently plays for Real Madrid where he holds the record as most expensive player after a transfer from Manchester United for $132 million. Unfortunately Real Madrid failed to produce any hardware this season but that’s a story for a different blog. He started his career in the Portuguese SuperLiga before making the move to Manchester United in 2003. At Manchester United Ronaldo quickly became a key offensive force and boosted the team to three Premier League titles and one Champions League Title. He has also collected a plethora of individual awards including the prestigious Ballon d’Or in 2008 and UEFA Club Footballer of the Year.
Ronaldo made his national team debut in 2003 against Kazakhstan and was included in both the 2004 Euro and 2006 World Cup teams. He was the second highest scorer in Europe with 7 goals during the 2006 qualifying campaign and netted one goal during the Finals against Iran. He is best known from that tournament for his involvement with Wayne Rooney and was booed the rest of the tournament, but luckily that controversy has faded into the background and he has the potential to be a major player for Portugal this year. He is considered one of the best players in the world and according to ESPN soccernet he is the best-known player around the world behind David Beckham. I attribute it to their good looks. With his fast pace, dangerous free-kick ability and pretty much a threat wherever he is on the field he will be the key to Portugal’s success. Let’s just hope he stays on his feet and is a big boy by not whining about everything. This is Ronaldo’s chance to prove he can make an impact on the world stage.
John: To be clear, I don’t hate Ronaldo. I don’t hate his curious beauty, his unrivaled skill on the pitch, or his outsized ego. I don’t even hate his ridiculous Portugese mullet. The only thing I don’t like about him is his overly dramatic play-acting on the pitch. All the diving and falling and crying and pouting and everything else that comes with that. If you take that away I will actually be a big fan of Ronaldo – he’s that good – even with his inexplicably hairless body. Plus, even all of his drama can’t live up to Nani’s, who twice this past season fake fainted on the pitch. What a douche.
Nani – Winger
Another Portgual player from Manchester United, however, I don’t have quite the same love affair with Nani. In fact, I can’t stand the guy, but I’ll try not to be too biased. Nani is considered to be prima donna on and off the pitch but every once in awhile he achieves greatness allowing him to stick around. His career with Manchester United has had its ups and downs as he has been pressured to fill Ronaldo’s shoes (impossible) and he has struggled to maintain a starting position with the team but repeatedly comes through when needed and has won two Premier League Titles and one Champions League Title with the club.
He made his national team debut in 2006 and has been a constant team member appearing in the 2008 Euros and helping the team qualify for the 2010 World Cup. This will be Nani’s first World Cup, but given all of his club and international experience he should be able to make an impact for Portugal.
Deco – Midfielder
At 32, Deco is the most experience player (a.k.a. oldest) for Portugal going into the World Cup. He was actually born in Brazil but naturalized for Portugal after living and playing in Portugal for 6 years. He became a Portugese citizen and national team player in 2002 and made his debut against his home country Brazil where he scored the winning goal in a 2-1 win over the giants. Sorry about your luck Brazil!
Deco currently plays for Chelsea in the English Premier League where he has been recently criticized for poor form. Despite his decrease in speed and endurance Deco is still a skillful passer and has a deadly finishing ability. Deco has announced he is retiring after the 2010 World Cup so this will be his last chance at greatness on the world stage.
Prediction – This is a tough call. One would think that a team ranked #3 in the world wouldn’t have any trouble getting out of the group stages but Portugal has been struggling since qualifying and are in a “Group of Death” with Brazil, Ivory Coast, and North Korea. North Korea shouldn’t pose too much of a problem for them, and I think it comes down to who is going to be the runner up in this group behind Brazil…Portugal or Ivory Coast. Portugal is going to have to beat the Ivory Coast on African soil to secure advancement and that is going to be a tough task.
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