28 June 2006, by Sean Gillen

Deco hopes England’s poor form continues

Boa Morte eyes ‘dream’ World Cup opportunity

Suspended Portuguese midfielder Deco believes that Portugal have the players to cope with his absence and beat England in the World Cup Quarter-Final on Saturday.

Deco joins Costinha in sitting out the clash after both received a one-match suspension for red cards during their side’s 1-0 win over Holland in the last round, but the Brazilian-born playmaker insists that the replacements will do the job against England.

Strength in depth

“We have players with a lot of quality, as we proved in the game against Mexico where the substitutes played wonderfully. Whoever plays in our place will do the same job,” he said.

“Without doubt I wanted to play. It’s sad to be out of this game but more important now is that the players who replace me and Costinha train well and have a good game so that Portugal progress to the semi-finals.”

The 28-year-old Barcelona star is also hoping that England’s unconvincing form in the competition continues against Portugal: “The only thing I hope is at this match they are not at their best.”

“Even though they are not performing the best they can with their big players, the results show they are doing a good job.”

As well as suspensions to Costinha and Deco, there are also worries over the fitness of Cristiano Ronaldo, who is still recovering from a thigh injury picked up in the match against Holland.

Should Ronaldo fail to recover, there may be a more important role in the squad for Luis Boa Morte on Saturday, and the Fulham forward is ready if called upon by Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Ready to step in

“I’m fit and ready if there are injuries or if I’m selected for any other reason,” Boa Morte said.

“I’m looking forward to the England game and it would be a dream to play against them at the World Cup,” he added.

“We are confident of beating them again, as we did at Euro 2004. But we know they are a team with great qualities.”