GROUP ONE:WHO WOULD want Carlos Queiroz as a head coach? Not the Portuguese, it seems, as his second spell in charge of the national team is heading for disaster. Real Madrid fans do not remember him too fondly either after he lasted only 10 months at the club, failing to lead Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Ronaldo to the league title.
There was also the time he missed out on qualifying for the 1994 World Cup with a talented Portugal team. And this is the man Alex Ferguson is believed to want to succeed him at Old Trafford.
While such a scenario lurks ominously in the future for Manchester United fans, Queiroz’s problems with Portugal are very much in the present. They face Sweden on Saturday in Porto, having already lost at home to Denmark and drawn against 10-man Albania. They have picked up five points from four games and their only win came against Malta. They trail leaders Denmark and Hungary by two points.
Add to that a 6-2 defeat to Brazil in a friendly and other coaches lining up for his job, and it is clear Queiroz is having a troubled time. But where did it go wrong for the Mozambique-born manager after he took over a team that Luiz Felipe Scolari led to the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup and the last eight of Euro 2008?
The man himself seems to blame the players. “They need to do more,” Queiroz said. “There’s no reason why [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Nani, Simao, Maniche and Tiago shouldn’t play as well when they are on international duty as they do for their club teams.”
He also suggested the players need to think less about their image and fame, and more about working for the team. “You have to win first and then you have privileges,” he said.
“This is a golden generation. When things are simple for you and you have a lot of money, sometimes you buy diamonds before you win your first trophy. [But] you have to work first if you want to enjoy the privileges. Work is a word that nobody likes to hear.”
Queiroz has kept faith in Scolari’s 4-3-3 formation but where the Brazilian was enthusiastic, aggressive and funny, Queiroz seems dull and theoretical. The passion seems to be missing.
To make matters worse, Queiroz has criticised Scolari, the most successful coach in the history of the national team, for not thinking about the future when he was in charge, leaving him to take over a squad that was too old.
Or to put it in Queiroz’s words: “Having a national team is like having a cow. If you feed her and keep milking her then everything will be fine but if you just milk her and don’t feed her, she will die.”
The players remain supportive and Chelsea midfielder Deco underlined how desperate they are to qualify for South Africa 2010 by declaring he will consider playing on Saturday even though he is not fully fit.
Queiroz has a shortage of forwards after dropping veteran Nuno Gomes and may have to rely on Werder Bremen’s Hugo Almeida or former Tottenham striker Helder Postiga against Sweden, with the 26-year-old Edinho of AEK Athens called up for the first time.
Queiroz’s midfield has also been unsettled with injuries and loss of form to key players such as Deco, Ricardo Quaresma, Maniche and Simao. Ronaldo, too, has had his problems and was even booed by sections of the crowd during the draw against Albania.
Queiroz, who should be able to restore Jose Bosingwa to his starting XI and will hope that his Chelsea team-mate Ricardo Carvalho recovers from injury.
Guardian Service
