Disjointed Portugal fall to another defeat

Portugal continued their poor recent form as they were well beaten by their Euro 2004 nemesis Greece in a friendly match played in Dusseldorf, Germany last night. The Greek’s superiority throughout was translated into two masterfully executed free-kicks from former Benfica midfielder Karagounis. Nuno Gomes hit a late consolation for Portugal. Although Portugal were without the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco, Bosingwa and Maniche, a host of second-string players missed the opportunity to push for a place in the starting line-up, with Joao Moutinho’s display the one positive note in another dispiriting performance. Luiz Felipe Scolari faces perhaps his biggest challenge yet since taking over as Portugal coach in 2003. After a stuttering qualification campaign to reach this summer’s European Championships, and coming off very much second best in preparation matches against Italy and Greece, the Brazilian is running out of time to mould one of Portugal’s most talented ever squads into something resembling a cohesive team. Most worrying for Portugal fans, unlike the run-ups to the previous two tournaments, Scolari appears far from having defined a system, the supporting cast or even the main protagonists of his team