Nearly men, bridesmaids, failures — take your pick.
Despite a wealth of talent down the decades from Eusebio and Luis Figo to current pin-up Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal have repeatedly missed out on top honors since a first World Cup showing ended with a 1966 semi-final loss to England.
Young talent has blossomed and withered ever since and never quite reached the summit. The Euro 2004 final was a case in point when, having finally reached a trophy match, the Seleccao ran into a Greek brick wall.
A pulsating 1984 semi-final loss to a Michel Platini-inspired France and a Euro 96 quarter-final loss to this Thursday’s same stage opponents Czech Republic had come and gone in between times.
The 1996 disappointment wrought by Karel Poborsky’s superb lob was palpable as the Portuguese were pinning great faith on the “Geracao de Ouro” (Golden Generation), an ultra-talented group who had lifted the FIFA Under20 World Cup in 1989 and again in 1991. Further semi-final losses to the French in 2000 and at the 2006 World Cup only underscored the “nearly but not quite” story of Portuguese football.
Yet Paulo Bento’s side are now coming out of their shell — and most importantly, so is Ronaldo.
Much criticized in the media for not scoring in the opening 1-0 defeat to Germany or the exciting 3-2 win over Denmark, Ronaldo delivered his Real Madrid form with two clinical strikes to see off the deflated Dutch.
Suddenly, optimism reigns back home.
“Ronaldo answers his critics,” trumpeted A Bola — although his teammates elected not to answer theirs after refusing to speak to the press afterwards.
“It’s senseless to keep banging on about whether players perform as well with their country as for their clubs. We have reached the quarter-finals for the way we played collectively,” stormed Bento. “Leave the players in peace,” he snapped.
There are, of course, others who would bid for the “accolade” of football’s nearly men. Were it not for an exception-proves-the-rule success at Euro 88, where they possessed a squad of truly exceptional talent, the Netherlands would have to be rated the biggest bridesmaids of them all.
