Portugal entered the field led by team captain, Cristiano Ronaldo.

The game began very tentatively by both clubs, but 12 minutes into the game, Ronaldo makes a great pass to Manchester United teammate, Nani, who makes a fantastic pass to Hugo Almeida.  Almeida, however, fails to connect with the pass.

17 minutes in, Sweden has their first  real scoring opportunity of the game, but the ball is headed over the net.  Eight minutes later, Sweden has another great scoring chance, but the ball flies over the net once again.

32 minutes into the game, Cristiano Ronaldo makes a beautiful pass to Almeida.  Almeida´s shot is saved by the Swedish goaltender.  One minute later, Hugo Almeida returns the favor and sets up Ronaldo just outside Sweden´s goal, but Ronaldo´s shot flies over the net. Three minutes later, Portugal comes close yet again, however the ball is deflected out by the Swedish defense.

39 minute mark, Sweden has a fantastic scoring opportunity, but the ball is headed wide of the net.

First half ends in a 0-0 draw.

51 minutes into the game, Moutinho strikes a hard shot from outside the box, but the ball flies just wide of the Swedish goal.  Three minutes later, Cristiano Ronaldo makes a great short pass inside the Swedish box to Paulo Ferreira.  Ferreira appears to be kicked in the chest area by a Swedish defender.  The apparent Penalty is not called by the Italian referee.

64 minutes in, Hugo Almeida is replaced by Ricardo Quaresma.

77 minute mark, Portugal goalkeeper, Quim, makes a great save.  Three minutes later, Quaresma receives yellow card.

82 minutes in, Portugal once again comes close inside the Swedish box, the short pass is deflected out by the Swedish defense.

85 minutes in, Danny comes in for Nani.

89 minutes in, Ricardo Quaresma shoots, but his shot flies over the net.

The game ends in a 0-0 draw.

Above is the Portugal team bus during Euro 2008, complete with autographs. Inside. a shirtless Ricardo Quaresma is staring out.

SIC Television has recently filmed a series of television specials featuring present Portuguese football (soccer) greats.

These specials are an up and close look at the individual behind the soccer jersey.

In this video, Porto FC star, Ricardo Quaresma gives us a look behind the scenes, by taking us into his home in Porto, Portugal. He talks about his family, his likes and dislikes and his opinion on tabloid media.

Cristiano Ronaldo7.com has once again taken the time to translate these videos into English.

We hope you enjoy ‘Os Incriveis’ (The Incredibles) Featuring Ricardo Quaresma:

The Italian daily, Tuttosport has calculated Portugal to be the most expensive team to buy at this year’s Euro tournament. Combining paid transfer fees, release clauses and realistic player value estimates, Tuttosport has come up with a figure of €300m for the Portuguese Squad. Spain is the only other participating country who come close to that honor.

Cristiano Ronaldo is valued at €100m (speculated Real Madrid offer to Manchester United), which is a slight increase from €83m ‘intrinsic value’ which was recently published by The University of Navarra, in Spain.

Ricardo Quaresma has a written ‘buy-out’ clause in his contract of €40m. should he leave, FC Porto will receive 75% of that.

Nani and Simao went for a total of €45.5m between the pair. Nani moving to Manchester United and Simao to Atletico Madrid a year ago.

Deco and young rising star, Moutinho are said to be valued in the 8 figure range if they leave their respective clubs this summer.

Jose Bosingwa is going to Chelsea next year. Chelsea paid a price of €25m. Other Chelsea men, Ricardo Carvalho at €30m and Paulo Ferreira €20m.

Pepe moved on to Real Madrid at a price of €30m.

Portugal’s National teams are known for playing the “Beautiful Game”, filled by great passes and individual dribbling skills. At prices like these, it seems that Portuguese players will be entertaining for their supporters and neutrals alike.

Source…

There has been much speculation on the number which Cristiano Ronaldo would wear for Portugal during this Euro Cup and in the future. It seems that that question has finally been answered. C. Ronaldo played the game versus Georgia wearing Figo’s old number 7, and Ricardo Quaresma, the Porto star, was wearing Cristiano Ronaldo’s old number 17.

The Portugal National Squad played their first game with their new team kits on Saturday, a friendly versus Georgia which they won 2-0.

The team departed for Switzerland early this afternoon to get ready for UEFA tournament which starts next week.

Portugal play their first game of the tournament versus Turkey on Saturday, June 7.

After the retirement of Winger Luis Figo and Striker Pedro Pauleta from the National squad, many fans were left to ponder how Portugal’s National squad would transition. Losing two legendary Warriors isn’t always easy, but Portugal has transitioned well. We can credit the young Wizards, in particular, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Quaresma for Portugal’s continued resilience on the world stage of football.

These younger and arguably more finesse athletes have been able to mesmerize audiences with feats of football magic. The pair have conjured many scoring chances and goals, which has made the absence of Figo and Pauleta less noticeable.

Winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored eight goals during the qualifying round for this year’s EURO Championships, will carry Portugal’s hopes and dreams of advancing forward in the tournament. He is currently on form to be crowned Player Of The Year, and is poised to lead Portugal into the latter rounds of the tournament.

Known to FC Porto fans affectionately as ‘O Cigano’ (The Gypsy), the 24 year old Quaresma who had a brief stint with Barcelona, is currently playing for FC Porto whom are in 1st place in the Portuguese League. Quaresma is often compared to Cristiano Ronaldo for his dribbling abilities, as well as his style of play.

With talented Wizards such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Quaresma, masterful and skilled light years beyond average, we should be in a for a real treat of dazzling football sorcery this year.