Portugal team. Home European Championship

He continued his career at Euro 2004 until 2014. During this time, Ricardo managed to move from Sporting to Betis and appeared in Leicester. The goalkeeper's finest hour was the 2006 World Cup. At the end of the tournament, he was included in the symbolic team. Since 2012, the goalkeeper played for Olhanense, where he ended his career.

RICARD at the 2006 World Championships. Photo by AFP

CMM. At Euro 2004, Kim did not play a single match. Until 2010, the goalkeeper played for Benfica, then spent three seasons in Braga, and now defends the colors of the modest Aves from the second league of the Portuguese championship.

MOREIRA. Another one hundred percent reservist of that team competed with Kim for a long time for a place in the Benfica goal, then went to Swansea for a season (where he did not play a single match). Moreira was able to become number one only in the Cypriot Omonia. He currently plays for Olhanense of the Portuguese Segunda.

DEFENDERS

Paulo FERREIRA. Immediately after Euro 2004, Paulo Ferreira followed Jose Mourinho to Chelsea. The defender played for the Blues until the end of his career in 2013. After that, he remained in the London club system. Paulo Ferreira keeps an eye on the players on loan.

Ruy JORGE. The veteran retired from Belenenses in 2006. Since 2010, Rui Jorge has led the Portuguese youth team. The former defender led the youth team to silver medals at Euro 2015.

Jorge ANDRADE. At Euro 2004, Andrade played all 6 matches. In 2009, Juventus terminated the contract with the defender. The Portuguese tried to continue his career in Malaga and Toronto, but these clubs did not sign an agreement with him. Now Andrade - Main coach Oriente from the Portuguese third division.

Fernando COUTA. One of the most famous Portuguese defenders ended his career at Parma in 2008. He worked as a sports director and assistant head coach at Braga, and headed the Indian club Kolkata.

MIGUEL. He spent most of his career at Valencia. In 2012, the “bats” did not renew the contract with Miguel. Until 2014, the defender trained on his own, hoping to find a new club.

Nuno Valente. He retired from Everton in 2009. For some time he worked as a scout for the Toffees in Portugal. Since the 2010/11 season it has been included in coaching staff Lisbon Sporting.

BETU. Beto's last club was the Spanish Alzira, where he was registered in 2011, but did not play a single game. Immediately after finishing his career, Betu returned to his native Sporting, where he works as director of public relations.

Ricardo CARVALHO. The favorite of Jose Mourinho immediately after Euro 2004 moved to Chelsea, and then, together with the “Special One,” he moved to Real Madrid. The 38-year-old defender currently plays for Monaco. Ricardo Carvalho was included in the Portugal national team squad for Euro 2016 and played three matches in the group stage.

MIDFIELDERS

COSTINHA. A year after Euro 2004, Costinha moved to Dynamo Moscow, but was remembered more for scandals than for his confident play. The midfielder retired in 2010 at Atalanta. He has been working as head coach since the 2012/13 season. He headed Beira Mar and Pacos de Ferreira. Next season he will work at Akademik.

A year after Euro 2004, COSTINHA came to Dynamo Moscow. Photo by Alexander FEDOROV, "SE"

Luis FIGOO. The legendary Portuguese ended his career at Inter in 2009. He worked in the Milan club system. Actively involved in charity work. In 2015, he ran for the post of FIFA President, but without success.

PETIT. He finished his career in 2013 at Boavista and immediately moved to coaching at this club. Since December 2015, he has been heading Tondela of the Portuguese Super League.

Rui COSTA. Another legendary midfielder ended his career in his native Benfica in 2008. Was invited to post sports director"eagles", where he successfully works to this day.

MANICHE. The midfielder became part of Dynamo's "Portuguese project" in 2005, but played only 12 matches for the blue and white. He finished his career at Sporting in 2011. In the 2013/14 season, an old acquaintance of Costinha invited him to his headquarters in Pasusha. At the end of June 2016, Maniche, following Costinha, moved to Academica.

Euro 2004 vice-champion MANICHE (right) played 12 matches for Dynamo Moscow. Photo by Alexander VILF

TYAGU. Together with Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho and Jose Mourinho, he moved to Chelsea in the summer of 2004, but failed to gain a foothold in England. He played for Lyon and Juventus. Since 2011, he has been defending the colors of Atlético Madrid.

DEKU. The naturalized Brazilian played for Barcelona and Chelsea, but ended his career in his historical homeland - Fluminense in 2013. Now he is actively involved in charity work and has founded his own foundation.

FORWARDS

Pedro PAULETA. He spent a significant part of his career at PSG. He hung up his boots in 2013 after a couple of matches for the amateur club San Roque from the Azores. He worked as a youth screening specialist at PSG. Until recently, he worked at the Portuguese Football Federation. Founded his own football academy.

May 31, 2009. Pedro PAULETA greets fans after the friendly match between Portugal and PSG. Photo by AFP

Simão SABROSA. In 2007 he moved from Benfica to Atlético Madrid. He played for Besiktas and Espanyol. Now he continues his career in the Indian club NorthEast United.

Cristiano Ronaldo. The youngest player of that team made a dizzying career. Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or three times, the Golden Boot four times, and won the Champions League three times (with Manchester United and twice with Real Madrid). In order to dismiss the last doubts that he is truly the greatest football player in the history of Portugal, only a little is missing - the title won with the national team.

Nuno GOMES. The striker retired from Blackburn in 2013. Currently holds the post general director Benfica Academy.

Elder POSTIGA. The author of the saving goal against the English in the Euro 2004 quarterfinals has traveled around the world quite a bit. Postiga played in England, France, Greece, Spain and Italy. Last season he reached the Indian Atlético from Calcutta, and has now returned to his native Portugal. The forward plays for Rio Avi.

HEAD COACH

Luiz Felipe SCOLARI. "Sergeant" from Brazil worked with the Portuguese national team until 2008. During this time, he managed to bring the red-greens to the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup, but at Euro 2008 he lost to the Germans in the quarterfinals. Then the Brazilian worked at Chelsea, surprised with a sudden move to the Uzbek Bunyodkor and tried to lead the Selecao to success at the 2014 home World Cup. It all ended with two terrible defeats from Germany in the semi-finals and Holland in the match for third place. Now Scolari heads the Chinese Guangzhou Evergrande.

You read: The composition of the Portuguese national team for Euro 2012.

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Portugal national football team

Despite sufficient stability in world championships, the Portuguese national team is participating in the European Championship for only the fifth time, and played for the first time in 1984 in France. By the way, starting this year at the Euro they stopped holding matches for 3rd place. Thus, the “bronze” of the tournament was shared by Portugal and Denmark, who lost in the semi-finals. Portugal made it through the group stage of Euro 1984 with difficulty. It started with draws with Germany and Spain, and in the final match against Romania the equal score remained until the 81st minute, when Nene finally hit the opponents' goal. At that time, Germany was leading the group with four points, but lost to the Spaniards in the 90th minute, which brought two Pyrenean teams into the semi-finals and left the reigning champions behind. The main time of the semi-final with France also ended in a draw. In the extra period, Domergue and Jordau scored doubles, and in the 119th minute, the eighth of Michel Platini's nine goals in this championship brought victory to the French. Four years later, Portugal failed to qualify in a group with Italy and Sweden. Four more years later, in 1991, the Portuguese suffered two defeats in the selection - from Greece and the Netherlands, and allowed the latter to participate in the Euro.

"Golden generation" of the national team

By 1996, Portugal had found a “golden generation”, easily qualified from the qualifying group with the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and easily won the group in the final part against Croatia, Denmark and Turkey. But after that she was eliminated immediately in the quarterfinals, having been defeated by the future finalists - the Czechs. The only goal for Vitor Baye was scored by Karel Poborsky, who never became a star larger than the Czech Republic. The year 2000 brought the Portuguese another bronze medal. In the group round they met their opponents in qualifying - the Romanians, as well as England and Germany. Who would have thought that the last two would actually be the last! Moreover, Portugal showed a 100% result, scoring three goals to everyone except Romania - with that they had to wait 90 minutes for Costinha’s goal and another 5 minutes of stoppage time.

A double by Nuno Gomes, who became one of the top scorers tournament with four goals, scored a victory for the team in the quarterfinals over Turkey. And in the semi-finals, our heroes again lost to the future champion, and again it was France: Zidane’s penalty in the 117th minute became the “golden goal” - then this rule was still in effect, and even if the Portuguese had the opportunity to continue the game, it was unlikely that three a minute would have been enough for them to save themselves. Despite Gomes and Sergio Conceição's three goals, only Luis Figo, for whom Euro 2000 was truly his finest hour, was included in the symbolic team of the tournament.

Home Championship Europe

In 2004, the trophy came to Portugal, but only because Euro 2004 itself took place in this country. The owners were in excellent shape and had a chance to really keep him, but fate decreed otherwise. The captain of the national team, Figo, was gradually eclipsed by Cristiano Ronaldo. Among the losses of the “golden generation”, only Vitor Baia could be noted, but Ricardo, with his charisma, coped well with replacing the goalkeeper position. The basis of the defense was made up of Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira, known later from Chelsea, while Dynamo losers Maniche and Costinha dominated in the center. In the attack, perhaps, all the possible forwards of Portugal of the new era came together: veteran Pauleta, Benfica leader Siman Sabrosa, the already mentioned Ronaldo and Gomes, as well as Helder Postiga, who is always restless in clubs, but still scores goals. In short, it was no longer possible to better solve the traditional problem of forwards in the national team. The tournament began with a sensation that seemed like an accident at that time: the hosts lost to Greece, and not because of one random goal, but quite as a matter of fact - 1:2, and Ronaldo scored a prestige goal only in stoppage time. The key victory, however, was won in the third round: in a stubborn match, Portugal celebrated a victory over Spain - 1:0, and before that they beat Russia, which was falling apart on the move, - 2:0. The Red-Greens, as expected, finished the group round in first place, the defeat from the Greeks was still perceived as a misunderstanding. But while the Portuguese heroically beat England through extra time and penalties, and then into the main game - Holland, Greece methodically squeezed the juice out of France and the Czech Republic. And for the first time in history, the teams that played the opening match met in the final. As they said, Greece beat everyone, because their opponents approached them with the thought “Well, we won’t fail,” and Portugal in the final - “Well, now we won’t fail.” Failed: Charisteas scored the only goal of the final early in the second half and the hosts bid a tearful farewell to what may have been a once-in-a-lifetime chance of winning the Euros.

Almost flawless clip

The generation of Pyrenean football players has somehow changed imperceptibly. Now Cristiano Ronaldo not only flaunts the captain’s armband, but is one of the best players in the world, and much more unconditionally than Figo in the old days. The center of defense is made up of the aggressive Zenit player Bruno Alves and Pepe from Real Madrid, with the promising Fabio Coentrand helping on the flank. The center is filled with a powerful fist of Miguel Veloso, Joao Moutinho and Raul Meireles, previously known only locally, but have been promising for a long time. Nani easily duplicates Ronaldo on any flank of the attack. Only the positions of the goalkeeper and, obviously, the only forward are in doubt, but Postig is still in place, and Ronaldo will probably have to play at the forefront more than once - as a true leader. He is already one of the top ten scorers in the history of the national team and will not stop soon.

Costinha, Nuno Gomes and Capuso. Photo: AFP

Of course, one can argue that Ronaldo was unlucky with the national team, and if he had been of a different origin, he would have had his name long ago big trophy and at this level. Perhaps someday the Portuguese national team will still be led by Jose Mourinho, and then, at a minimum, the European championship will practically not be played (especially if the star generation of Spaniards fades away). But for now everything is as it is. The same Spain constantly had advances and flew out of the final tournaments in the frivolous early stages, but at one point they cultivated the psychology of success. Portugal also has everything for this. In qualifying, the Portuguese looked like clear favorites, but they did not take this role with due composure: for example, they managed to lose points at home with Cyprus. True, the outcome in the group was decided anyway last match: Portugal lost away to Denmark and gave them first place, while they went to the playoffs, beating Norway. A goalless draw in Bosnia and Herzegovina made us a little worried, but in Portugal Edin Dzeko's team suffered a crushing defeat 2:6, and the Portuguese expected at the Euro were still there. The “group of death” in which Paulo Bento’s team ended up at the Euro, of course, cannot be encouraging, but practice shows that those who are given at least minimal preference do not always make it out of such groups. With successful results in two out of three matches, you can easily count on the playoffs, and, in addition, at this stage you can get rid of the most dangerous opponents and hope to meet them again only in the finals.

Portugal

How many times have you played at the Euro: 4 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Best result: 2nd place (2004)
How I got to the EURO: 2nd place in Group H (with Denmark), victory in play-offs with Bosnia and Herzegovina
Team leader: Cristiano Ronaldo

Matches at Euro 2012 in the group stage:
the 9th of June. Germany - Portugal. Lviv
June 13. Denmark - Portugal. Lviv
June 17. Portugal - Netherlands. Kharkiv

What is the Portugal national team like now? Probably, many football fans are asking themselves exactly the same question... Without going too far from the obvious, at the moment Portugal is Ronaldo and everyone else, right? But just eight years ago

Goalkeepers
Betu (CFR)
Rui Patricio (Sporting)
Eduardo (Benfica)

Defenders
Bruno Alves (Zenit, Russia)
Ricardo Costa (Valencia, Spain)
Fabio Coentran (Real Madrid, Spain)
Miguel Lopes (Braga)
Pepe (Real Madrid, Spain)
Joao Pereira (Sporting)
Rolando ("Porto")

Midfielders
Miguel Veloso (Genoa, Italy)
Ugu Viana (Braga)
Custodiu (Braga)
Raul Meireles (Chelsea, England)
Ruben Mikael (Zaragoza, Spain)
Joao Moutinho (Porto)
Nani (Manchester United, England)

Forwards
Ugu Almeida (Besiktas, Türkiye)
Silvestre Varela (Porto)
Ricardo Quaresma (Besiktas, Türkiye)
Helder Postiga (Zaragoza, Spain)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Spain).

The Portuguese national team was the main favorite of the continental tournament, but then there were crazy envoys of Hellas under the leadership King Otto who destroyed the team's dream Scolari, and on its territory...

What are European Brazilians like at this point in time - early June 2012? Well, naturally, they are simply unthinkable without their leader - Cristiano Ronaldo, who is probably recognized as the best football player on the planet last season. Ronaldo, just like in Real Madrid, is ready to play for the national team in any position in the attack line, much depends on the condition of the national team’s center forwards. The fact is that Uh-huh Almeida And Elder Postiga They play at the level of the Portuguese national team only from time to time, so the option of Ronaldo at the forefront does not seem out of the ordinary.

Nevertheless, the coach of the Portuguese national team Paulo Bento quite conservative. He prefers a powerful center forward, rather than an option with the same Ronaldo in front. Why? Well, that's understandable. The Portuguese monster nominally plays on the flank in his Real Madrid. Have you seen his performance? So Bento hopes to see something similar in the national team, despite the fact that only Nani corresponds to the level of the Madrid midfield.

This, in fact, lies the main problem of the Portuguese team. If the defense is led by Pepe ready to resist the most famous attacking combinations in modern football world, then the line of midfielders, in which we do not include Ronaldo and Nani, is basically only capable of helping defs... Moutinho, which received a lot of advances 5-6 years ago, has stalled in its development. Veloso He only thinks about how to competently perform the “standard” and give his T-shirt to the crazy Genoa fans... Meireles- the only one in this trio who has made a significant leap in his development lately... But he, first of all, is ready to fight, and not to be creative, to create something.

As a result, what happens: close Nani and Ronaldo - and there is no Portuguese national team... Maby, this is so, nevertheless, it is not for nothing that Bento is considered the most thoughtful in the new generation of Portuguese coaches. He simply has to come up with something like this, because Ronaldo shouldn’t remain in the background of the national team’s tournaments.

Remembering the 2010 World Cup, Portugal was remembered for its competent defense. Defense, oddly enough, is currently the strongest side of the Portuguese team. Let Bruno Alves V

Calendar

06/09/2012. 22:45. Germany – Portugal
06/13/2012. 20:00. Denmark – Portugal
06/17/2012. 22:45. Portugal – Netherlands.

Russian Premier League has discredited itself, but paired with Pepe He looks brilliant as part of the national team on the European stage.

The Portuguese national team achieved its greatest success in 2000, when, together with Figo, Costoi, Joao Pinto, Nuno Gomes she reached the semi-finals, where she was unable to cope with the lucky French. What is needed to repeat that achievement, or even surpass it? Bento must find a person in the center of his team, perhaps in the line of midfielders or in the center of the attack, who would be able to interact with Cristiano and Nani. If the young coach, a favorite of the Portuguese fans, copes with this task, then Portugal will not be superfluous at the celebration of life of Group B. In terms of its potential, it is inferior to Germany and Holland, but there is no Ronaldo in these teams... And the factor in the person of such a football player can be decisive in individual meetings, because, as we have already said, the most western team Europe has great order in defense.

A joint special project between Rexona Men and the website. We continue the story about the participants of Euro 2012, in whose company the Portuguese made their way through the play-offs. The oddities of Paulo Bento, the scattering of former Sporting players in the starting lineup, the super-performance of Cristiano Ronaldo and the expulsion of Ricardo Carvalho and Jose Bosingwa - all this accompanied the Portuguese national team on the way to the European Championship.

Trainer

Under the leadership of Carlos Queiroz, the Portuguese national team was either silent or shouting: there is no other way to describe three dry games at the World Cup, between which the Portuguese scored seven unanswered goals against the DPRK. In the early fall of 2010, Queiroz was kicked out with a scandal, and his assistant Agustinho Oliveira scored a modest point in two qualifying matches, playing a fun hole-in-one with Cyprus (4:4) and losing in cold Norway. Amid endless rumors about Jose Mourinho joining the team, the Portuguese federation hastily agreed with the 41-year-old, who by this time had been idle for a whole year without work. For four years, this specialist headed Sporting Lisbon, where he did not win anything more serious than domestic cups, but at the same time he filled the entire club museum with them, becoming the second coach in the history of the club in the number of titles won. Under the leadership of Bento, the Portuguese famously dealt with the Danes, Norwegians and Icelanders, defeated the Cypriots and scored four unanswered goals (!) against the Spaniards in a friendly match. A Seleccao lost the decisive match for first place in Denmark, but in the playoffs they beautifully dealt with the Bosnians and qualified for Euro 2012, giving a breathtaking concert at Da Luz with six goals scored for every taste.

In general, modern Portuguese coaches are a completely different caste, to which separate articles are usually devoted. You won't get bored with them: one rides on his own players, another fights with rivals And sends them through their mother, third . In the case of the idol of Portuguese parodists, Paulo Bento, there is a lot of funny stuff, just watch his favorite activities after goal scored (once , two , three) or .

Compound

Rui Patricio - Pereira, Pepe, Alves, Coentrão - Moutinho, Meireles, Veloso - Nani, Postiga, Ronaldo.

Tactics

It's no secret that Paulo Bento has long been in love with the scheme 4-3-3 , although during the reign of Sporting he was not against playing 4-1-3-2. In the gates of the Portuguese national team, the young and reliable Rui Patricio, Pepe and Bruno Alves have already managed to play in the center of defense after Ricardo Carvalho was expelled, the left flank of the defense is covered by the talented and clever Fabio Coentrão, and on the right there was a place for a little-known hard worker from Sporting named João Pereira. The team's powerful engine is in the middle of the field - where Raul Meireles, Joao Moutinho and Miguel Veloso are responsible for movement, tackling and passing, while at the edges the Portuguese have powerful electric wires with frantic energy in the form of Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani. If the whole chain were closed on a forward of the level of Hulk (who is already considered a Portuguese by default), the Portuguese national team could safely predict reaching the Euro semi-finals, but the powerful shine of Nuno Gomes of the 90s has long been replaced by the dim rays of Almeida or Postiga - players, of course, talented but ineffective. And it's not just about the number of goals.

The Portuguese have a lot of strong midfielders in their reserves: here is the favorite Carlos Martins (whom Paulo Bento once personally kicked out of Sporting, and during the qualifying tournament he regularly promoted to the team's base), and the reliable Ruben Mikael and Ruben Amorim, and the talented but spineless technician Ricardo Quaresma, and the creative Zenit player Danny. There are far fewer options in attack, and the defensive line is quite meager: Silviu was lost in Atlético, Eliseu is more effective in midfield, and it’s better for Roland not to let things get to the point of entering the field: in matches for the national team, Porto’s great defender often doesn’t look like himself to myself.

Pride

As the Portuguese beat Bosnia, fans happily counted the number of current and former Bosnia players in the starting line-up. It turned out that as many as seven players of the national team at different times defended the colors of Sportinguistas. In general, the club that gave the world Ronaldo and Nani regularly supplies highly professional players to the national team, unlike, for example, Benfica and Porto, whose students are much smaller here. But the Lisbon “lions” themselves are neither hot nor cold from this: the last time Sporting became the national champion was ten years ago.

Prejudice

It would be a great exaggeration to believe that many in Portugal liked the “pride of Sporting.” After the defeat from the Danes, the national team was subjected to severe criticism at home: Paulo Bento was demanded to refrain from club preferences and stop dragging “friends from Sporting” into the team, believing that the issue of team composition should be approached more harshly. Considering that there are few Portuguese in the starting lineup of Porto, and there are none at all in Benfica, the reproaches look very strange, and besides, the level of the other teams in the Sagres League (with the exception, of course, of Sporting and Braga) is obviously below. In the end, it’s not Sporting’s fault that so many talented footballers passed through it, who helped Paulo Bento develop. However, this is the fate of all domestic coaches - in the event of high-profile failures, they will constantly be poked with their noses at their own past.

Joy

The common opinion that he looks much brighter at Real Madrid than in games for the national team is solemnly consigned to the trash bin. Now Cristiano is the captain, leader and personification of the Portuguese team, he has 7 goals in the qualifying matches, three of which were scored with fantastic free kicks. Having scored a double in the game against Bosnia, Ronaldo proudly shared third place with Luis Figo in the list of top scorers, having already scored 32 goals for the national team by the age of 26. At this rate, Eusebio (41) is just around the corner, and Pauleta (47) is not too far away.

Sadness

“Carvalho and Bosingwa will be watching the Euros on TV,” concluded a ruthless Paulo Bento, ending speculation that the Real Madrid and Chelsea defenders would soon return to the Portugal national team. All these squabbles are painfully familiar to Russian fans - something similar regularly shook our team before the era of Hiddink & Advocaat. called the coach almost a grabber, accused him of arrogance, and Paulo Bento kicked both of them out for unprofessionalism, suspecting the first of lying, and the second of feigning an injury before a friendly match. The Portuguese now have minimal options in defense, and the level of Alves can be discussed long and hard. However, next to him is the strong defender Pepe, ready to come to the rescue and provide backup at any moment, and Joao Pereira, although not as useful in attack, does the main job no worse than Bosingwa. In the end, the main impact force The Portuguese are in any case on the left flank - where there is the motor Fabio Coentrão and the magnificent Cristiano Ronaldo.

Quote

“Whatever the result tomorrow, nothing will change for me. I will still be a married man with two daughters,” said Paulo Bento at a press conference a day before the return match against Bosnia.

Number

80% matches won (in other words, 8 victories in the starting ten games) made Paulo Bento the record holder among Portuguese coaches in the history of the national team. Besides him, no one had ever begun their journey to fame so vigorously.

Getting to know Russia

The Portuguese national team is simply a nightmare for our country: every match with them means elimination from the tournament or a painful defeat. In 1966, the USSR national team lost third place to the Portuguese at the World Championships, and 17 years later said goodbye to hopes of a trip to Euro 84, losing in the last round group stage with a score of 0:1 (although in the first match she managed to score five unanswered goals against Portugal). The Russian national team was the first to leave Euro 2004, losing 0:2 to the hosts of the tournament, the Portuguese, who four months later humiliated our team with seven goals in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. There was a lot of talk about some kind of revenge, but a year later a stubborn match in Moscow ended in a goalless draw.