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A one man team or is there more substance to the Portuguese? Newstalk's Team 33 podcast will try to answer that with our Portugal expert Vasco Mota Pereira pretty soon, but one thing is very clear.
The World Cup playoff hero Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal colleagues have been handed a tough draw against Germany, a strong Ghana side and the USA who famously shocked them in 2002.
With the golden generation of Figo and Rui Costa gone and the silver generation of Ronaldo and co entering possibly its last World Cup, it is interesting to note that very few top young players are coming through the system in Portugal with the noteable exception of Sporting Lisbon's William Carvalho.
Mota Pereira will tell us why this is the case and how far Portugal can go, so keep your eyes peeled for the Portugal podcast over the next couple of weeks.
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A more hirsute Pepe could turn out to be the latest in a long line of World Cup villains ©INPHO/Getty Images
World Cup Record
Appearances: 6
Best Result: Semi-finals (1966 and 2006)
Squads
Goalkeepers: Beto (Sevilla), Eduardo (Braga), Rui Patrício (Sporting).
Defenders: Andre Almeida (Benfica), Bruno Alves (Fenerbahce), Fabio Coentrao (Real Madrid), Joao Pereira (Valencia), Neto (Zenit St Petersburg), Pepe (Real Madrid), Ricardo Costa (Valencia).
Midfielders: Joao Moutinho (Monaco), Miguel Veloso (Dynamo Kiev), Raul Meireles (Fenerbahce), Ruben Amorim (Benfica), William Carvalho (Sporting Lisbon), Rafa (Braga).
Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Eder (Braga), Helder Postiga (Lazio), Hugo Almeida (Besiktas), Nani (Manchester United), Varela (FC Porto), Vieirinha (Wolfsburg)
Manager: Paulo Bento
Fixtures and Results
Group G
June 16 vs Germany (Salvador) 4 - 0 (L)
June 22 vs USA (Manaus) 2 - 2 (D)
June 26 vs Ghana (Brasilia) 2 - 1 (W)
