Part 23 of 32: The Portuguese Interview
Bruno Ribeiro, currently graduating in Social Psychology, joins us for part 23 of the series. Bruno is a football fanatic, with FC Porto being the team he supports. The interest he has in the sport drove him to start his own blog, Lugar Cativo, about three years ago; nowadays he is also part of the cast of Terceiro Anel, one of the most successful Portuguese football blogs.
I thank Bruno for agreeing to the interview.
Tell us a bit about the Portuguese football history and the football culture which exists.
First of all: we breed football! The sport dominates society; which is pretty much pathetic some times!
Now, about our history. Football have always been Portugal main sport since the beginning of the 20th century; it’s impact in Portuguese’s life was/is so great that Salazar’s dictatorship took advantage of it to ‘distract’ the mob of the country problems.
Portugal always had great players, but some difficulties to build good squads. It’s a bit of strange that we’re only to our fourth World Cup, one everyone recognize our quality! I believe that our problem was a um of bad management of the Football Federation and a perpetual feeling of inferiority, which prevent us of showing our true quality along the years.
We’ve never achieved anything more then two Under’20 World Cups, back in ‘89 and ‘91. The closest we were of actually win some silverware was Euro’04, where we loss at home with Greece; European Cup tends to show the best of us. At the World Cup level, only in ‘66 we did something to be proud of, finishing 3rd at expenses of the USSR in a year where Eusebio marvelled the world.
Although our national team didn’t won anything, at club level Portuguese football achieved some good results; we can’t forget that we’re talking of a country with a population of only 10 million, and with financial problems. FC Porto (1987 and 2004) and Benfica (1961 and 1962) won 2 European Cups each, Sporting won a Cup Winners Cup (1964), and Porto added a UEFA Cup (2003), one European Super Cup (1987-1988), and two European-South American Cup (1987 and 2004).
When talking about portuguese football players, Eusébio and Luís Figo are the names that sprout immediately to our minds, being the only ones to be named World Player of the Year. But Portugal always had good players that never shined on international level like António Oliveira, Chalana, Fernando Gomes or Paulo Futre. In recent years things are changing and more and more Portuguese players figure on the top leagues. Deco, Cristiano Ronaldo or Ricardo Carvalho are some of them, following the legacy of Fernando Couto, Rui Costa, Paulo Sousa or Vítor Baía (whom is the World’s most crowned player ever!).
Tell us a bit about the Road to the World Cup – the qualification, and the emotions the fans went through at the time.
There wasn’t much thrilling as we’re stationed in a very easy group; so the general feeling was that a World Cup place was pretty much a sure thing. However, the draw against Liechtenstein and some poor performances raised some disgruntle among the fans, but nothing of much concern. It was a quiet walk in the park.
What style of football does the national team play?
A very technical passing style, with a great deal of play over the wings. One-two passes are a bit of a trademark of our style. However, lately we began to rely on direct play and to pray for a struck of inspiration of one of our forwards.
What do you think your country’s prospects are at the World Cup?
We should pass easily on the group stage; once more we’re given a lucky draw. Advancing to the next stage means we’ll play someone from the group of Netherlands, Argentina, Serbia and Ivory Coast, which I believe can be our final game in the competition. But with Portugal you’ll never know how it’s going turn out to be: we have the quality to go all the way, but we also have a natural ability to fail miserably!
Who will be the most important player for your country?
Despite Ronaldo and Figo, Deco is our most important player. Nowadays he’s probably the top player in his position, and is in charge of our pace. If Deco is well, Portugal can win anyone; if he isn’t, we’ll have some difficulties.
Which player in your country’s side would you most like to get rid of?
That’s a tricky one! Maybe Ricardo as he isn’t a top class keeper and tend to fail in the big stages. Simão, Petit and Hugo Viana are also good choices.
Who are the players to watch from the other countries?
Beside the top guys like Ronaldinho, Riquelme, Henry; I believe this can be a tournament where some younger players will shine. Messi and Tévez from Argentina; Villa from Spain; Kallstrom from Sweden; Huntelaar from the Netherlands are my top choices.
What will be your excuse in the event of failure?
Scolari must likely; although Ricardo can easily become the main target!
Have you got the right manager?
Not by a mile! Scolari is a great motivator and builder of team spirit; but not only his choices are based not on players quality but in his personal relations with them, in tactical terms he’s predictable and frail! I kind of hope that he would replace Erikson before the World Cup; though luck!
What advice would you give him?
Resign! As he won’t do that, I’ll say: Stop being stubborn!!! It’s an easy squad to pick, and you don’t even have to give any instructions, just follow along with the public demand as you did in Euro’04 and you might get lucky… again!
Which team do you most want to beat?
No one in particular and everyone in general! But if we came up against Spain, a victory for 3 or plus would be wonderful.
Which opposition player will get the most stick?
We like Angola, and we really don’t care about Iran or Mexico. So the stick will be on anyone who commits a bad foul or dive (not Ronaldo because he’s ours).
Where will you watch the matches?
At home or in a cafe with some friends. If the city hall decides to mount a giant screen, I’ll probably go and watch with the mob, where we can rejoice or mourn together.
How keenly will the World Cup be followed in your country?
24 over 7 while Portugal is in the game; 14 over 7 if we’re out! The 10 hour difference will be filled discussing what went wrong! Are you kidding? We have 3 daily newspapers about sport, and 75% of the pages are about football!
Who will be the player of the tournament?
Carlos Tévez! If Portugal does well then Deco or Ronaldo.
Who will win the Golden Boot?
Tévez, David Villa, Shevchenko or Kuyt!
Which team will disappoint the most?
Brazil! Everyone expect them to win easily, but I think they won’t reach the semis. Portugal is a good bet also!
Who will be the surprise team of the tournament?
Czech Republic or USA! The Czechs play beautifully, and can beat anyone in a good day. The States are progressing really well in the last years, and have the advantage of preparing the tournament months ahead; that helps them build a strong and cohesive squad.
Finally, Who will win the World Cup?
Argentina! Wonderful set of players that can form a very strong lineup. Germany and Italy are also very strong candidates.
Additional questions from English fan Dale Brumby:
What on earth happened at the last World Cup?! Is there a feeling that Portugal underachieve at major tournaments generally?
A mish-mash of bad choices, awful preparation and pathetic performances! Going to Macau in the pre-tournament period was a very bad mistake; the players arrived completely tired to the first game. Although he managed to thrash Poland, the final game agains South Korea seemed like a really bad horror movie!
Honestly I think we underachieve more in the qualifiers! Despite 2002 and 1986, we’re not so bad: 1966 we finished 3rd; in Euro’84 we went to the semis; England ‘96 to the quarter-finals; in 2000 France beat us again in the semis; and finally we reached the final in 2004.
What’s the general opinion of Mourinho over in Portugal? Particularly among non-Porto fans.
At the technical level no one disputes he’s the best in the world. The fact he’s so cocky causes some distress also here in Portugal. But the feelings toward Mourinho have to be set in perspective: in Portugal the great majority of the press is against Porto, so Mourinho was pretty much ‘public enemy number one’ while in Porto. As soon he left for Chelsea he became a ‘national hero’, loved by everyone! Among Porto fans there’s some disgruntle about the way he left: secretly meeting with Peter Kenyon while both teams where on the semi-finals of the Champions League, and not celebrating victory with the fans. However he’ll receive a standing ovation anytime he visits Estádio do Dragão, just like last season with Chelsea.
Finally, is widely known in Portugal why Quim’s name causes so much hilarity amongst us English?!
No! Why should it?!
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I hope you enjoyed part 23. Follow up questions for Bruno can be e-mailed to me. Also, feel free to contact me if you would like to be interviewed or know a friend who would like/could be interviewed. Specific questions for specific countries which might pop in your mind in due course may also be sent.
For the rest of the interviews, check out the World Cup interview series page.
Tags: FIFA World Cup 2006, Football Interview Series, Portugal.
