Confident Portugal will take some stopping: Andrade

The Deportivo defender underlined the growing sense of confidence in the camp that the country's first major trophy is within reach.

Portugal centre-back Jorge Andrade has warned that the Euro 2004 hosts will take some stopping in Sunday's final.

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The Deportivo La Coruna defender underlined the growing sense of confidence in the Portuguese camp that the country's first major trophy is within reach when he revealed that he did not think twice about his own goal against the Netherlands in Wednesday's semi-final.

Andrade's attempt to intercept a Giovanni van Bronckhorst cross sent the ball looping over the head of his goalkeeper Ricardo to give the Dutch hope of snatching an equaliser at the end of a match in which they had been totally outclassed.

But Andrade and his fellow centre-back Ricardo Carvalho did not allow their opponents another sniff at goal and the Portuguese held out comfortably for a 2-1 win.

"Of course it is very bad for a player to make an own goal," Andrade said.

"But I didn't care because I was confident the team would not concede another one.

"I never thought we were going to lose. We were concentrating very well and neutralising the Dutch attacks."

Portugal, inspired by a superb performance from captain Luis Figo, created a hatful of chances and should have buried the Dutch by half-time in what was their best performance of the tournament so far.

"I think we are progressing," Andrade added. "We are making great games and we deserve to be in the final.

"It was great that Luis Figo played so well but he was not the only one, the whole team played great.

"It gives us a lot of confidence and it does not matter who we play in the final now. If it the Czech Republic or Greece -- I don't care.

"We respect both those teams but if we play with the concentration we showed against the Netherlands we have a great possibility to win."

While expressing his delight that players like Figo and Fernando Couto, members of Portugal's much-vaunted golden generation, would finally get the chance to win a major trophy, Andrade singled out 19-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo for special praise.

"For a 19-year-old, he has a great personality," Andrade said of the Manchester United winger.

"He alws wants the ball and he doesn't fear any opponent. He is a great player, he is getting better all the time and he is helping us to get to the final.

"Now we have a few days to rest and prepare for the final. We are tired but I don't think we will feel tired on Sunday."