Intro:
Coach Paulo Bento said that his Portugal side are not a one-man team on Friday (June 1st) as he prepared for a final warm up game - at home against Turkey on Saturday - before the Portuguese take on Germany in their first Euro 2012 Group B game in Lviv, Ukraine on June 9th.
Script:
Just a week to go until the start of Euro 2012, and after goalless draws against both Poland and Macedonia, Portugal have one last chance to experiment when they take on Turkey in Lisbon on Saturday.
Despite having a squad full of experienced talent, as always Portugal coach Paulo Bento was forced to dismiss the idea that his team rely too heavily on Cristiano Ronaldo.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Paulo Bento, Portugal coach:
(On the importance of Cristiano Ronaldo to the Portugal team)
"What we don't want is to put all the pressure on him (Ronaldo) and that everything has to go through him and that he is the one who has to solve everything. No, what we want, as a team, is to play good football, to be aggressive and of course that we have players, including Ronaldo, who are able to solve some of our problems."
Portugal have been drawn in a tough Group B, as they face Germany, Denmark and Holland.
Despite this, Bento insist he'll keep faith with Portugal's attacking mentality.
SOUNDBITE: (Portuguese) Paulo Bento, Portugal coach:
(On first Group B opponents Germany)
"We will not abandon the idea of playing with three men up front. Obviously, we will use different strategies in the matches that we will play, but first of all we are going to think about the (friendly) match against Turkey. But for that precise match (against Germany) we are going to use our usual system because if we want to have an identity... we can eventually adapt ourselves to our opponents when we don't have the ball, but without losing our own identity."
Portugal line up to face Germany in their Euro's opener on June 9th.
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Rank | Team | W/D/L | Pts |
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Cities & Stadiums
The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments
Year | Winners | Runner-up | Third place |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Spain | Germany | Russia / Turkey |
2004 | Greece | Portugal | Netherlands / Czech Republic |
2000 | France | Italy | Netherlands / Portugal |
1996 | Germany | Czech Republic | France / England |
1992 | Denmark | Germany | Netherlands / Sweden |
1988 | Netherlands | Soviet Union | Italy / West Germany |
1984 | France | Spain | Denmark / Portugal |
1980 | West Germany | Belgium | Czechoslovakia |
1976 | Czechoslovakia | West Germany | Netherlands |
1972 | West Germany | Soviet Union | Belgium |
1968 | Italy | Yugoslavia | England |
1964 | Spain | Soviet Union | Hungary |
1960 | Soviet Union | Yugoslavia | Czechoslovakia |