World Cup Team Profiles: Group G: Portugal

Teams / Ari Last / 09 March 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

For long periods it looked as if Portugal wouldn't be at the World Cup, although now they're there, they have the quality to pose a real threat...

Considering that they possess a player who can win games on his own, the [32.0] on offer for Portugal to win the World Cup seems rather generous. The fact that they're in a difficult group certainly hasn't helped their cause, but if they do progress at odds of [1.75], they'll quickly go from dark horses to genuine contenders.

Nation: Portugal

Also known as...
A Selecção das Quinas

Route to South Africa...
Fraught. The Portuguese got off to a horrific start in qualifying, recording only one win from their first five games. They managed to turn things around in the second half of the campaign though and after securing a play-off spot, they dispatched Bosnia Herzegovinian in a rudimentary manner that belied their rocky path to that point.

World Cup Pedigree...
South Africa will be their fifth appearance at the finals, after debuting and finishing third in 1966. They failed miserably in 1986 and 2002, failing to get out of the group stages, before making their mark last time out, when only a Zinedine Zidane penalty stood between them and the World Cup Final.

They'll be relying on...
Their very own bionic man, Crisiano Ronaldo. Love him or loath him, the man is unquestionably the most devastating footballer on the planet and despite being priced at a long-looking [27.0] to finish as the tournament's top-scorer, he could well provide the goals to propel his nation to the semi-finals, at the very least.

Something you may not have known is...
Portugal's 1986 campaign was marred by a stand-off between the players and the country's football federation. In what was dubbed 'The Saltillo Affair', (after the Mexican city where the squad were based) the playing squad refused to train in between group matches due to the shoddiness of the training facilities and the lack of clarity in their appearance and image fees. The result was an embarrassing exit at the group stages, despite beating England 1-0 in their opening game.

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