Hosts are feeling the heat

THE stresses and strains of high expectations have begun to show on the Portuguese training camp.

Superstar Luis Figo who as a Real Madrid player has provoked a negative reaction from some Portuguese followers, did not endear himself to all when he expressed ambivalence about the presence of Brazilian-born Deco in the national squad.

His attitude highlighted an issue that rankles just beneath the surface in Portugal where not all of the 10.2m native born Portuguese welcome the presence of so many Brazilians in the country.

The largest concentration of Brazilian footballers outside of their native country strut their stuff in the local leagues here. The historic ties linking the two countries are many and it is normal for many young Brazilian players with ambitions of making a professional career to set up here.

There are those who argue that the numbers allowed to join Portugal's 95 league clubs should be restricted and that the Brazilians are depriving local players of the opportunity to make their way into professional football.

The appointment of a Brazilian manager to the national team, Luiz Felipe Scolari, added further to the debate despite the obvious celebrity of a man who led Brazil to the World Cup of 2002 in the Far East.

Now it remains to be seen whether the undercurrent of dissatisfaction exposed by Figo will have any effect on the morale within the camp.

Figo himself has been the subject of much criticism after Portugal's disappointing opening to the tournament. Their defeat by Greece on Saturday was a blow to their prospects of advancing and now they will probably have to beat Russia tonight and Spain on Sunday if they are to survive.

Anything less that two wins will leave them vulnerable and UEFA will be on tenterhooks knowing that an early elimination will have a hugely negative impact on a tournament that has been enthusiastically embraced by the general Portuguese public.

Portugal will have to play better than they did in the opener if they are to succeed and certainly they cannot afford to surrender goals like the one presented to Greece by the hapless Porto defender, Paulo Ferreira.

The most pressing problem for Portugal in recent years, however, has not been the reliability of their defence as much as the absence of a substantial centre-forward figure.

Pauleta came into the championship as their main striking force but he failed to deliver against Greece. The Portuguese showed a marked reluctance to offer him or his replacement, Nuno Gomes, the requisite support from midfield. Although Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo set up a steady stream of crosses from the left, they were unproductive.

Portugal have not had a centre-forward of genuine goal-scoring class since the marvellous Eusebio and the towering Torres of the 1960s.

This shortcoming has betrayed a succession of exciting Portugal teams, enriched by the quality football of gifted midfielders like Paulo Sousa, Rui Costa, Sa Pinto, Conceicao and others. This, and their suspect temperament, has regularly left them down.

Their adventure in the last European Championship ended in dissension and controversy when Abel Xavier was sent off after handling the ball on the goal-line.

The resultant penalty gave Zidane the opportunity to send France into final and, ultimately, into history.

So a Nation waits but not too expectantly. The average Portuguese fan was less than shocked by their loss to Greece, an attitude encouraged by the repeated failures of teams who traditionally have played captivating football in un-important matches.

A week ago the prospect of a show-down between Portugal and Spain had neutrals salivating and the locals enthralled. Now it is far from certain that the game will be of significance. For Figo and company it is time to deliver.

Another group reportedly less than enamoured with life in the training camp are the English, still smarting from their late, late defeat by France and over-reacting to the hype from some of their newspapers.

Some of England's players expressed anger at the reported accusation from Patrick Vieira that they were "cheating" by committing so many fouls in the match.

"Not so" said an English journalist acquaintance who was actually present when Vieira spoke to the press after Sunday's game.

"What Vieira said was that it was a tough game" he said, "he did not make any suggestion of cheating. And as regards singing in the dressing-room, they were singing because they were delighted to have won.

"They were not trying to rub salt into England's wounds."

But is it possible that they will meet again in the final? I would not bet money on it.