And You May Ask Yourself – Well, How Did I Get Here?

As David Byrne so eloquently postulated in Once In a Lifetime, sometimes we need to step back and figure out just how we got somewhere. When it comes to the Portuguese National Team, it probably serves my new position at this blog to lay out the qualification road along which Portugal traveled. So, without further ado, here are the results from their fixtures:

Sept. 06 — Portugal @ Finland     Draw, 1 – 1
Oct. 06 — Portugal v Azerbaijan     Win, 3 – 0
Oct. 06 — Portugal @ Poland     Loss, 1 – 2
Nov. 06 — Portugal v Kazakhstan     Win, 3 – 0
Mar. 07 — Portugal v Belgium     Win, 4 – 0
Mar. 07 — Portugal @ Serbia     Draw, 1 – 1
June 07 — Portugal @ Belgium     Win, 2 – 1
Aug. 07 — Portugal @ Armenia     Draw, 1 – 1
Sept. 07 — Portugal v Poland     Draw, 2 – 2
Sept. 07 — Portugal v Serbia     Draw, 1 – 1
Oct. 07 — Portugal @ Azerbaijan     Win, 2 – 0
Oct. 07 — Portugal v Kazakhstan     Win, 2 – 1
Nov. 07 — Portugal v Armenia     Win, 1 – 0
Nov. 07 — Portugal v Finland     Draw, 0 – 0

As you can see, that yielded seven wins, six draws, and a loss in 14 matches. This resulted in 27 points and a second place finish by one point behind Poland. For the most part, they played very uninspired football throughout qualification. If it wasn’t for their strong home form, they probably wouldn’t have qualified. In all honesty, the team looked very disjointed for the majority of the road to the 2008 Euro. Injuries and a cloud of apathy cast an ominous shadow over the group and followed them around. They never seemed to gel 100% and the streaky results are a reflection of that. I hope they find goals from someone who’s serviceable up front, as they can’t draw their way to the finals against teams like the Czech Republic. Hugo Almeida looks like a very viable option and is a classic “English style” striker who goes straight ahead for the most part and relies on his size and strength to impose himself on the opposition’s defense.

One thing is for sure, Scolari has an embarrassment of talent at the midfield and will have his hands full in trying to put together a winning combination. Among other problems, I’m sure that’s one Big Philly Style doesn’t mind having. Enjoy your weekend, I’ll see you next week.