This year the Portuguese are also on the list of nine or ten main claimants for the title.
There’s no doubt that one of Portugal key performers today is FC Dynamo Kyiv halfback Miguel.
He featured in all 12 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and always was in the starting lineup. He played for 944 minutes out of 1080 possible.
In the latest qualification Miguel got three assists to his name (against Israel, Russia and Sweden) and was booked once.
2014 World Cup qualification
Portugal were drawn in European group F and faced Russia, Israel, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan and Luxembourg.
Paulo Bento’s men started the qualifying round with away defeat against the main competitor Russia (0:1). Later they drew against Northern Ireland (1:1). Those fixtures took place in late 2012. The same year the Portuguese reached the European Championship semifinal and lost against Spain on penalties.
Miguel recalls how his team tumbled out of the Euro-2012 with sadness: “First of all it’s important that we gained experience. We were just unlucky as we faced Spain in the semifinal. The game itself was great. This is life…”
The year 2013 started for Bento’s men with away draw against Israel (3:3). Three victories followed that game with one of them against Russia (1:0).
Anyway home draw against Israel (1:1) made Portugal struggle for the World Cup qualification in playoffs, where they faced Sweden.
In the first leg in Lisbon Seleção won by narrow margin (1:0) due to the goal netted by Cristiano Ronaldo. Miguel assisted him in that episode.
Second leg in Sweden became a true benefit performance of Real Madrid superstar, who was resented with Ballon d’Or several months later. Ronaldo scored a hat trick and home side responded only with brace from Zlatan Ibrahimović. Thus Portugal went through to the finals.
“Unfortunately we didn’t manage to win the group and had to go through playoffs. Anyway we demonstrated great unity. Now we are to get ready for the Mundial properly”, - stated Miguel.
Preparation for the main event of the year
Portugal scheduled four friendlies before the World Cup finals start. In March Seleção flattened Cameroon – 5:1. Miguel assisted Cristiano Ronaldo once.
In May they drew against Greece (0:0) and in June defeated Mexico (1:0) and Ireland (5:1).
“I had the joy and the chance to participate in the World Cup in South Africa, and it's a dream for any player to do it again. Even more so in Brazil where supporters are true fans of football. It will be a unique and unforgettable event”, - said Dynamo performer.
Final stage
Portugal will face Germany, the USA and Ghana in the World Cup group G.
Bento’s men will start the Mundial on June 16 inSalvador as they oppose Germany.
On June 22 they’ll feature against the USA and on June 26 – against Ghana.
“We are to work with great eagerness. Teams like Germany are always among the claimants for any trophy. We also have the United States, where football has been developing and Ghana, who have already won some titles in Africa and are quite a competitive team”, - stated Miguel.
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