Could Portugal finally win it all?

Will there be more tears this time?

Eight years ago the tournament was held in Portugal. Eight years ago Portugal should have won it. They had the team - the home advantage - and an opponent in the final that they should beat. But we all know how it ended. The Greeks pulled off probably the biggest international shock of our time to win Euro 2004. Since then the Portuguese team has performed solidly in tournaments - 4th place in the 2006 World Cup, Quarter finalists in Euro 2008 and knocked out by the magical Spanish in the 2010 World Cup. However that elusive first major International trophy still alludes them!

At all the recent tournaments the Portuguese have looked promising and with the players they have they have consistently been seen as contenders to win. Could Euro 2012 be the tournament that breaks their reputation as nearly men?

The foundations for success are there - A very solid defensive. Perhaps the best in the tournament. The Real Madrid boys (Pepe, Coentrao) being the stand out defenders of the competition so far. I would go as far as saying Coentrao has been the best left back in the tournament. Not small praise considering who he is up against in that department - Ashley Cole and Phillip Lahm. Their midfield possess both the solid (Veloso, Moutinho, Meireles) and the spectacular (Nani and Ronaldo). They lack a potent goal scorer but Postiga holds the ball up extremely well and links with Ronaldo seamlessly and everybody knows about his goal scoring record which more than makes up for Postiga's lack of goals. Portugal also have the added strength of a wealth of options on the bench - both attacking and defensive. Custodio can be brought on to tighten up the midfield and in Nelson Oliveira and Silvestre Varela they have game changing attacking options. There main weakness is the lack of a world class goalkeeper something England, France, Germany and Spain all possess. And this could be their downfall. 

The Madrid boys could be key.

However they have a relatively kind draw. No game at this stage will be easy but the Portuguese should be considered heavy favorites to beat the Czechs; who despite qualifying top of their group were dismantled against a team (Russia) possessing pace and guile. This is something Portugal have bucket loads of. If they do manage to beat the Czechs (nothing is certain) they will face either France or Spain in the semi finals. Both will be tough fixtures - especially the Spanish. But the Portuguese are more suited to beating these two than if they had to face Germany, England or Italy. So in this respect the draw favors them. In fact the last time they faced the Spanish they won 4-0. And although they historically perform poorly against the French they would go in to the tie as favorites. If they do manage reach the final anything can happen as shown by their defeat to Greece eight years ago. 

Bento has got the Portuguese firing! 

I am not implying that winning the tournament is something the Portuguese will do. My point is that they have the resources to win it. They have a stigma of getting it wrong in big games - some even tipped them to finish bottom of Group D. However this is a different and more united side than in previous tournaments. The players are younger and more hungry for success. They have a manager in Bento who has managed to build a solid team and also incorporate the Ronaldo factor. It is easy to forget that they have the second best player in the world in their ranks and as we saw against Holland he can be just as effective for his country as he is for his club.

In fact if Portugal could be likened to one club team it would be Real Madrid (not surprising when you consider who is the Madrid manager). And of course Real Madrid beat the side many claim are the best club team ever to the league title last year. Can Portugal do the same?