Portugal's European Championships Record

After having hosted the European Championship 2004, Portugal return for this year's Euro 2008, after having qualified through the qualifying stage. Recently, more than ever, the team boasts a squad that can at any time beat one of the football big names. With a large number of players playing for teams abroad and also the improvement of home-grown talent in Portugal, the team is sometimes referred to as the Brazilians of Europe. The talent available in every department to current manager Luiz Felipe Scolari is immense.

Portugal have qualified five times for European Championships (including Euro 2008). Very impressively, the team was never eliminated at the group stage as yet. Portugal's first appearance came in Euro 1984 held in France. At the time, only 8 teams participated. Portugal were drawn in the same group as West Germany, Spain and Romania. The Portuguese got a nil-nil draw against West Germany, a 1-1 draw against Spain and a 1-0 victory over Romania. This meant that the team went through to the semi-final of the competition, being coupled up with France. The game was 1-1 until the end of ordinary time, and Portugal lost it 3-2 in extra time. This was the end of Euro 1984 for the Portugal squad.

Portugal missed two tournament (1988, 1992) before qualifying for Euro 1996. They were drawn in Group D with Croatia, Denmark and Turkey. They managed to top their group with two wins and a draw (against Denmark). However, in the quarter-finals, they lost to Group C runners-up Czech Republic 1-0.

The 2000 event was held in Belgium/Netherlands and Portugal qualified for it. They were drawn in Group A having to face Romania, England and Germany. It was here that the habit of beating the English team in the European Championships started. Not only did Portugal beat England 3-2, but also won the other two games to register three wins out of three games. This time, Portugal managed to get through the quarter finals, beating Turkey 2-0. The adventure ended in the next round, where Portugal lost to France 2-1 after extra time.

Euro 2004 was hosted by Portugal, so they didn't need to go through the qualifying phase. This was the best performance of Portugal in a European Championship. Portugal won Group A with 2 wins and 1 loss, a group which included Greece, Spain and Russia. Therefore, they had to face the runners-up of Group B in the quarter finals, and these were England. The game ended 1-1 until 90 minutes, with England opening the score early through Michael Owen and Portugal leaving it late to level the match through Helder Postiga in the 83^rd minute. The game went to extra time, with the teams scoring a goal each and ending the 120 minutes at 2-2. The encounter has to be decided through a penalty shootout. There were seven rounds of penalties. The final one was decisive. Darius Vassell of England missed his penalty. Portugal's selected next penalty taker was no one but penalty-hero goalkeeper Ricardo. He converted his penalty and this meant Portugal went through and sent England packing.

In the semi-final, Portugal won the Netherlands 2-1, with all goals coming from Portugal, as the Netherlands' goal was an own goal by Jorge Andrade. Portugal were coupled with Greece in the final. Little did they know that the night of the final would end in tears. The game ended 1-0 to Greece which took the lead through Charisteas and held tight onto it. Greece were crowned champions in Portugal.

Portugal qualified second from their qualifying group for this year's Championship to be held in Austria/Switzerland. They were drawn in a relatively easy Group A consisting of Switzerland, Czech Republic and Turkey. Captained by nominated World' Best Player Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese stand a very good chance of winning this tournament, if Scolari finds the right combination and the right tactics to beat all the opposition.

Portugal's Euro 2008 Fixtures:

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