Too close to call - Mourinho

Past and present
Mourinho is settling into life in London after leaving FC Porto for Chelsea FC at the end of the 2003/04 season. He has been busy already, raiding his former club for Portuguese international defender Paulo Ferreira as his first new signing. There are five Porto players left in Portugal's squad while Chelsea's Wayne Bridge, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole will all hope to get the chance to impress at the Estádio da Luz.

Diplomatic approach
Looking ahead to tonight's contest in an interview with Chelsea TV, Mourinho expected "a wonderful match" but revealed a diplomatic approach to his thoughts on the likely winners. "If I said I want Portugal to win, the English people will not accept it well, and if I say I want England to win, the Portuguese people will say that I've been here two days and already I want them to win," he said. "[The result] is not so important for me. What's important is that I am linked to both teams and I am very proud because of it."

Tactical warfare
Turning to the likely tactics on view, Mourinho said: "I think Portugal will have a problem because Portuguese teams normally don't play with two strikers. So when Portuguese teams have to face a team with two strikers through the central zone, it's difficult and normally they have to change their structure. So when I see England with two strikers through the middle I see the Portuguese coach [Luiz Felipe Scolari] pushing Costinha, who is a midfielder, back to play with three defenders in the middle. I think England can dictate a change in the Portugal structure and because of it I think Portugal could have a problem.

Porto triangle
"At the same time, I think the middle [of the pitch] will be crucial because Portugal has a Porto midfield triangle playing together," he added. "Costinha, Deco and Maniche have played together for the last two years and they know everything about space, they know everything about changing positions and compensations, they know everything about it, it comes naturally to them. On the other side, you have Lampard and [Steven] Gerrard, plus [David] Beckham and [Paul] Scholes coming inside. I think from the tactical point of view, for us sitting at home watching, it will be great."

Close call
Despite his reluctance to pick a winner, Mourinho did venture his thoughts on how the scoring would play out. "I would say that I don't believe there will be a big difference in goals," he said. "If you told me Portugal will beat England 3-0 or England will beat Portugal 4-1, I'd say it was almost impossible. I would say a minimum result of 1-0 or 2-1, or extra time or penalties. I don't know, but they are two good teams in a very good moment." Whichever side wins tonight could go on to lift the Henri Delaunay trophy come the final on 4 July, the coach concluded.