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PREPARING SOUTH AFRICA FOR THE WORLD |
For Portugal and their coach Carlos Queiroz, 180 minutes of football played on 14 and 18 November stand between them and a ticket to the 2010 World Cup. Star names make them slight favourites to progress against European Zone play-off opponents Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the former Bafana coach is convinced he will be returning to South Africa next year. He spoke to FIFA.com...  Does being involved in a play-off put extra pressure on you and your team? There's always pressure in football. I thrive on pressure, it's part of our lives. We play to win, ever since we decided to focus only on that. We've always been able to perform to our best and put on our best displays under pressure, so I don't see why this time should be different. Cristiano Ronaldo is currently out injured, do you have a Plan B in case he's not fit to play a part? Cristiano will be there, no doubt about it. Portugal had a shaky start to South Africa 2010 qualifying, and were in danger of missing out altogether. Do you feel that the team has hit its best form in time for the play-offs? We made a few errors early on in qualifying. But since those admittedly dark times, the team has got back on track and played good football. More than that, I'd say brilliant football. Our team was fantastic in the games against Denmark, Sweden and Hungary. It was then we showed that we're hitting top form at the moment. What changes did you make to the team to turn things around? To be honest, we had a lot of injury problems, while other players were without a club and in uncertain situations. Besides which, several players retired from international duty and we had to rebuild the team and bring in new faces. And that's really tough to do in the middle of a qualifying phase. But we did it, we're here and that's what matters. Should Portugal successfully negotiate the play-offs, can they be considered among the favourites to go all the way at South Africa 2010? I think the hardest part for us has been qualifying. If we qualify, Portugal will definitely be firm contenders to win South Africa 2010, or at least finish on the podium. You seem very sure... I'm 100 per cent convinced we'll be there. I've got no doubts whatsoever. more interviews...
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