The Portgual squad is one of Europe's strongest despite the retirement of players like Luiz Figo, Manuel Rui Costa and Jao Pinto: with a line up of attacking talent including Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester Unite, plus his new teammate Nani, Deco of Barcelona and Hogu Viana, Portugal are a huge threat going forward, and with experience at the back such as Ricardo Costa, Jorge Andrade and the Chelsea pair Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho, they are one of the firm favourites for the Euro 2008 title.

With seven games remaining, Group A is still a four-horse race with Serbia and Finland equal with Portugal on points. Portgual, world cup semi finalists in 2006 and beaten finalists in Euro 2004, which they hosted, currently lie third in Group A of the Euro 2008 Qualifiers, but are equal on points with Serbia and are 5 points behind leaders Poland who have played 2 more matches.

The forthcoming games including Armenia v Portugal on 22 August, the top of the group A clash in Lisbon, Portugal v Poland on 8 September, and another crucial match at home to Serbia, Portugal v Serbia on 12 September, will dictate who will qualify for the Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland next summer. One of the toughest qualifying groups will produce two teams hoping to go far in the final tournament.