http://www.goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=122128 ●Where: Olympiastadion (Olympic Stadium), Helsinki, Finland ●When: 10pm (Helsinki) Portugal come to their first Euro match after the traumatic Euro 2004 defeat to Greece at the Da Luz stadium with yet another emotional hurdle to leap. The "Mateus Affair" is threatening to sideline the Lusitanian nation if the Portuguese Federation can't put its house in order by September the 12th. Despite being a club-level wrangle involving minnows Belenenses and Gil Vicente, the fact that the civil courts have been dragged into the dispute has rubbed UEFA and FIFA up the wrong way. This means that Luiz Felipe Scolari's men enter the fray not knowing if they'll face a totally unfair ban; win, lose or draw. To recap we must cast our minds back to Lisbon and a hot 4th of July 2004. Portugal were hot favourites to beat Greece, but the plucky Hellenic underdogs bit the hosts where it hurt the most with Charisteas heading in the only goal in the 57th minute. Cristiano Ronaldo blazed the equaliser over from eight yards out in the 75th minute and the now (internationally) retired Figo fired wide from ten yards with a minute to go. Portugal collapsed in tears. Nevertheless, Felipao is a master in team psychology and has created a typical "Scolari Family" as he did before with Brazil in the 2002 World Cup. He's treating the whole affair as water of a Pato's (duck's) back until further notice. After the fourth place in Germany the trauma of the Euro 2004 is almost over and, if anything, Portugal are stronger for that defeat against Greece. The team hasn't changed much from that frustrating night with Ricardo, Miguel, Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Maniche, Costinha, Ronaldo, Deco, and Nuno Gomes still in the squad. Pauleta and Figo may be part of the Seleccao past, but there's hope that a combination of the base Scolari has created and new blood like Sporting Lisbon's Nani can offer a bright future. Finland come to the clash after a morale-boosting initial win over Poland away at the Polish Krzyszkowiak stadium. Living legend Jari Litmanen put the "Sinivalkoiset" (Finland's catchy nickname) two ahead and Mika Vayrynen's third made a late Lukasz Gargula goal a mere anecdote for the Poles. ●Team News Portugal Luiz Felipe Scolari is looking for a win in Helsinki, although he knows that the Selecção is still hamstrung by a lack of activity. The recent friendly against Denmark showed that there’s still fine-tuning to do, despite believable excuses gyrating around a lack of physical fitness. The Coach wouldn’t be unhappy with a draw despite the obvious target of a full three points. "A draw can't be seen as a bad result", admitted Scolari in a recent press conference. "Compared to Finland we're at a disadvantage physically and in terms of mutual understanding, but logically we'll play for a win as it's the only way we should ever play", added the Brazilian tactician. There are injury hassles with midfielder Carlos Martins and defender Fernando Meira out for sure and Joao Moutinho suffering from aches and pains. Finland Roy Hodgson's Finland is hardly the sort of team to make pre-match waves, keeping with national traditions of quiet yet hard work rather than expansive declarations. Jari Litmanen was the only player to comment on the upcoming clash, although with characteristic coolness. "Portugal has a very good team and, on paper, are the favourites to end the group on top", he explained. He didn't have much time for rising to journalistic jabs for juicy headlines either. “What would be a good result? Well, we want to win, but so does Portugal. Would a draw be good? We'll see at the end, because if we have chances to win and don't then it'd be disappointing." This will be the second time that Litmanen has faced Portugal, the first, on the 27th of March 2002, saw him bag a brace at the Bessa stadium as he led the Finns to a surprise 1-4 upset, but he hardly puffing his chest out and crowing. "That was a great game, but tomorrow will be different, so we'll see." ●Possible Line-Ups FINLAND: No information available as of yet. PORTUGAL (4-3-3 / 4-2-3-1): Ricardo, Caneira, Ricardo Costa, Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Costinha, Petit, Deco, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Nuno Gomes. ●Players To Watch Portugal Ronaldo: In his 40th appearance for the Quinas' at absolute level, the number 17 will want to make a mark that establishes him as one of the undisputed figures in the Portuguese attack. The Man United star is beginning to mature and knows that the build-up to the Euro 2008 is the perfect time to put the tantrums and tears behind and move into the spotlight as a man to be reckoned with. Nani: The Sporting Lisbon winger is burning up pitches with his lightning runs and goalbound impetus. His debut against Denmark was one of the few totally positive aspects that Scolari noted in the new Selecção, and was crowned by a superb goal that rewarded the young gun with the sort of attention he's long been deserving. Finland Jai Litmanen: It's going to be hard for Finland to ever replace this player. He may not have shown his best work at either FC Barcelona or Liverpool after being virtually every club's object of desire when at Ajax, but he truly deserves the title of living legend. The most-capped Finnish player with 103 appearances at national level also boasts the top scorer title with 27 strikes to his name. Could it be that tomorrow sees him add to that total? An entire nation would say yes. --

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