Figo sets his sights high

March 29th, 2006 | by: Luis Paulo |

Figo talks to the journalists As a former FIFA World Player of the Year, Inter Milan and Portugal midfielder Luis Figo has all the experience required to be one of the stars of the 2006 World Cup.

The gifted playmaker and most-capped Portuguese international of all time will be hoping his wealth of experience will be a decisive factor in leading his team to glory in Germany. In this exclusive interview with FIFAworldcup.com, Figo discusses Portugal’s failure at Korea/Japan 2002, his admiration for national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and his country’s chances of success this summer.

FIFAworldcup.com: You are one of the Portugal team captains (coach Scolari generally rotates the armband between Figo, Pauleta and Costinha). What is your relationship with Scolari like?
Luis Figo: Very good. I think we have a relationship based on friendship and respect. He’s someone who likes to talk to the players a lot and have a strong, united group – almost like a family. He really understands football. Just look at his achievements. He’s won the World Cup and been a runner-up in the European Championship. I think we’re extremely lucky to have such an experienced guy like him leading us.

What do you make of the other teams in Portugal’s group at Germany 2006?
I honestly don’t know anything about Iran, as I’ve never played against them. We don’t tend to play against teams from that part of the world but we’ll have time to study and analyse the way that they play before the World Cup begins. Mexico will be one of the favourites to get through to the next round. I’ve played against them a few times and they have some technically excellent players who have done really well in important tournaments over the past few years. There are a lot of Angolan players currently playing in Portugal. Angola’s a former Portuguese colony, so I imagine a lot of people back home will be unsure as to who they’ll support. Like all the African teams, they’re physically very powerful and will obviously have to be respected.

For teams like Brazil and Argentina anything less than winning the FIFA World Cup will be considered a failure? What are Portuguese expectations? What would you consider a successful campaign?
Portugal are not at the same level as Brazil and Argentina, because we don’t have the same sort of World Cup finals experience as those two countries. As far as I’m concerned, the only really successful outcome would be to win the tournament. Any professional footballer has to have that attitude, while also taking into account that there are other teams out there who are more likely to win than we are. Still, you never know what might happen. Portugal don’t have the same wealth of talent to choose from as Brazil or Argentina, because we don’t have a population anywhere near as big as those two.

But we all have high hopes of winning, regardless of nationality. It goes without saying, though, that if we reach the last four then it won’t have been a bad tournament for us. That is exactly what Scolari said during EURO 2004 – that the main aim was to reach the semi-finals and anything else Portugal achieved would be a bonus. It’s so important that we go one step at a time. First we need to get through our group. If we fail to do that, like we did last time around, then our World Cup will have been a complete failure. Once we’ve managed that then anything can happen in the knockout stages.

In 2002 Portugal arrived at the FIFA World Cup on the back of an excellent campaign at EURO 2000 and with a team containing what was widely regarded as the golden generation of Portuguese football. Now you’re coming into this tournament having enjoyed another superb European Championship and a very good qualifying campaign
(Interrupts the question) Let’s hope that what happened last time doesn’t occur again.

But what went wrong in Korea/Japan?
From start to finish, everything went wrong. So we need to learn from that and not make the same mistakes again. What happened in 2002 is history now, we need to move on and learn from both the good and bad things that happened back then.

With the exception of yourself, who do you think will be the star of the FIFA World Cup, or even the star of the Portuguese team?
Hopefully Portugal will be the star. I mean that in a collective sense, because to have a good World Cup we’ll need the whole team to perform, and not just one or two individuals.

And are you already thinking about it? Have you imagined yourself on the pitch and scoring a goal in Germany?
No, because I’ve got so many other things to think about before then. There’s no point in thinking about what might or might not happen in a tournament that’s still three months away.

Tags: Figo, Portugal, Scolari, World Cup

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Comments

By Luis | March 29th, 2006 at 9:23 am

Last dance for Figo. He’s in top form at Inter and PT fans couldn’t be happier. We’ll need his magic come June/July.

Posted from United States

By Ceasar Lourenco | March 29th, 2006 at 9:40 am

Luis, your exactly right we need his magic and leadership. Very few soccer players work harder on the pitch than Figo, even at his age.
He is a major reason why Inter is doing as well as they are right now. People forget that Adriano has fallen off pace recently. Figo seems to be the driving force at Inter at the moment.
It’s time we portuguese start really appreciating his artistry because he’s on his last legs. I’ve heard way too many so called fans call him the “old one” (wish I knew how to spell it in Portuguese?). It’s that what have you done for me lately attitude.
He may not be the biggest player in football, but no-one has a bigger heart and he always carries himself with class…

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By Pedro P | March 29th, 2006 at 9:01 pm

Very nice work with this interview, Luis Paulo. Also very nice interview. Thanks.

Figo IS a leader. He’s also a very competitive player and also one with brains. Helen is actually not bad herself…
He expresses here a whise and cautious vision of things. Respect your oponent and beat him if you can. But respect him, no matter who he is. It is, in my mind, essential to take things one step at a time. Portugal has had several good Eurocup appearences. At this momment, also the potential to reach the last 16, 8, 4, 2 or even to win. We’re not the best theorically but we don’t come too far. We have solid arguments and not everything depends on us. But hey, it’s the same for all the others.

I mean, he’s said it all…

I feel a bit outraged when I hear people saying he dives. One of the De Boer brothers, on one interview to the dutch television said: “He’s not lazy, he’s almost never injured and he works”. I live in The Netherlands, so I have a clear idea of what it means when a dutch says somebody is “not lazy” and that somebody “works”.

He is a leader and also a legend for us portuguese. He is a gifted player, one fo the best wingers of his generation. He DID conquer a lot, with hard work. When he left Sporting Lisbon and went to Barcelona, he had a lot of tallent but he matuerd into a refined “Vintage”. Together with Rui Costa, arguably the 2 best of the golden generation.

He’s old…? As we say in portuguese: “velhos são os trapos” = “old? rugs are old…”. Sure, he’s not young. But he delievers more than most younger players and it’s a luxury to have him. He’s somebody world football will surelly remember. And let’s not give him a “death certifcate” just yet. He’s alive and well. Just look at Inter if you doubt me.

To Figo (and all the otrhers): FORÇA PORTUGAL!

Ceaser: old = velho (masculin form); the old / the old one = o velho

By Ceasar Lourenco | March 30th, 2006 at 11:40 am

Pedro, you couldn’t have said it better. Thanks for the portuguese lesson, by the way.
That’s what happens when you come to Canada when your 8 months old and don’t learn to write Portuguese.
You mentioned Rui Costa, my favourite player. He’s such an amazing play maker. He’s see’s the field so well and can take apart defences with his pin point accurate passes. It’s too bad that he retired from the international team. I still think he could have been an asset to the team. Probably couldn’t start but could come in as a sub and make things happen. Remember the difference he made when he came into the Euro final against Greece and started giving Ronaldo those sharp passes. Scolari should have brought him in earlier and the end result might have been different.

Posted from Canada

By Pedro P | March 30th, 2006 at 7:22 pm

Rui Costa is another vintage… Our best playmaker I can remember. He couldn’t be our true #10 anymore – the man can’t play 90 minutes anymore. Also, him and Deco never really functioned together. Deco has been wearing #20 because #10 kinda “still” belongs to him. The same reason why C Ronaldo wears #17 – Figo IS our #7 and also C Ronaldo’s idol.

Anyway, R Costa would be a 5 star member on the bench for any team. That goal against Engalnd (EC04)… Man! Like the other guy said, the stuff dreams are made of. That and the “radio-guided” passes and deliveries, slashing defense lines…

Pitty he devoted most of his career to Fiorentina. The people there called him “The Prince”. I can imagine they called Batistuta the king…;-) And they deserved it. Together, they kept that team alive. Others as well, sure. But these were the heart of it all. I’m sure if he’d gone to a bigger club before he’d become much more than he did. Look at Figo’s example. And the italian league is very hard on attacking players.

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