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Win or lose on Sunday, 2004 is vintage year for Portugal
Win or lose in the final, Portuguese football has enjoyed a year that has shaken the established order of European football to its roots.
Win or lose in the final of Euro 2004 here on Sunday, Portuguese football has enjoyed a remarkable year of success that has shaken the established order of European football to its roots.
The hand-wringing over the failure of any of the so-called big five football nations — England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain — to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2004 does not take into account the fact that a Portuguese club won the UEFA Cup in 2003 and the Champions League trophy this year.
And FC Porto did it with a largely Portuguese-born team.
It was the first time that a Portuguese club have been crowned champions of Europe since FC Porto won the 1987 European Cup.
The end of the eighties was a purple patch for country. Benfica lost to PSV Eindhoven on penalties in the 1988 final and went down by a single goal to AC Milan two years later.
But while the intervening years saw the emergence of a gifted group of youngsters, the nation's clubs became the poor relations behind the mega operations of Italy, Spain, England and Germany.
It was a long road back, but when the fresh-faced team containing Luis Figo, Fernando Couto and Rui Costa won the 1991 World Youth Championship, it proved the talent was being produced, although all the stars of that 'golden generation' were snapped up by Europe's big money clubs within three or four years.
Jose Mourinho, the coach who led Porto to glory this year, signalled a sea change in the way Portuguese football is perceived when he clashed with Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson in March this year.
Mourinho was incensed by comments made by the feisty Scot accusing the Porto goalkeeper Vitor Baia of tricking the referee into sending off United skipper Roy Keane in their Champions League second round first leg clash.
Giving Ferguson a taste of the mind games for which he himself is renowned, Mourinho retorted: "His team are big and powerful, we have only a small budget and after this game will probably only have our league season to think about."
The urbane Mourinho had the last laugh as Porto dumped United out of the competition and went on to thrash Monaco 3-0 in the final.
Europe's big money clubs cast a jealous look at Mourinho and his fluid, attack-minded team and took the approach they know best: if you can't beat them, buy them.
Mourinho is already in place at mega-rich Chelsea and is proceeding to buy many of his former Porto players.
Right-back Paulo Ferreira has already sealed a move to London for a fee of 13.29 million pounds (20 million euros) and Brazilian-born Portugal international Deco has been tipped to follow him to Stamford Bridge.
So even if Portugal win the European title on Sunday, once the euphoria fades, it could well be back to the same old cycle for the nation's clubs — relying on the rich well of homegrown talent and shopping among the mid-range foreign imports.
