PortuGOAL.net is on the ground in France and currently with the squad in St. Etienne as they prepare to face Iceland tomorrow.
Nathan Motz sat in on the pre-match press conference and the first 15 minutes of Portugal's training session, and has recorded his thoughts in his first report on the Seleção, a daily feature throughout the Euros.
The question on everyone's mind was the same: will Ricardo Quaresma be fit to play tomorrow night?
Of course these type of questions often provoke noncommittal responses, and this time was no different, but as you can see in the video below, Quaresma did train apart from the rest of the squad. While Portugal worked on formation exercises (4-4-2) and shooting, Quaresma only engaged in light jogging and cone drills. Fernando Santos remained adamant in the press conference that Quaresma is just one of 23 players in the squad, and that preparations will continue unaltered even if he cannot take the pitch tomorrow.
Quaresma's presence in this side seems to be somewhat therapeutic for Ronaldo. The two spent the first few minutes of the practice session engaging in an entertaining brand of "keepy-uppy," using all of their best tricks to keep the ball in play. You have to think that for a player of Ronaldo's quality, having another inventive talent like Quaresma in the side gives him an outlet for the more theatrical side of his game.
For Quaresma, there is a clear difference in posture between Euro 2012 and the present. Unused throughout the tournament, and sitting behind Varela, Danny, and Nani in the pecking order, Quaresma often cut a frustrated figure in Ukraine and was frequently seen kicking the ball about away from the main body of the team during practices.
There are many talented players in this side, but none so much as Ronaldo and Quaresma and the two seem to augment each other's best attributes both on and off the pitch. Without Quaresma, Nani will act as Ronaldo's foil, but it's clear that the real chemistry on the attacking end of the pitch is between Ronaldo and Quaresma.
By Nathan Motz
