Magic Deco is back

ByEurosport

Published 05/07/2006 at 12:25 GMT

Forget about Cristiano Ronaldo. Forget about Figo. As Portugal meet France on Wednesday in the World Cup semi-finals, watch out for Deco. The Barcelona midfielder, who was suspended for the quarter-final win over England, returns to the starting line-up a

FOOTBALL 2006 World Cup Deco Nuno Gomes Figo

Image credit: Reuters

Without Deco, Portugal failed to score a single goal against a ten-man England and were forced to rely on Ricardo's heroics in the penalty shoot-out.

FOOTBALL 2006 World Cup Portugal training Cristiano Ronaldo Deco

Image credit: Reuters

With him, the team's play is more fluid, every attack is immediately more dangerous and Portugal turn from a good side to a real World Cup contender.

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As Eurosport Expert Eye Graeme Le Saux puts it, "Deco is at the heart and the hub of everything Portugal does creatively."

Just like he does at club level with Barcelona on the left side of a three-man midfield.

A true archetype of the modern footballer, blessed with superb technical ability, the former Porto player also works tremendously hard on the pitch.

FOOTBALL 2006 World Cup Portugal training Deco

Image credit: Reuters

"He's our magician. He has a good view of the game, and manages to see very fast how to give the good pass. He's really an important player for us," says of him the national team's right-back Miguel.

HUMBLE PIE FOR FIGO

Born in Brazil, Deco finally chose to play for the Portuguese national team in 2003 after Carlos Alberto Parreira, the Brazilian national coach, had shown no interest in selecting him.

"Deco? There are twenty like him in Brazil," Parreira declared at the time.

The little midfielder got his revenge by scoring, minutes after coming on for his first cap, the winning free-kick in a friendly against Brazil (2-1), to give Portugal their first victory over the South American giants in 37 years.

Parreira has since apologised. So has national icon Luis Figo.

Figo had put in doubt Deco's commitment to the national shirt due to his Brazilian origins in the wake of the 2004 European Championships played on home soil.

Having taken Rui Costa's place in midfield after the disastrous opening match against Greece (0-1), Deco has since estrablished himself as the most important player of Luis Felipe Scolari's team.

And the relationship on the field between Deco and the Inter Milan playmaker is one of the keys to Portugal's current success.

REVENGE

Deco was not selectable when Portugal lost in dramatic fashion to France in the semi-finals of Euro 2000.

The 28-year old, part of Porto's 2004 Champions League winning side, more than makes up for the retirement of Rui Costa.

Absent through injury in the opening match of the World Cup against Angola (1-0), he illuminated Portugal's performance against Iran (2-0) with a great all-round display and a goal.

Rested against Mexico for the third group match, he got himself sent off against the Netherlands (1-0) in a card-filled last 16 encounter.

Bad news for France, he's back and argues that his team is better than the one that marched to the final of Euro 2004:

"We're more mature, better prepared, globally stronger. It's no longer the euphoria of [the Champions League winning side at] Porto, but we've gained a lot of experience in two years," Deco told French newspaper L'Equipe.

He adds that the side is less tired at this stage of the competition than in 2004. In other words, he's confident:

"I have been since the start. Otherwise, I would have stayed home."