Even before I took the National Team blog over, my predecessor joined me in lamenting the fact that our youth teams were being helmed by an inept moron by the name of José Couceiro. Long story short: he hopped around a number of Portuguese Liga teams before being placed in charge of the youth [...]

When I evaluated the selection of talent before Big Philly Style put out his list of twenty three men for the Euro, I gave serious thought to midfielder and U20/1 capped Pélé.
I considered him, I evaluated his form and the results at Inter Milan ever since he stepped in for a number of [...]

I know I’ve been covering the Under or “Sub” 21 team already in various ways, but I think a nice discussion/thought provoking/glimpse of the future feature would be nice, so here it is. Every Tuesday (within reason, we can always run out of these things eventually) I’ll be posting a young Portuguesian’s name and [...]

The Portuguese Football Federation has suspended Under 20 Portuguese international, Zequinha, for twelve months. Mano who’s untimely tackle precipitated the events that led to the final unraveling of Portugal’s Under 20 side, against Chile, during FIFA’s Under 20 World Cup 2007, was suspended for three months.
This decision comes hours after the FPF board voted [...]

According to reports from Portuguese radio outfit Antenna 1, the board of directors of the Portuguese Football Federation has scheduled a meeting, later this week, that will likely decide the fate of Portugal’s Under 21 and Under 20 coach, José Couceiro.
The same report suggests that Couceiro’s future with the FPF is hanging by a [...]

Portugal’s Under 20 squad arrived in Lisbon today, after a disappointing and shameful performance in Canada. Upon arrival, Zequinha apologized to the people of Portugal for his ridiculous actions.
“It was wrong. I want to apologize to the Portuguese people and the president of the Portuguese federation, Gilberto Madaíl. They offered us unending [...]

What can I say? It was everything I expected it to be – the poorest display of football I’ve ever seen from a Portuguese squad. Just consider these stats:
Shots PT 7 – CH 19
Shots on goal PT 1 – CH 9
Fouls committed PT 19 – CH 12
Possession PT 38% – CH 62%
And [...]

The web is abuzz regarding the recent poor showing from Portugal’s Under 21 and Under 20 sides. There’s plenty of blame to go around for players and coaches, but all (media and fans) seem to agree on one thing: José Couceiro must GO!
Whether it’s the Portuguese media or some of the English speaking [...]

Portugal 1 – 0 Gambia

Portugal 1 – 1 Gambia

Portugal 1 – 2 Gambia

Mexico defeated Portugal 2 – 1, in the second match of the group stage, to go top of Group C with 6 points. It was all-in-all an entertaining match with both teams showing their technical mastery of the game. The early minutes were shaky for Mexico. Portugal looked the more measured [...]