Portugal backline vow to stop Spain

Portugal are building the foundations for success at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship on a mean defence and centre-backs Tiago Ferreira and Tobias Figueiredo both believe they can go all the way in Liechtenstein.

The pair have helped ensure Portugal's back line has been breached only once so far, yet their toughest challenge is still to come. Later today they take on Group A leaders Spain knowing they probably have to win to reach Thursday's semi-finals.

That is no easy task as Spain are the competition's top scorers thanks, in part, to the man whose hat-trick virtually eliminated Switzerland from the competition, Paco. "We have known him since last year because he played against us with the U16s, so we are aware of his quality," Ferreira told UEFA.com. "I think we will manage to control him."

His partner at the heart of the Portuguese rearguard insists there will be no special attention paid to the Valencia CF striker. "We know he is a good player and we will obviously have to focus on him, but Spain have many good players," said Figueiredo.

Ferreira and Figueiredo may come from two different footballing schools in FC Porto and Sporting Clube de Portugal respectively, but their partnership has looked particularly natural so far in Liechtenstein. "Tiago is left-footed and I'm used to playing on the right so tactically it is very good to play with him," Figuereido added. "We know each other from our time with the national team and we have a good understanding during matches."

The influence of Portugal defenders Rui Bento and Fernando Couto – U17 coach and ambassador respectively  – is not to be understated according to Ferreira. "They teach us many things," said the 16-year-old. "They have many years of experience so it is always good to have people like them here."

Their influence has certainly rubbed off on the young defenders. However, having both picked up a yellow card in Friday's 1-0 loss to France, they need to avoid another caution against Spain if they are to take part in the last four should their team progress.

Treading carefully is not an option for Ferreira, though. He said: "I will not change the way I play because I have a yellow card. My main belief is to help the team. Obviously, if I can avoid committing a foul then I will, but that is the case in every single match."

So can Portugal go all the way? Figueiredo certainly thinks so: "Of course we can," he proclaimed. Among the other frontrunners for the title are Spain, England and France, according to Ferreira, who concluded: "All of the teams are strong, but so are we."