Portugal cautiously optimistic ahead of Czech challenge

Carvalho: “Cech is exceptional and has no weak points”

As group leaders Portugal prepare to face off against the Czech Republic in the Geneva Stadium today, striker Nuno Gomes and centre-back Ricardo Carvalho are in unison as to the biggest hurdle blocking their route to goal – Petre Cech.

The giant stopper will be in the unusual position of opposing two players who usually line up in front of him as part of Chelsea’s defence, Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira.

Portugal captain Gomes is in no doubt as to quality of the Czech number one: “In my opinion he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Maybe I’ll ask Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira if they can tell me about any weak point to exploit!”

Sitting alongside Gomes in the press conference Carvalho duly obliged. “For me he has no weak points. He is exceptional and it will be very difficult to beat him, but we’ve always got a chance of scoring because he is human and can make mistakes.”

Gomes said he was unworried about failing to hit the net in the opening match, where his two efforts on goal bounced off the woodwork. “The goals will come. What’s more important at this moment is this match. After having started well against Turkey we now face the most difficult opponents of the group,” said the Benfica marksman.

“Other teams are in better shape than us” – Scolari

Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was at pains to dampen down the wave of optimism triggered by Portugal’s sparkling 2-0 win over Turkey.

“Portugal played well but we’ve seen other teams play well. Tactically no team has been stronger than Germany and we saw Holland play a great match. Portugal did well, but others have shown in this Euro that they are big candidates to win the tournament. We liked what we did but there are five or six teams in better shape than us,” said the Brazilian, who was speaking before Spain thrashed Russia 4-1.

Despite the Czechs posing different problems than Turkey, Scolari said the starting XI would be unchanged.

“We’ll probably have the same starting line-up, but Fernando Meira is an excellent option during the game because of his quality, the form he is in and his stature. The average height of the Czech Republic players is 1.84 metres, while we have several players below this height, so he may be an option.

“We are super motivated and confident. The squad knew the importance of the first match because three points to start with always gives us the possibility of recovering from any slip-up.

“But we are thinking only of qualification. If we are not focused on this second game we run the big risk of having everything riding on the last game and that’s not worth it.”