The 18—Yard Box

World Cup, Germany—2006

Portugal

Winds of Change?
Text Box: Statistics: FIFA Rank : 8 Qualification Position : 1st in Group. Portugal has never tasted success in the international arena but, in 2004, they came very close to doing so. Hosting the intercontinental championship, Portugal were runners-up, losing by a solitary goal to Greece in the finals. Two years since, they find themselves, much two their own pleasant surprise, in the 8th spot in the FIFA rankings, two ahead of England. This high ranking can only be attribute to their successful run in Euro ’04 and an even more successful qualifying campaign. Portugal qualified for Germany in style. They topped their group and where one of the seven teams in Europe to finish the qualifying rounds undefeated. With 9 victories and 3 draws, they earned a tally of 30 points, seven clear of group runners-up Slovakia. Portugal had comprehensive victories against Latvia and Estonia, however their qualifying campaign wasn’t entirely blotch free. They were held by minnows Liechtenstein to a draw, after taking a two goal lead at halftime. They drew a lot of flak from the media for their substandard performance. But Portugal bounced back with a vengeance, four days later they thrashed Russia 7-1. They also annihilated Luxembourg 6-0 and 5-0 in the two legs. Portugal scored 35 goals in the qualifying rounds and conceded only 5. This placed them on top of the European charts in terms of goal difference. Group D: Portugal have been grouped together with Angola, Iran, and Mexico in Group D. Angola are ranked 58th in the world and Iran 22nd. Mexico are ranked higher than Portugal at 6th. So, on paper, Portugal should finish at least second in the group and should qualify for the second phase of the competition. Mexico - Mexico are an extremely difficult team to beat, the team consisting of both experienced players and fresh youngsters. They finished second in the CONCACAF region, behind the USA. Although a 6th spot in the world ranking might be a bit high for this talented American side, they will be trying to justify their ranking in Germany. Mexico also have a decent World Cup track record, in fact much better than Portugal’s. Mexico have played in a total of 12 World Cups, as against a paltry 3 that Portugal have participated in. Iran - Three times Asian champions Iran qualified directly to Germany after they took second place in their group after Japan. They have previously played in 2 worldcup finals, in 1979 and 1998. Iran definitely have nothing to loose and would be looking to cause an upset or two in Germany. Angola - Angola surprised themselves when they qualified for Germany. This was their sixth attempt at qualification and it proved to be sixth time lucky. They literally sneaked in ahead of Nigeria, on account of having beaten them in the tie, even though both the teams had secured equal number of points. Angola will consider themselves lucky if they win as much as a point in Germany.