Ruthless Scolari reaps rewards

Portugal proved the benefits of change as their new-look side restored their hopes of advancing in UEFA EURO 2004™ and revived the dreams of a nation with a 2-0 win against Russia.

Ruthless coach
Luiz Felipe Scolari was ruthless in the wake of Portugal's defeat by Greece with four players, including three-quarters of the defence, dropped. In came FC Porto playmaker Deco and his club colleagues Nuno Valente and Ricardo Carvalho, although there was one Porto casualty as Miguel ousted Paulo Ferreira at right-back.

Strong running
Scolari's alterations certainly had the desired effect with Costinha, Deco and Maniche looking a very compact and cohesive midfield and the retained Luís Figo and Simão Sabrosa switching wings to good effect. In defence, Nuno Valente impressed with his strong running down the left while Ricardo Carvalho gave an excellent impression of the perfect ball-paying centre-half.

Positive changes
Even Rui Costa responded positively to his demotion, appearing energised and focused when introduced in the second half and sealing the win with a fine forward's finish. No wonder then that Scolari felt vindicated. He said: "The changes we have made were positive, because we have played much better and won 2-0."

'Quick passes'
The FIFA World Cup-winning Brazilian coach was particularly pleased with the way his team continued to press for goals against the ten-man Russians in the second half. He added: "The players were trying to score another goal; they were playing in a different way from normal, making quick passes and moving the ball out wide."

United
The players to benefit from Scolari's shuffling of his troops were keen to emphasise that the squad remained firmly united. Nuno Valente said: "We tried everything possible to win and we did it. We are very happy. We only knew today who was going to play from the start. Our group is still very united, because all of us want to play. Now we must win against Spain."

'Great responsibility'
The impressive Carvalho spoke of the task in replacing veteran Fernando Couto. He said: "This victory was very important for us, because we want to reach the quarter-finals. It was a great responsibility for me to replace Fernando Couto, but we must be prepared for these moments and to help the team. Now there is Spain - it will be like a final."

'Difficult game'
Carlsberg Man of the Match Maniche deflected personal praise as he emphasised the collective. "The most important thing is that we have won a difficult game," he said. "The individual players were not important, but to win was. We scored at the right times to win."

Suspensions pending
Russia coach Georgi Yartsev was left to rue another luckless display from his young team. Inspirational goalkeeper Sergei Ovchinnikov was sent off on the stroke of half-time and will miss Russia's final Group A match against Greece along with team captain Aleksei Smertin, who is suspended after picking up his second yellow card of the competition.

'My fault'
However, Yartsev, who expelled the squad's most experienced player Aleksandr Mostovoi in the days before the game, refused to apportion blame for the defeat. He said: "I am fully responsible for what the team achieves and I will never blame my players. This is the principle that I follow. It is my fault that we did not win the game. I knew that we'd meet an angry opponent and it would be hard for us. But it is even harder to play against such a side with ten men."

Worthy opponents
As Yartsev wallowed in introspection, Scolari could look forward to what is sure to be an absorbing encounter against Spain on 20 June. He said: "There isn't even time to imagine what is going to happen. Now we're living this moment, we'll talk a bit with the players, review the tape and see where we made errors because Spain are very worthy opponents. We have to beat Spain to go forward and our thoughts are now with the match against Spain and then we will think about the future." With that, the Brazilian summed up the feelings of over ten million Portuguese.