Portugal Team Profile World Cup 2010

The Portuguese national football team is governed by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), finishing 4th at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The first appearance in the 1966 FIFA World Cup saw them reach the semifinal, losing 2–1 at Wembley to the eventual world champions England. Portugal finished in third place and Eusébio was considered the best player of the tournament. The next two times Portugal qualified for the World Cup were 1986 and 2002, with Portugal going out in the first round both times. In the 1986 tournament, players went on strike over prize-money and refused to train between their first and second games.

In 2003, the Portuguese Football Federation decided to hire Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Brazilian who had led the Brazil national football team to win the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Scolari led Portugal to the final of UEFA Euro 2004, where they lost to the Greek national team, and to their second World Cup semi-final in the 2006 World Cup. Scolari left after the Euro 2008 championships to manage Chelsea. Carlos Queiroz was appointed the new manager of Portugal in 2008.

Portugal participated in the qualifying stages with new manager Carlos Queiroz (who had already coached the team in older times), for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which is due to take place in South Africa. The team had a qualifying campaign that almost turned disastrous and just sneaked into second place by a single point over Sweden, a group where Denmark finished first, one point ahead from Portugal. Portugal was drawn to play against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the european zone play-offs. With two wins (1–0 in the first leg, in Lisbon; and 1–0, in Zenica), the team gained its right to participate in the World Cup.

Having qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Selecção das Quinas had its most successful decade to date, having qualified for all the editions of the World Cup and Euro Cup (Euro 2000, World Cup 2002, Euro 2004, World Cup 2006, Euro 2008, and World Cup 2010), along with Spain, Italy, Germany, and France, the only other four teams to have done so.

In the Final Draw, on 4th December 2009, Portugal was drawn in one of the toughest groups, the so called Group of Death where the Selecção das Quinas will be facing 5-time champions Brazil, Africa's top contenders Côte d'Ivoire and 1966 opponents North Korea. The Group of Death will be the most exciting groups to see in the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

Portugal will first face Côte d'Ivoire on 15 June 2010 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, followed by North Korea on 21 June 2010 at the Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town and the last group match will be played against Brazil on 25 June 2010 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.

Portugal Team Profile Matches Road to 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
06/09/08 20:00Ta'Qali MaltaMalta0:4 (0:1)PortugalPortugal
10/09/08 20:45Lisbon PortugalPortugal2:3 (1:0)DenmarkDenmark
11/10/08 20:00Solna SwedenSweden0:0PortugalPortugal
15/10/08 20:45Braga PortugalPortugal0:0AlbaniaAlbania
28/03/09 20:45Porto PortugalPortugal0:0SwedenSweden
06/06/09 20:45Tirana AlbaniaAlbania1:2 (1:1)PortugalPortugal
05/09/09 20:00Copenhagen DenmarkDenmark1:1 (1:0)PortugalPortugal
09/09/09 20:45Budapest HungaryHungary0:1 (0:1)PortugalPortugal
10/10/09 20:45Lisbon PortugalPortugal3:0 (1:0)HungaryHungary
14/10/09 19:45Guimaraes PortugalPortugal4:0 (2:0)MaltaMalta
14/11/09 20:30Lisbon PortugalPortugal1:0 (1:0)Bosnia-HerzegovinaBosnia-Herzegovina
18/11/09 20:45Zenica Bosnia-HerzegovinaBosnia-Herzegovina0:1 (0:0)PortugalPortugal



Portugal team last standing position 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying

TeamMPWDLGFGAPts
DenmarkDenmark1063116521
PortugalPortugal1054117519
SwedenSweden1053213518
HungaryHungary1051410816
AlbaniaAlbania101456137
MaltaMalta100190261



Portugal Team Complete Profile
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s) Selecção das Quinas
Association Federação Portuguesa de Futebol
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Portugal Carlos Queiroz
Captain Cristiano Ronaldo
Most caps Luís Figo (127)
Top scorer Pauleta (47)
FIFA code POR
FIFA ranking 6
Highest FIFA ranking 4 (March 2001)
Lowest FIFA ranking 43 (August 1998)
Elo ranking 12
Highest Elo ranking 2 (June 2006)
Lowest Elo ranking 45 (November 1962)
First international
Spain Spain 3–1 Portugal Portugal
(Madrid, Spain; 18 December 1921)
Biggest win
Portugal Portugal 8–0 Liechtenstein
(Lisbon, Portugal; 18 November 1994)
Portugal Portugal 8–0 Liechtenstein
(Coimbra, Portugal; 9 June 1999)
Portugal Portugal 8–0 Kuwait
(Leiria, Portugal; 19 November 2003)
Biggest defeat
Portugal Portugal 0–10 England England
(Lisbon, Portugal; 25 May 1947)
World Cup
Appearances 5 (First in 1966)
Best result Third Place, 1966
European Championship
Appearances 5 (First in 1984)
Best result Runners-up, 2004


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Brazil Team Profile World Cup 2010

The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation. They are the most successful national football team in the history of the World Cup, with five championships (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002). A common quip about football is: "The English invented it, the Brazilians perfected it". Currently ranked second by FIFA, Brazil is consistently among the strongest football nations by Elo Ratings and is the only team to have played in every World Cup.







Brazil Team Profile Matches Road to 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa

Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela
Argentina 3–0 1–3 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 4–0
Bolivia 6–1 2–1 0–2 0–0 1–3 4–2 3–0 2–2 0–1
Brazil 0–0 0–0 4–2 0–0 5–0 2–1 3–0 2–1 0–0
Chile 1–0 4–0 0–3 4–0 1–0 0–3 2–0 0–0 2–2
Colombia 2–1 2–0 0–0 2–4 2–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–0
Ecuador 2–0 3–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 5–1 1–2 0–1
Paraguay 1–0 1–0 2–0 0–2 0–2 5–1 1–0 1–0 2–0
Peru 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–3 1–1 1–2 0–0 1–0 1–0
Uruguay 0–1 5–0 0–4 2–2 3–1 0–0 2–0 6–0 1–1
Venezuela 0–2 5–3 0–4 2–3 2–0 3–1 1–2 3–1 2–2


Brazil team last standing position 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Brazil 18 9 7 2 33 11 +22 34
Chile 18 10 3 5 32 22 +10 33
Paraguay 18 10 3 5 24 16 +8 33
Argentina 18 8 4 6 23 20 +3 28
Uruguay 18 6 6 6 28 20 +8 24
Ecuador 18 6 5 7 22 26 −4 23
Colombia 18 6 5 7 14 18 −4 23
Venezuela 18 6 4 8 23 29 −6 22
Bolivia 18 4 3 11 22 36 −14 15
Peru 18 3 4 11 11 34 −23 13


Brazil Team Record in FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup record
Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
Uruguay 1930 First Round 6th 2 1 0 1 5 2
Italy 1934 First Round 14th 1 0 0 1 1 3
France 1938 Semi-Finals 3rd 5 3 1 1 14 11
Brazil 1950 Final 2nd 6 4 1 1 22 6
Switzerland 1954 Quarter-Finals 5th 3 1 1 1 8 5
Sweden 1958 Champions 1st 6 5 1 0 16 4
Chile 1962 Champions 1st 6 5 1 0 14 5
England 1966 First Round 11th 3 1 0 2 4 6
Mexico 1970 Champions 1st 6 6 0 0 19 7
West Germany 1974 Semi-Finals 4th 7 3 2 2 6 4
Argentina 1978 Semi-Finals 3rd 7 4 3 0 10 3
Spain 1982 Second Round 5th 5 4 0 1 15 6
Mexico 1986 Quarter-Finals 5th 5 4 1 0 10 1
Italy 1990 Round of 16 9th 4 3 0 1 4 2
United States 1994 Champions 1st 7 5 2 0 11 3
France 1998 Final 2nd 7 4 1 2 14 10
South KoreaJapan 2002 Champions 1st 7 7 0 0 18 4
Germany 2006 Quarter-finals 5th 5 4 0 1 10 2
South Africa 2010 Qualified
Brazil 2014 Qualified
Total 20/20 5 Titles 92 64 14 14 201 84


Brazil team complete profile
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s) Canarinho
(Little Canary)
A Seleção
(The Selection)
Verde-Amarela
(Green and Yellow)
The Samba Kings
Association Confederação Brasileira de Futebol
(Brazilian Football Confederation)
Confederation CONMEBOL (South America)
Head coach Dunga
Captain Lúcio
Most caps Cafu (142)
Top scorer Pelé (77)
Home stadium Maracanã
Morumbi
Mineirão
Mané Garrincha
Beira-Rio
Serra Dourada
Castelão
Mangueirão
Arruda
FIFA code BRA
FIFA ranking 2
Highest FIFA ranking 1 (September 1993)
Lowest FIFA ranking 8 (August 1993)
Elo ranking 1
Highest Elo ranking 1 (March 1953)
Lowest Elo ranking 18 (November 2001)
First international
Argentina 3 – 0 Brazil Brazil
(Buenos Aires, Argentina; September 20, 1914)
Biggest win
Brazil Brazil 14 – 0 Nicaragua
(Mexico; October 17, 1975)
Biggest defeat
Uruguay 6 – 0 Brazil Brazil
(Viña del Mar, Chile; September 18, 1920)
World Cup
Appearances 18 (First in 1930)
Best result Winners, 1958, 1962,
1970, 1994, 2002
Copa América
Appearances 32 (First in 1916)
Best result Winners, 1919, 1922,
1949, 1989, 1997, 1999,
2004, 2007
Confederations Cup
Appearances 6 (First in 1997)
Best result Winners, 1997, 2005, 2009



Brazil hosted the 1950 FIFA World Cup which was the first tournament to be held after World War II. It is the only time Brazil has hosted the tournament to date (not counting the upcoming 2014 tournament). The 1950 tournament was unique in not having a single final, but rather a final round-robin stage of four teams; however, for all intents and purposes the deciding game between Brazil and Uruguay acted as that tournament's "final". The match was hosted at the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro, watched by 199,854 people, and Brazil only needed a draw to win, but lost the match 2–1 after being 1–0 up; this match has since been known in South America as "Maracanazo". In Brazil it is called "Final Fatídica" ("fateful final").

For the 1954 FIFA World Cup, in Switzerland, the Brazilian team was almost completely renovated, so as to forget the Maracanã defeat, but still had a group of good players, including Nílton Santos, Djalma Santos, and Didi. Brazil didn't go very far though. The quarterfinals saw the favorites Hungary beat Brazil 4–2 in one of the ugliest matches in football history, which would become infamous as the Battle of Berne.

Brazil's coach, Vicente Feola, imposed strict rules on the squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, held in Sweden. The players were given a list of forty things that they were not allowed to do, including wearing hats or umbrellas, smoking while wearing official clothing and talking to the press outside of allocated times. They were the only team to bring a psychologist (because the memories of 1950 still affected some players) or a dentist (for, because of their humble origins, many players had dental problems, which caused infections and also had negative impact on performance) with them, and had sent a representative to Europe to watch the qualifying matches a year before the tournament began.

In the 1962 FIFA World Cup, Brazil got its second title with Garrincha as the star player; a mantle and responsibility bestowed upon him after regular talisman, Pelé, was injured during the first group match against Mexico and unable to play for the rest of the tournament.

Brazil won its third World Cup in Mexico in the 1970 FIFA World Cup. Brazil fielded what has been considered to be the best football squad ever, led by Pelé in his last World Cup final, captain Carlos Alberto, Jairzinho, Tostão, Gérson and Rivelino. After winning the Jules Rimet Trophy for the third time Brazil were allowed to keep it for good.

Brazil, to the surprise of many, went 24 years without winning a World Cup or even participating in a final. Their struggles ended at the 1994 tournament in the United States, where a solid, if unspectacular side headed by the likes of Romário, Bebeto, Dunga, Taffarel, and Jorginho won the World Cup for a then-record 4th time. Highlights of their campaign included a 1–0 victory over the hosts in the round of 16, a sensational 3–2 win over the Dutch in the quarter-finals (often cited as the game of the tournament) and a 1–0 win over the Swedes in the semis. This set up a classic confrontation, Brazil vs. Italy, in the final. After a dour and unexciting 0–0 draw, penalty kicks loomed, and when Roberto Baggio lifted his spot kick over the crossbar, Brazil were champions once again. A new era of dominance had begun.

Fuelled by the scintillating play of the "Three R's" (Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and Ronaldinho), Brazil won its fifth championship at the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea and Japan. When the groups were drawn, Brazil seemed to have been lucky; Their adversaries would be Turkey, China and Costa Rica. At the end, it turned out that Turkey finished the tournament in third place. Brazil went on beating all three opponents, scoring 11 goals and conceding only three, and topping the group. The final was between two of the most successful teams in the competition's history: Germany and Brazil. Incredibly, the teams had never played each other in the World Cup before, besides a match between Brazil and East Germany in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn had been the tournament's best keeper, but could not maintain that level of play, as Ronaldo vanquished his France '98 demons, scoring both goals in the Brazilian 2–0 triumph.
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