Intro:

Portugal trained at their Polish base in Opalenica on Wednesday, on the eve of their Euro 2012 quarter-final against the Czech Republic.

Script:

The weather may have been doing it's best to dampen spirits in the Portuguese camp but Paulo Bento's side are looking forward to facing Czech Republic in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012.

Portugal finished second in Group B as they continued their impressive record of reaching the knockout stages of every European Championship they have played in.

There was further good news for Portugal as Pepe returned to training after recovering from ankle pain.

Portugal and the Czech Republic have met just twice before, with honours even at one win each.

At Euro '96, the Czechs won 1-0 in the quarter-finals before finishing runner's up to Germany, while four years ago, Portugal won 3-1 in Geneva in the group phase of Euro 2008.

Cristiano Ronaldo was on the scoresheet in that game and the Portugal fans will be hoping that their talismanic captain can do it again on Thursday, especially after his impressive display during the 2-1 victory over the Netherlands.

The Real Madrid star netted a brace against the Dutch and appears to be ready to cause problems for the Czech backline in Warsaw.