Portugal to put record straight

Revenge mission
Joseba Etxeberria, Joaquín Sánchez and Diego Tristán scored on a bewildering and disappointing night in Guimarães for Luiz Felipe Scolari's side, but Ricardo, speaking at Friday's press conference, said that the team were confident that they could get their revenge on Sunday. "That game in Guimarães is in the past now," he said.

Past lessons
The 28-year-old added: "Only the next game counts, not the ones in the past. We have learned from the mistakes that we made, and I'm sure that the friendly game we lost last year won't go down in history. But the game on Sunday will."

Win needed
Portugal are currently third in Group A and will need a win against Spain to qualify for the quarter-finals after their opening defeat by group leaders Greece. And the Portuguese team is fully aware of what they have to do. Ricardo said: "Winning by one goal's difference is enough to go through the next stage and we know that."

Frisk praise
The Sporting Clube de Portugal goalkeeper also claimed referee Anders Frisk would be able to cope with pressure from the home fans, insisting that any suggestion to the contrary showed "a lack of respect for Anders Frisk, one of the best referees of the world".

'Great players'
Spain, meanwhile, posses an array of attacking options and Ricardo will face players such as Raúl González, Fernando Morientes, Fernando Torres and Vicente Rodríguez on Sunday – but he does not seem overly worried. "Spain have great players but what are their chances of being in the next stage?" Ricardo asked before answering himself: "Slim, because Portugal will win the game."

Quarter-final aim
Ricardo's back-up in goal, SC Braga goalkeeper Quim, was also at the press conference on Friday and was in an equally confident mood. "I have to say that I had expected us to have qualified by this stage with six points against Greece and Russia," he said. "Unfortunately that wasn't possible and now we just have to beat Spain to go through to the quarter-finals."