The Hindu : Sport : Scolari keeps faith in experience

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 18, 2006

Sport

Sport

Scolari keeps faith in experience

The Portuguese coach calls up Costa to replace the injured Andrade

— Photo: AP

SEASONED CAMPAIGNER: Luis Figo, Portugal's most capped player with 118 appearances, has one last chance to bring glory to his country.

LISBON: Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari kept faith with his most experienced players, selecting a World Cup squad roughly the same as the group that qualified for the tournament with a 12-game unbeaten run.

``These players have my trust and they play well as a group,'' Scolari said.

``I haven't chosen my (starting) team yet. I have seven or eight in mind. From now, the fight is on for places, though team choices will always depend on the game and the opponent,'' he said.

Addressing the only doubt in the Portuguese line-up, Scolari called up Porto's Ricardo Costa, who has two caps, to replace injured Jorge Andrade in the central defence. However, Stuttgart's Fernando Meira will most likely be the first choice alongside Chelsea's Ricardo Carvalho.

Costa ``is a team player and he can be used in a variety of positions,'' Scolari said.

Quaresma dropped

Fulham winger Luis Boa Morte, a regular choice under Scolari but who missed the Euro 2004 due to injury, was included at the expense of Ricardo Quaresma, a standout this season at FC Porto.

Scolari chose Dynamo Moscow's Francisco Costinha, who has 42 caps, and Chelsea's Nuno Maniche, who has 29, for his midfield, though both have played sparingly in recent months.

``They've done a lot for the National team. I trust them completely,'' Scolari said.

Portugal has had its best-ever run of results under Scolari, who led it to the final of the 2004 European Championship.

Scolari's record

The 57-year-old coach, who won the 2002 World Cup with Brazil and last month turned down an offer to replace Sven-Goran Eriksson at England, has a 25-10-6 record with Portugal.

The squad includes former FIFA World Player of the Year Luis Figo, Portugal's most-capped player with 118 appearances, and all-time scoring leader Pedro Pauleta of Paris Saint-Germain, who has 43 goals in 80 games.

As at Euro 2004, Benfica's Nuno Gomes and Helder Postiga of Saint-Etienne will join Pauleta up front. Portugal is in Group D with Mexico, Iran and Angola.

Scolari said Iran plays ``very high quality'' soccer and described Mexico as ``one of the great attractions of the World Cup.''

The squad will be heading for a 10-day training camp to southern Portugal where it will play a friendly game against African team Cape Verde on May 27.

The Portuguese play an exhibition match against Luxembourg in Metz, France, on June 3, arriving in Germany the following day.

The teams:

Portugal: Goalkeepers: Ricardo Pereira, Quim Silva, Bruno Vale; Defenders: Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Fernando Meira, Miguel Monteiro, Marco Caneira, Ricardo Costa; Midfielders: Francisco Costinha, Nuno Maniche, Hugo Viana, Tiago, Armando Petit, Deco, Luis Figo, Luis Boa Morte, Simao Sabrosa, Cristiano Ronaldo; Forwards: Helder Postiga, Pedro Pauleta, Nuno Gomes.

Iran: Goalkeepers: Ebrahim Mirzapour, Vahid Taleblou, Hassan Roudbarian; Defenders: Yahya Golmohammadi, Mohammad Nosrati, Rahman Rezaei, Sattar Zare', Hossein Ka'bi, Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh, Amir-Hossein Sadeqi; Midfielders: Javad Nekounam, Anderanik Teymourian, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Fereydoun Zandi, Ali Karimi, Mehrzad Ma'danchi, Javad Kazemian; Forwards: Ali Daei, Vahid Hashemian, Gholam-Reza Enayati, Arash Borhani, Massoud Shojaei, Rassoul Khatibi.

Saudi Arabia: Goalkeepers: Mohammed Al-Deayea, Mohammad Khoja, Mabrouk Zayed; Defenders: Hussein Abdul Ghani, Ahmed Al-Bahri, Ahmed Al-Dokhi, Hamad Al-Montashri, Naif Al-Qadi, Mohammad Missad, Reda Takur; Midfielders: Omar Al-Ghamdi, Nawaf Al-Tamyat, Mohammed Ameen, Sami Al-Jaber, Khaled Aziz, Abdul Aziz Al-Khathran, Saud Kareeri, Mohammad Nur; Forwards: Mohammad Al-Anbar, Saad Al-Harithy, Yasser Al-Qhatani, Malik Moud, Mohammad Al-Shalhoub.

Tunisia: Goalkeepers: Ali Boumnijel, Hamdi Kasraoui, Adel Nefzi; Defenders: Anis Ayari, Karim Hagui, Radhi Jaidi, David Jemmali, Mehdi Meriah, Karim Saidi, Hatem Trabelsi, Alaeddine Yahya; Midfielders: Riadh Boazizi, Adel Chedli, Yassine Chikhaoui, Kais Ghodhbane, Issam Jomaa, Sofiene Melliti, Jawhar Menari, Mehdi Nafti, Hamed Namouchi, Karim Zdiri; Forwards: Francileudo Santos, Ziad Jaziri (Troyes).

Ukraine: Goalkeepers: Andriy Pyatov, Oleksander Shovkovsky, Bogdan Shust; Defenders: Dmytro Chigrinsky, Serhiy Fyodorov, Andriy Nesmachny, Andriy Rusol, Vyacheslav Svidersky, Vladyslav Vashchyuk, Volodymyr Yesersky; Midfielders: Oleg Gusiev, Andriy Husin, Maxim Kalinichenko, Serhiy Nazarenko, Serhiy Rebrov, Ruslan Rotan, Oleg Shelayev, Anatoly Tymoshchyuk; Forwards: Olexiy Belik, Artyom Milevsky, Andriy Shevchenko, Andriy Vorobei, Andriy Voronin.

United States: Goalkeepers: Marcus Hahnemann, Tim Howard, Kasey Keller; Defenders: Chris Albright, Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Jimmy Conrad, Cory Gibbs, Eddie Lewis, Oguchi Onyewu, Eddie Pope; Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Pablo Mastroeni, John O'Brien, Ben Olsen, Claudio Reyna; Forwards: Brian Ching, Eddie Johnson, Brian McBride, Josh Wolff. — AP

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail