Portugal squad at Euro 2004
Portugal
Euro 2004 Home | Squad | Star Player | Key Man
With home advantage, this is perhaps Portugal's best ever chance to gain major international honours. It will also probably be the last chance for the golden generation who emerged in the early 1990's. The likes of Luis Figo, Rui Costa and Fernando Couto may well step down after the tournament but the ingredients for success could be in place. There is an exciting blend of youth and experience with Ronaldo and Simao ready to take over from the current stars. In Pauleta they have a proven goal scorer and Nuno Gomes is an able deputy. Scolari is a coach who knows what it takes to win - having guided Brazil to success two years ago in Asia. There is also the backbone of the FC Porto side recently crowned European champions so Scolari is spoilt for choice and the cherry on the cake could turn out to be Deco. The crafty play-maker grew up in Brazil but recently gained Portuguese nationality and will come into the side when Rui Costa needs a rest. Portugal will be very hard to stop.
Squad
Coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari
| Goalkeepers: 1-Ricardo Pereira (Sporting Lisbon), 12-Quim (Braga), 22-Jose Moreira (Benfica) Defenders: 13-Miguel Monteiro (Benfica), 4-Jorge Andrade (Deportivo Coruna), 5-Fernando Couto (Lazio), 15-Beto (Sporting Lisbon), 3-Rui Jorge (Sporting Lisbon), 14-Nuno Valente (Porto), 2-Paulo Ferreira (Porto), 16-Ricardo Carvalho (Porto) Midfielders: 10-Rui Costa (Milan), 7-Luis Figo (Real Madrid), 8-Armando Petit (Benfica), 6-Costinha (Porto), 20-Deco (Porto), 19-Tiago (Benfica), 18-Maniche (Porto) Forwards: 11-Simao (Benfica), 9-Pauleta (Paris St Germain), 17-Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), 21-Nuno Gomes (Benfica), 23-Helder Postiga (Tottenham Hotspur) |
| It is rumoured that Luis Figo may be made one of the scapegoats for Real Madrid's poor season and offloaded in the summer. If that is the case then his price will depend greatly on his showing at Euro 2004. Now aged 31, there is plenty of mileage in his legs yet and he'll need no motivation to perform in front of his home fans. Figo was the original 'galactico' and is Portugal's one true football superstar. He's won everything going at club level and this will be his best ever chance of international success. A sure bet to be one of the stars of the tournament. |
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| Key Man | Despite having all the ability and ball skills you could wish for, the Portuguese team has never really found a potent striker. We all thought that had changed two years ago when Pauleta emerged as a prolific goal scorer at club level, but he was as disappointing as his team mates in Japan and South Korea. Having moved from Bordeaux to Paris-Saint-Germain, he has been scoring consistently for several seasons now and should be in a position to take advantage of the many chances his team mates will create. Pauleta is a candidate to be top scorer this summer. |
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