Portugal's success in the World Cup is not proportional to their current status in international football, with the exception of a third-place finish in their first World Cup in 1966, Portugal have only reached the World Cup finals twice in the last 40 years, and have been eliminated in the group stage on two other occasions.

Scolari, who led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup, is tasked with making a name for Portuguese football, and although he has little hope of becoming the first manager in the history of the World Cup to win the trophy with two different teams, Scolari has set his own ceiling: at least a place in the quarter-finals. Portugal have had their share of precedents for careless defeats, losing to Greece in the final at Euro 2004 and being drawn into a weaker-looking group at the 2002 World Cup, where South Korea and the United States joined forces to qualify.

In order to achieve a breakthrough in this World Cup, the Portuguese team must first avoid underestimating the enemy.

Portugal's three-goal win over Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde and Luxembourg in their warm-up matches will foster complacency to some extent. Angola are not very strong, they lack individual stars compared to traditional African teams, and Angola does not even have a single player playing in Europe's top five leagues.

However, the absence of stars can make Portugal's defense lose its focus, not to mention that Angola was once a Portuguese colony, and half of the players in the national team currently play in the Portuguese league, and they know the Portuguese players well, but they hide themselves well. Senegal's 1-0 win over France in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup is believed to serve as a model for Angola, when more than half of Senegal's players played in the French league.

Deco's injury had a big impact on Portugal's tactics. Because in Scolari's eyes, fellow Brazilian Deco is an indispensable brain of the Portuguese team, and in the 2002 European Championships, Scolari supported Deco and deprived Costa of the core of the organization. Deco can play a pivotal role in midfield. His penetration, playmaking and long-range shots can greatly enrich the team's attacking arsenal, and if he is not available, Portugal will be forced to make major changes as there is no player in the bench to replace Deco, and it is doubtful that the players will be able to adapt quickly to the changes.

Portugal will have to be patient enough against Angola to take full advantage of the wide players' ability to break through. At the same time, players will have to switch positions frequently to disrupt the opposition's defensive system, and if the attacks of Figo, Simão and Ronaldo can continue to work, the ability to take advantage of Jonker's chances in the box. It's not very difficult to get a goal either. Defensively, the Portuguese players need to be focused at all times, as Angola's attacking points are not clear and their forwards are characterised by their speed.

Portugal are one of the favourites to win this tournament, but in fact. Scolari's team is not outstanding. Take a look at some of the team's key players – Figo is two years older than Euro 2004; Cristiano Ronaldo is still so reckless; Only Jonk can reassure people, but the news before the game also makes people's hearts hang; Simão has been in excellent form this season, but there is no place for him in Scolari's main squad; Maniche and Costinha have forgotten how to play after a year in cold Moscow, and the only thing we can hope for is Deco - but the Barcelona midfielder was injured in training and is expected to play with an injury in this game, plus the lack of big man Andrade at the back, the overall strength of the Portuguese national team is frankly still below four years ago, even with champion coach Scolari in charge. Its prospects in this tournament are still not optimistic.

Angola, on the other hand, was once a Portuguese colony due to its history. This match is more than just a football match for Angola. In an interview with Reuters, defender Delgado said the whole team is determined to prove that Angola is stronger in the hands of its own people with a victory. Coach Gondcalves said in a low-key way that the focus should be on the game, but he also acknowledged that the game means a lot to the Angolan people. As you can imagine, the Portuguese will not have an easy game in this game.

Portugal and Angola have played each other twice, winning 6-0 in 1989 and 5-1 in 2001, and the good record is an encouragement for the Portuguese players, but there is also a danger of paralysis – in that match in 2001, Angola had four players sent off and the 5-1 scoreline was injected with water.

Although Scolari has repeatedly stressed that the team will not take the mistake of 2002 lightly, Ronaldo and others are adamant that Portugal will win this game easily, and if they do not open up the situation quickly, then this attitude is likely to cause problems for the Portuguese.

No one expected that Portugal's first game had not yet started, and it had already been unanimously disfavored by the media.

However, the result of Portugal's opening game seems to be validating the media's pre-match claims.

It's almost a replica of the England-Paraguay game. At the Rheinenergy Stadium in Cologne, Portugal beat Angola 1-0, only a satisfactory result, and all the rest were disappointments.

In addition to Deco's absence due to injury, Portugal played with a full squad. What about opponents Angola?

Just remember that the team's two core goalkeepers, Ricciardo and striker Aqua, have not been at the club for a while. Portugal's opening kick was the mistaken impression that it would be a 'slaughter' game, with Jonker's shot from the left side deflecting wide of the post less than a minute into the game. Three minutes later, Figo's beautiful cross allowed Jonk to score with ease, and everything was so normal and deserved.

But as the game progressed, the Portuguese, like England yesterday, became more and more unthinkable. Except for the irascible Cristiano Ronaldo, who made a difference on the field, the rest of the players fell asleep on the field, and even C. Ronaldo's header hit the lintel without waking his teammates up. The second half of the first half had already shown signs that the capable Portuguese and the underpowered Angolan side were going to take the game into a dull battle.

In the second half, the game really went into garbage time, and the Portuguese team was "in the same stream" with the Angolan team on the field like headless flies. The boos from the fans in the stands were an expression of dissatisfaction with the low quality of the game. With the only bloody C-Ronaldo replaced, Maniche, who will be known for his defensive ability, has also shown that he is ready to let Portugal maintain a one-goal advantage.

Portugal without Deco are a team that lacks a change of pace. Neither Figo nor Cristiano Ronaldo could make up for this shortcoming, and Jonk was sleepwalking after the goal.

In Deco's absence, the Portuguese team relied more on individual single-handedness, and lacked teamwork and mutual cover, which was actually fatal for Portugal.

Angola were not without chances, but the "novices" who made their debut in the World Cup were not up to scratch in terms of psychology and technique, and the result was that Portugal's low-level mistakes repeatedly gave their opponents a chance to equalize. But after the worst, the Angolan players squandered opportunities again and again.

From yesterday's Ivory Coast to today's Angola, we can see in these two African teams that have already played that they have excellent physicality and an unrestrained style of play. But modern football can't win with these alone. Whether it was Argentina or Portugal, they didn't play their best or didn't play at their best, but in the end they both won. This also proves that modern football needs to play with "brains" more.

Scolari expressed before the match that Portugal are aiming to finish in the top eight. But after the first game. No fan believes the words of "Big Phil" anymore. If you look at the performance of the first game, Portugal can barely qualify from the group, it will be good!

If you just look at this game, Portugal does not look like a favorite team to qualify, facing Angola who participated in the World Cup for the first time, they did not show the demeanor of a world team, their slack and lazy performance made the Portuguese fans on the scene also turn against each other, injury time. Many Portuguese fans even started cheering for Angola. For Portugal, this is definitely a great irony.

After the game. Scolari pointed out in an interview that Angola performed better than Portugal for most of the game. However, the Brazilian later said that none of the games in the World Cup were easy, because this is the World Cup and it is very important for the team to get three points.

Scolari should know that Portugal were able to get the three points thanks to Figo, who was the first to thank Figo, who had a brilliant assist in the opening four minutes that helped Paoleta score his 47th goal for the national team, which ultimately gave Portugal a hard-fought 1-0 victory.

Scolari's starting line-up today was basically expected by the media, and the only surprise was that the Portuguese midfielder Deco was actually sitting on the bench, and captain Figo appeared in Deco's position. In the 4th minute of the opening game, Figo scored the ball in the middle of the field, and when he was two meters away from Angolan defender Djamba, Figo stabbed the ball forward and broke through Djamba's defense in front of the goal, and Jonk easily pushed the empty goal to score.

Pauleta's goal wasn't spectacular, but Figo's breakthrough was a rare surprise, and for a 33-year-old veteran, being able to break through opponents with speed was a miracle in itself. Of course, Figo's performance throughout the game was not limited to this one assist. In the 34th minute, Figo took a corner kick from the right with an excellent point, and C-Ronaldo headed it in the penalty area, but the ball hit the crossbar hard. On top of that, Figo was on top of everything he did up front, and he was one of Portugal's most active players in the game.

Figo showed good form in this game, and in the warm-up match before the start of the World Cup, Figo also performed well. Simão praised Figo in a recent interview: "You can't say Figo is old, he's still running aggressively, he's a very important player for the team. He's still my idol and all I can say now is that Figo is in great form. Sure enough, in Portugal's first match of the World Cup, Figo showed the role of a key player. After the game, Cristiano Ronaldo thought that it was the great Figo who brought the team victory.

Figo received a game-high score of 9 in Sky Sports' post-match player ratings, with Sky Sports giving him the rating: first-class form. At the same time, Figo was also named the best player of the match by FIFA.

Figo was also interviewed after the match. Speaking of competitions. Figo said: "We could have played a little bit better, but we are very happy with the result. Our plan for the first game was to get the three points, so 1-0 was as satisfying as 5-0. If they beat Iran, who just lost, in the next match. Then they will go home and we can qualify from the group. ”

Lao Ji has a long ambition, and I hope that Figo's road to the World Cup can go further.

Another hero, Jonker, only got an average score of 7 points for the Portuguese team for his next sleepwalking performance, and Jonk can only be described as bad or bad in the first game, which has a big gap with the hot comments before the start of the game, and Jonk, who has been in trouble recently, seems to be looking for a state.

In fact, Jonker was quite depressed. He doesn't have the ball at his feet, so the danger is naturally minimized, and he is the kind of player who is only dangerous when he has the ball. Just letting him grab points does not necessarily give him any benefit from the heavily defended Angola, after all, he is the only fulcrum on the Portuguese front line, facing the entire backline. Jonk was more of a fan of the other attackers. The kick was awkward.

Of course, the World Cup is also a stage for farewell, such as the head coach of the Togolese team, Otto, who has confirmed that he is leaving. Pffist and the departing England boss Christian Eriksen, but the World Cup could also be a chance to continue the lead, such as Scolari.

Yesterday, the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, Madayle, deliberately leaked a secret when asked about the possibility of Scolari's contract renewal when interviewed by Antena1 TV at the Hilton Hotel where he was staying. Madayle made no secret of it, "There is an agreement between me and Mr. Scolari. Or is it better to say 'blueprint' now...... At least it's a verbal agreement. You should have heard him say that Portugal's goal in this World Cup is to reach the quarter-finals, yes, that's his job, as long as he achieves that, his task is done, and the rest is for us to draw up the contract and then he will sign it. ”

"I can't tell you more details about the contract at this point, other than to say that the new contract will be for two years, not four, because two years later it will be another European Championship and Scolari will lead Portugal to a runners-up finish at Euro 2004, which is Portugal's best result at an international tournament in recent years, and we should give Scolari another chance to show himself."

The Portuguese media have dubbed Scolari's contract extension a "wedding on the line of fire", and this is not the first time that the Portuguese Football Federation has used a contract extension to motivate a manager in the middle of a tournament. Scolari's last contract extension was after Portugal reached the final of the 2004 European Championships. Madayle humorously compares his relationship with Scolari as a couple, who after many years of marriage, always go to church every few years to renew their vows, "so I should also renew my contract with Big Phil two years after his last contract extension." ”

Of course, in addition to leading the team, Madayle also admires Scolari's personality. The old Brazilian man was able to turn down an invitation from the FA, in addition to his work ethic, but also his loyalty, knowing that there are very few coaches in the world who can refuse England, Scolari said: "I always turned down the FA because of my mustache, which in my hometown of Grand Rivers Sur means to symbolize loyalty." ”

In the warm-up game, Scolari set out Portugal's goals early on, "I have always said that the goal I ask is to get the team to the last eight, and of course I will not put pressure on the players. We are the seventh-best team in the world and there is no reason why we should not be in the quarter-finals. At that time, he had already made this agreement with Madayir.

Portugal had just finished the game and another Group D clash was underway, with Mexico eventually beating Iran 3-1 at the Stade Franks in Nuremberg to take all three points, while Iran lost all three of their three appearances in the World Cup finals. In the first half, Mexican midfielder Bravo scored first, but Iran equalised through Gormohammadi. In the second half, Mexico's substitute Xenia changed the situation on the pitch, providing an assist and a goal in three minutes to give Mexico a good start.

As the first Asian team to compete in the World Cup, Iran are without Chandi, with the midfielder playing for Kaiserslautern sidelined with a knee injury, Karimi and Madavecchia returning from injury, and the 37-year-old wearing the captain's armband for Iran for the 149th time.

Mexico got off to a flying start with a 3-1 win over Sweden in the first game of the group stage, and coach Lavolpe was temporarily free from suspicion that he was abandoning striker Blanco. But the Argentines have a new problem. FIFA has issued a warning about his smoking in the stadium.

In fact, it is not surprising to those who are familiar with La Volpe that the coach from Argentina has the greatest hobbies of cigarettes and coffee, and the Mexican Football Federation once gave him a privilege when he was in Mexico. He was allowed to smoke and drink coffee on the training ground.

So when the players of the Mexican team were training, we could often see Lavolpe leisurely smoking and drinking coffee on the sidelines. However, his approach was warned at the World Cup, with FIFA spokesman Siegler saying: "If it is confirmed from the footage that Lavolpe is indeed smoking on the pitch, then I will definitely remind him to smoke in the designated smoking area, which is not allowed in the stadium." At the same time, the FIFA official also said that he would give Lavolpe a written ban on smoking: "We will send him a written letter telling him that coaches and players need to set an example!" ”

Mexico has always been rich in short stars, and Campos, who is 1.78 meters tall, has become an outlier among famous goalkeepers. Blanco, who is 1.77 meters tall, has always found good scoring opportunities among tall guards. After the match, we got to know two more Mexican players who are less than 1.7 meters tall: Bravo, who is 1.69 meters tall in the number 19 jersey, and Xenia, who is 1.63 meters tall in the number 7 shirt, who knocked out the Asian giant Iran.

When the top 32 groups in the final stage of this World Cup are introduced. Many fans are indignant that Portugal did not become the seeded team in Group D, because Portugal, with big stars such as Jonk, Cristiano Ronaldo, Figo and Deco, is far more famous than the other three teams, however. Mexico, who are underdogs in height, beat their debut Asian side, Iran, ——— Iran, with three spectacular goals at the Stadio Franks in Nuremberg.

What will Mexico be seeded for? Their run to the round of 16 in the last three World Cups may tell the story. The style of play is mature and self-contained, the players are not well-known but cooperate tacitly, and the offense seems to be dragging but is actually hiding needles. That's why Mexico became a regular in the final stage of the World Cup and the secret to their defeat to Iran.

In last year's Confederations Cup, Mexico's emphasis on ground penetration and individual skill has suffered from physically strong opponents, and in fact, although the Mexicans are generally not tall enough, they are not weak in confrontation ability, and in one-on-one attack and defense, they can often take advantage of the unique skills and spirituality of the Americans. The emphasis on local coordination also makes the overall offensive and defensive capabilities of the Mexican team not to be underestimated.

In the case of the battle between Iran and Mexico, the Iranians continued to attack for more than 20 minutes after the opening game. Sure enough, after the opening, the Mexican team, which seemed to be at a disadvantage, avoided the opponent's "three-board axe" and then hit the Iranian's "life", although the Iranian team once equalized, but the "external strength" master was not the opponent of the "internal strength" master after all, after taking advantage of the Iranian team's defensive mistakes to take the lead again, the Mexican team quickly scored a third goal and sealed the win.

It is worth mentioning that the main reason why the players of the Mexican team are not very famous is that many of them are reluctant to play in European club teams, and the vast majority of the players in this Mexican squad are from the Mexican league, which in turn helps them to form a team with a unified tactical style and skillful coordination.

In the battle of Yimo, the coach of the Mexican team, Lavolpe, who was dressed in a straight suit, was perhaps the hardest person except for the 22 players who fought on the field, and throughout the game, the Argentine coach always stood on the sidelines and watched every move of both sides, until the veteran Xenia scored the decisive goal, La Volpe breathed a long sigh of relief, and when the final whistle sounded, he raised his hands above his head and showed a victor's smile on his face.

After working and living in Mexico for nearly 30 years, Lavolpe has already become an expert in Mexican football, and he has boldly used a group of newcomers after taking office (only 6 members of the Mexican team have participated in the Korea-Japan World Cup), on the other hand, he has developed the most "close" tactical play for the team, so that the Mexican team has a stable record and has played a lot in the past three years" Classic Titles".

As the head coach, Lavolpe is quite dedicated, standing and directing in the game is common for him, in order to grasp the state and performance of the players, he almost does not miss any opportunity to watch the game and inspect the international players on the spot, it can be seen that the victory of the Mexican team is indeed inseparable from the wisdom and hard work of the "bearded coach". (To be continued......)