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| Portugal - Historical Memories of UEFA and Football |
Before Portugal take on neighbors Spain in the last four on Wednesday, UEFA.com caught up with veterans of the Selecção's previous three semi-final appearances.
Competing in their third semi-final in the last four editions, Portugal have real UEFA European Championship pedigree, but face a stern test if they are to deny Iberian neighbors Spain a second successive showpiece appearance. UEFA.com spoke to three players who featured in semi-finals for the Selecção and asked them to share their memories.
23/06/1984 France 3-2 Portugal (aet) (Marseille)
Chalana: We finished third in 1984 but we could have easily finished second or even first. In that game against France we had a golden chance through Nené to end the match in our favor, but he couldn't find a way to make it 3-1 in extra time. To make things even worse for us France managed to do what we could not and scored. It's still very painful whenever I look at the footage of that game and I always stop the tape of the match after Nené misses our last chance. All the French still tell me it was the best game of the European Championship.
28/06/2000 France 2-1 Portugal (aet) (Brussels)
José Vidigal: That team in 2000 was probably one the of the best that Portugal ever had: great, talented players and great men. We could have made it through to the final, we scored first but it seemed that we were meant to suffer. Every player was a leader in his own way and we had a coach [Humberto Coelho] who gave us maximum freedom and demanded the same from us in terms of responsibility.
30/06/2004 Portugal 2-1 Netherlands (Lisbon)
Maniche: I never imagined that it would be a great goal, but when you take a shot the objective is to score. That's what I tried to do. Fortunately I had luck, which also helps a bit in those circumstances, but [I was thinking about] shooting with conviction. It was a historic moment, not only for me but for the whole team – obviously especially for me it was a very remarkable moment, because I will never forget that goal.
Competing in their third semi-final in the last four editions, Portugal have real UEFA European Championship pedigree, but face a stern test if they are to deny Iberian neighbors Spain a second successive showpiece appearance. UEFA.com spoke to three players who featured in semi-finals for the Selecção and asked them to share their memories.
23/06/1984 France 3-2 Portugal (aet) (Marseille)
Chalana: We finished third in 1984 but we could have easily finished second or even first. In that game against France we had a golden chance through Nené to end the match in our favor, but he couldn't find a way to make it 3-1 in extra time. To make things even worse for us France managed to do what we could not and scored. It's still very painful whenever I look at the footage of that game and I always stop the tape of the match after Nené misses our last chance. All the French still tell me it was the best game of the European Championship.
28/06/2000 France 2-1 Portugal (aet) (Brussels)
José Vidigal: That team in 2000 was probably one the of the best that Portugal ever had: great, talented players and great men. We could have made it through to the final, we scored first but it seemed that we were meant to suffer. Every player was a leader in his own way and we had a coach [Humberto Coelho] who gave us maximum freedom and demanded the same from us in terms of responsibility.
30/06/2004 Portugal 2-1 Netherlands (Lisbon)
Maniche: I never imagined that it would be a great goal, but when you take a shot the objective is to score. That's what I tried to do. Fortunately I had luck, which also helps a bit in those circumstances, but [I was thinking about] shooting with conviction. It was a historic moment, not only for me but for the whole team – obviously especially for me it was a very remarkable moment, because I will never forget that goal.
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