Rule out Cristiano Ronaldo as a possible option to help Portugal gain more momentum through Saturday’s international friendly against Chile; the Portuguese captain is unavailable through injury... again! Now as we turn our attention to Paulo Bento’s available man-squad, it seems evident to single out Nani as the man to watch.
The Manchester United winger has shown a lot of character for the Red Devils this season and he certainly deserves to stand out as one of Portugal’s best players presently. Nani was instrumental against Denmark in a game which marked Bento's first match in charge of the Portuguese national team. The star winger is now poised to influence the new era in which the team has entered since the sacking of the unsuccessful Carlos Queiroz.
According to the player, the time has come for him to excel. Nani was quoted by PortuGOAL as saying: “The best moment [with Portugal] is now! I think I’ve been doing well this season for my national team and I hope to do much better.”
The 24-year-old has a lot of years ahead of him in his career but it is each game which comes his way that holds so much importance. This weekend, Nani will be under the spotlight as Portugal will try to solve two of their many problems: to find the net easily and to bounce back from their 2-1 loss against Argentina in February.
It’s essential for the Portuguese to positive answers as they prepare to resume their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign later this year. Saturday’s Portugal vs Chile international friendly presents the Paulo Bento’s men with a good opportunity to do that.
Chile may not be of Brazil’s seize on paper, but they now possess the Claudio Borghi factor – something which could lift them up at the expense of Portugal this weekend.
The days of Marcelo Bielsa have ended; in fact, Bielsa’s 4-year spell with Chile ended in February 2011 to make way for another Argentine in the form of Claudio Borghi. The 46-year-old is set to make his debut as Chile’s coach on Saturday and it could well be a memorable one.
Claudio Borghi, who won the 1986 World Cup with a Maradona-inspired Argentina squad, enjoyed great moments as a player and as a club football manager. Can he haunt Portugal with the Argentine spirit so as to kick-start a new era with Chile on a bright note?
