World Cup 2010 News: Portugal

Showing posts with label Portugal. Show all posts

Friday, 11 June 2010

Didier Drogba makes swift recovery may play against Portugal

Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba could start their opening World Cup game against Portugal next week, coach Sven Goran Eriksson said on Thursday.

Drogba, 32, broke his arm during a friendly against Japan on June 4, and needed surgery.

'If the game had been today or tomorrow, he wouldn't play. But there are still some days. He might play against Portugal,' Eriksson told journalists at the team's arrival on Thursday.

On the mend: Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba (right) has an operation on his broken arm

Ivory Coast take on Portugal next Tuesday in Group G in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth.

They have been drawn in a tough group, which includes North Korea and five-times World Cup winners Brazil.

'It is a difficult group, but we will be well prepared and we will do everything to play well against the other teams,' Eriksson said.

Wednesday, 2 June 2010

Eto'o sent off as Cameroon fall to Portugal

Cameroon captain Samuel Eto'o was sent off on his return to the Indomitable Lions side, as his team slumped to a 3-1 defeat in Portugal.

The Inter Milan striker was dismissed in the first half for a second bookable offence in quick succession after returning to the side for their final two World Cup warm-up games.

A frustrated and agitated-looking Eto'o received his marching orders for a high tackle on Portugal left-back Duda, immediately after being booked by the referee for protesting, following the opener from Raul Meireles.

The Cameroonians looked unsettled after their captain's departure, and were well beaten by a Portuguese team who looked a lot more polished and confident ahead of their departure for South Africa - in stark contrast to their visitors.

The Indomitable Lions are now six games without a win, but drew some little comfort from an impressive debut for German-born striker Eric Choupo-Moting, who has just been cleared to play for the west Africans.

Tottenham Hotspur defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto also put in an impressive performance on the left, after a shaky start.

Portugal boost as Pepe is given the all clear

Pepe is going to South Africa with Portugal. The Real Madrid player has received medical clearance to participate in this summer’s World Cup.

The news that Carlos Queiroz most wanted to hear was confirmed on the site of the Portuguese Football Federation yesterday:

“The medical teams of the National Seleccao, Real Madrid, Juan Carlos Hernandez and Carlos Diez, and the surgeon who operated on Pepe, Jose Carlos Noronha, agreed to pronounce medical clearance to the Portugal international, meaning the player can continue to comply with the programme of gradual sporting integration.”

Pepe was outstanding for Portugal in the qualification campaign, playing as a defensive midfielder, but has not played a competitive match since rupturing his cruciate knee ligaments in December.

His recovery is a huge boost for the national team, although question marks will remain about whether he will be match fit in South Africa, especially for the first game against Ivory Coast on June 15th.

Wednesday, 5 May 2010

Brazil gets World Cup boost as they oust Spain as top team

The Brazilian national team has got a boost ahead of the World Cup as the ousted Spain from the top of the FIFA ranking.

The latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking has a surprise in store as it reveals that Spain’s five-month reign has come to end, with Brazil reclaiming pole position and pushing the reigning European champions back into second place. This is the seventh time that Brazil have claimed top spot on the global ladder, a position that they have held for a total of 142 months since 1993.

Other moves of note in the top ten include the progress made by Argentina (7th, up 2) and Portugal (3rd, up 1). Third place represents the highest-ever position for the Portuguese since the launch of the Ranking in 1993.

Only five matches have been taken into account in April’s edition, which was to be expected, given that there are only 43 days to go until the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, and many national leagues and continental championships are now entering the home straight. As a result, the international match calendar did not have a reserved date for international matches.

This means that most of the changes in this edition of the ranking are due to the devaluation of past results. Some teams have actually gained points due to the fact that the devaluation of poor results has led to a greater weighting of successful matches.

150 international matches have been played so far in 2010. There is likely to be significant movement in next month’s edition of the ranking, the last before the big event in South Africa, as the 32 teams start their preparations in earnest by playing friendly matches to decide on their best line-up. The World Cup is looming large and making things exciting – and not just in terms of the world ranking.

Tuesday, 4 May 2010

Fernando Torres may miss start of World Cup

Spain's chances at the World Cup took a knock as Liverpool striker is ruled out of the opening games by Liverpool medical staff.

The 26-year-old is recovering from surgery to repair knee cartilage torn in the 4-1 win over Benfica on 8 April.

"Whether he will be fit for the first game or not is uncertain," said Peter Brukner who is overseeing his recovery.

"But, if he continues to progress the way he is, he should be fit to play at some stage during the World Cup."

Spain, current European champions and one of the pre-tournament favourites, play their first match in Group H is against Switzerland on 16 June.

Games against Honduras on the 21 June and Chile on 25 June then follow.

If they progress to the knock-out stages, Spain will play a second-round match against one of Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast or North Korea on the 28 or 29 June.

Boss Vicente del Bosque also has injury concerns over midfielder Xavi who is playing through a calf tear that may see him ruled out of the World Cup.

The 30-year-old is playing on in an attempt to help Barcelona hold off Real Madrid's challenge and win a second successive Spanish league title.

But del Bosque said although he was worried about Torres, expectations for his recovery were good.

"I am sure that when the moment comes all the players will say they are fine but we are the ones who have to evaluate and decide the risk that should be taken," he said at a Spanish soccer federation event in Madrid.

"We cannot go to South Africa with four or five doubtful players," he added. "We have good hearts but we have to listen to our heads."

Bruker, who was appointed as Liverpool's head of sports medicine and sports science in March, believes there is a balance to be struck between the demands of club and country for Torres.

"He is certainly tremendously committed to his rehab, as are the staff here, and if anyone can recover from an injury, he can," he said.

"Hopefully we can get a compromise where he plays in the World Cup and he is fit and well for Liverpool next season."

Torres spent a month on the sidelines after a knee operation in January and was hampered by a troublesome groin injury before Christmas.

Despite the disruption, the former Atletico Madrid forward has scored 22 goals in his third season for the Reds, including 18 in 22 Premier League appearances.

Torres has an impressive record at international tournaments, scoring three goals in four games in the 2006 World Cup and the winner against Germany in the Euro 2008 final.

Sunday, 2 May 2010

Eriksson looks forward to return bout with Portugal

Ivory Coast's new manager Sven Goran Eriksson is looking forward to facing Portugal again in the World Cup bringing back memories of the the last time he faced them as the then manager of England.

Portugal defeated Eriksson's England on penalties in the quarter-finals at Euro 2004 before doing the same two years later in a controversial World Cup contest which saw Wayne Rooney sent off.

The Ivory Coast kick off their World Cup campaign against Portugal before facing Brazil and North Korea and, while Eriksson recognises the importance of their first match, he claims he will not be thinking of his England days.

"Brazil is favourite to win the group and second should be us or Portugal or North Korea on paper," Eriksson told Press Association Sport. "But that's on paper.

"But the first match for us is really important. There's no sense of revenge, this time it can't be penalty shoot-outs that's for sure.

"I'm looking forward to that but first we have to start the preparation and it's still far away. But it's important."

Despite being drawn in the so-called 'group of death' Eriksson insists a quarter-final spot is their target and is not even considering failing to progress from their pool.

He said: "To go through would be a success from a group like that.

"If we can reach the quarter-final I think everyone should be thinking it's a great success from an African team, for the Ivory Coast. That's the first target.

Monday, 15 March 2010

Bosingwa injury blow for Portugal

Portugal suffered a major blow as defender Jose Bosingwa's injury rules him out of the World Cup.

Chelsea full-back Jose Bosingwa will miss the rest of the season and the World Cup with Portugal as he requires further surgery on a knee injury, the Premier League club have confirmed.

Bosingwa had been back in light training after knee surgery but has now been ruled out for the season because another operation is required.

That means he is unavailable for Chelsea's challenge for a treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.

Saturday, 5 December 2009

World Cup Draw Reaction : Portugal

Carlos Queiroz the Portuguese coach was unperturbed by his team ending up in what has been tagged the Group of Death reacting after the Draw held in Cape Town, Queiroz said

"I’m pleased. It’s a fantastic group for world football. And we’ve got North Korea too, a team that triggers good memories of the 1966 World Cup (when Portugal came back from three goals down to beat Korea DPR 5-3 in the quarter-finals). All we’re missing now are Hungary, Pele and Eusebio!"

"Deep down, I hope that we’re already qualified by the time we face Brazil in our third match, but counting on that would be to show a lack of respect for our other two opponents. When one of the teams in the group is Brazil, who’ve won five world titles, I’ve no hesitation in saying that they’re the favourites. Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka being together at Real Madrid will be interesting, but it doesn’t stop there. Look at Chelsea, for instance, who’ve got both Portuguese and Ivorian players. I think there’s going to be an intriguing atmosphere at a number of clubs."

He also reacted to earlier comments from Bazilian coach Dunga who had likened the match between Brazil and Portugal as a match between Brazil and Brazil B. Queiroz repsonded "As for the match between 'Brazil A and Brazil B', I think that’s an amusing way of looking at it. But anyway, I’m sure that just as many of the Brazilians have Portuguese grandparents or great-grandparents, so I think that makes us even. The only thing that’s certain is that it’ll be a great contest."

World Cup Draw Reaction : Cote d'Ivoire

Last Saturdays draw saw possible the worst outcome Cote D'Ivoire could have imagined. With with Group G opponents Brazil, Portugal and North Korea the football world has wasted no time in tagging this group the group of death and it seems Ivorien coach Vahid Halilhodzic agrees.

Speaking after the draw he lamented "To be honest it’s a terrible group. Very, very difficult. Brazil are second in the FIFA World Ranking and Portugal are fifth. It’s hard to imagine anything worse than that. Before the draw I said: “I’ll take anyone except Brazil or Spain.” I think a black cat must have followed me here in Cape Town."

"But there’s no point cursing our luck now. We’re here and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got. I know that my team are capable of springing a surprise, even against Brazil or Portugal. I even think that the fact we’re facing these teams could motivate my players more. I really hope that we can cause an upset."

It is the second straight Group of Death the Ivoriens have featured in. In the last World Cup in 2006 they were grouped with Argentina, Netherlands and Serbia & Montenegro in what was the 2006 World Cup Group of Death.

World Cup Draw Reaction : Brazil

Brazilian coach Dunga says their World Cup group of Brazil, Portugal and Noth Korea is not a Group of Death even though the media and fans had tagged the group as such.

Speaking after the Draw Dunga said, "I don’t like all that 'Group of Death' stuff. If you look at the draw, you’ll see that all the groups, perhaps with the exception of Spain’s, are very even. North Korea are, in theory, a weaker side, but it’s tricky playing against a team you don’t know much about. For us, our opening game is the most difficult one."

"Then it will be our second game and so on. Côte d’Ivoire are going to make us work very hard. Most of their players are at big European clubs and they have [Didier] Drogba, who is one of the world’s best strikers. African teams no longer fit with people’s preconceptions; they’ve allied competitiveness to their technical ability."

"And of course we’ve got a huge rivalry with Portugal. We’ve played twice against them recently, winning one and losing one, but this will be a different story altogether – it’s the World Cup. They’ve got three Brazilians (Pepe, Deco and Liedson) in their team so it’s going to be like Brazil vs Brazil B. What’s more, it’s going to be nice to see the healthy rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, two of the best players on the planet who play for the same club side."

"It’s a balanced group but that’s what we expected. From a logistical perspective, it’ll be interesting to play our first two games in Johannesburg."

Wednesday, 18 November 2009

Portugal beats Bosnia to qualify for World Cup 2010.

Portugal ended Bosnia hopes of making their first ever appearance at the World Cup with a 1-0 victory over the Bosnian this Wednesday night.

The goal came from Raul Meireles in the 56th minute after good work from Manchester United striker Nani.

The victory saw Portugal take the play-off with a 2-0 aggregate win having beating the Bosnians by the same margin on Saturday in Lisbon.

The Bosnian coach afterwards said the team were devastated "It is difficult to comfort the boys, they are devastated. Kenan Hasagic had a nervous breakdown," Miroslav Blazevic said. "But this is a young (team) and has potential to develop."

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