Hosts hoping to hit form

By Jorge Miguel Vicente & Jan Juhlin

The visit of Sweden to Coimbra will give UEFA EURO 2004™ hosts Portugal and coach Luiz Felipe Scolari the chance to end a run that does not bode well for the finals.

Disappointing form
Since beating the Swedes 3-2 in Gothenburg in October 2002, Portugal have not overcome any of the 15 teams that will be visiting them in June. Indeed, since Scolari took over as coach, six matches against countries who were either about to or had already secured qualification have all ended without victory for the Portuguese.

Porto players rested
Scolari's bid to correct Portugal's stuttering record will not be straightforward after his decision to rest five FC Porto regulars - Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Costinha and Deco - ahead of the club's UEFA Champions League semi-final second-leg trip to RC Deportivo La Coruña next week.

Chance to shine
But that decision has given sidelined VfB Stuttgart centre-back Fernando Meira, Boavista FC midfield player Nuno Frechaut and Newcastle United FC's Hugo Viana the chance to shine before the final squad is announced on 16 May.

Braga defeat
Meira has not played since a 3-0 loss against Spain in September, one of only two defeats on home soil in Portugal's EURO 2004™ warm-up schedule. The other came in March when Italy deservedly left Braga with a 2-1 win under their belts. On that day Sweden were beating England 1-0, putting to rest what had been a worrying run of defeats.

Sweden confident
Despite the absence of Fredrik Ljungberg and Michael Svensson through injury, confidence in the Swedish camp is high. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the winner against England, and the AFC Ajax striker cannot wait until Sweden return to Portugal to begin their finals campaign.

'Fantastic event'
"EURO 2004™ is always on my mind, even though I am currently into the final weeks of the league with Ajax," he said. "It will be a fantastic event, and of course the game against Portugal is special since they are the host nation."

Attacking puzzle
One of Sweden's main tasks in Coimbra will be to settle on a regular partner for Ibrahimovic. "Zlatan has not really started that many games for Sweden, so it is vital that he gets more experience under his belt," said joint-coach Lars Lagerbäck. "We'll be testing to see how he works with various player types."

Allbäck happy
Marcus Allbäck is currently ahead of Johan Elmander and Niklas Skoog in that race, and the forward – despite not playing regularly at Aston Villa FC – said: "Hopefully I will be able to perform well." The one injury doubt among the party is Olof Mellberg, who finished training early on Tuesday after feeling a twinge in his achilles tendon.

Ronaldo doubt
Meanwhile, having announced a starting eleven which includes Luís Figo, Simão Sabrosa, Rui Costa and Pauleta, Scolari explained the absence of Manchester United FC winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who was seen applying ice to his right leg in training. "There are a lot of doubts about Ronaldo," he said. "He's one of those players [about whom] I have to make a decision, and he still has to show over here the level of football that he has in England."

Rui Jorge to start
One player whose involvement is not in question is the Sporting Clube de Portugal full-back Rui Jorge, who will start despite the announcement last Friday that he had tested positive for a banned substance. The result of his B sample remains unknown but Scolari said he was "counting on Rui Jorge for EURO 2004™". Scolari is expected to switch from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2 in the second half and try out Nuno Gomes alongside Pauleta.