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Portugal are certainly one of the squads that have shown the most quality in the first round of group competition. They beat Turkey 2:0 and dominated in all aspects of the play. They hit the woodwork several times and Scolari can be satisfied with the fact that two of his players have scored their first goals.

Moutinho was perhaps the man of the game while Raul Meireles managed to seal the deal after he entered the pitch in the finish. The Portuguese have had the ball in possession during most of the match; back line led by Pepe functioned great.

Perhaps Turkey were not matching rivals but anyway, there are no easy rivals in this competition. Czech Republic also started with a win but the only thing that satisfied Bruckner were points. The Swiss were matching rivals, to say the least, they even had more chances.

The lack of creativity was obvious in Czech play; they clearly miss Rosicky but that can’t be an excuse for the clueless play. Coach has already hinted certain changes in the squad and we are yet to see if he will insist on the formation that left Koller completely isolated in the attack.

Head-to-heads

Czech Republic (including Czechoslovakia) and Portugal have met on 11 occasions, with the Czechs winning four matches and Portugal winning three times. However, their first ever meeting in January 1926 (1-1) is not recognised as an official international by the Czech Federation.

Their last ever meeting was in the quarter-final of Euro 1996 when the Czechs won 1-0 courtesy of a Karel Poborsky goal.

Last EURO 1996 – Czech Republic vs. Portugal 1:0

Team facts - Czech Republic

Deployed their oldest starting line-up in this competition in their opening match against Switzerland. At 29 years and 298 days, their line-up beats the previous oldest starting eleven from 1980 by more than a year.

The win against Switzerland was Karel Bruckner's 50th victory in his 74-match reign as Czech national team boss.

Won their last six competitive matches and are unbeaten in their last eight.

Team facts - Portugal

By beating Turkey in their opening match, Portugal extended their unbeaten streak in competitive matches to 12, their joint second best ever.

Between September 2004 and July 2006, Portugal were unbeaten in 17 competitive matches. Their last defeat in a competitive match was in a Euro 2008 qualifier in Poland (2-1) on 11 October 2006.

Never been awarded a penalty at European Championships. This running streak of 20 matches is a tournament record.

Player facts - Czech Republic

Goalkeeper Petr Cech will meet his Chelsea team mates Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho.

Player facts - Portugal

Against Turkey, Nuno Gomes equalled a Portuguese record by appearing in his third European Championship, a total also achieved by Fernando Couto, Luís Figo and Rui Costa.

If Nuno Gomes scores, he will become the third player to score in three different European Championships, joining Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany) and Vladimir Smicer (Czech Republic). Thierry Henry (France) and Henrik Larsson (Sweden) can also achieve this feat at Euro 2008.

Miscellaneous Info

The Czechs have a good record in matches led by referee Kyros Vassaras.

In 2000, they won a 2002 World Cup qualifier against Iceland (4-0) and in September 2007 a Euro 2008 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland (1-0).

Portugal also have fond memories of referee Vassaras. They beat Sweden (2-3) in a friendly in 2002, crushed Russia (7-1) in a World Cup qualifier in 2004 and recorded a 4-0 win against Belgium in a Euro 2008 qualifier in March 2007.

• Portugal have no injury worries and they are also back to 23 men following the arrival on Sunday of goalkeeper Nuno Espirito Santo to replace the injured Quim as Ricardo's understudy
  

• Brueckner, who can also choose from a full squad, said the team needed improvements in a midfield lacking the creativity of the absent Tomas Rosicky.

Player to watch

Jan Koller  : The big man was ineffective against the Swiss in the opener, but with a change in tactics, Koller could yet prove to be a menace.

Cristiano Ronaldo  : Of course he is the man to watch - and not only for his skills on the pitch. These days his post-match interviews receive just as much attention.

Possible Line Up :

Czech :  Cech, Grygera, Ujfalusi, Rozehnal, Jankulovski, Sionko, Galasek, Matejovsky, Polak, Plasil, Koller.

Manager : Karel Brückner

Portugal  :  Ricardo, Bosingwa, Pepe, Carvalho, Ferreira, Petit, Moutinho, Ronaldo, Deco, Simao, Gomes.

Manager : Luiz Felipe Scolari

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