Ever since the Portuguese U-21 had won the Youth World Championship in 1991, Portugal`s "Golden Generation" threatened to become a force to be reckoned with in international football. As no other European nation had a comparable set of exceptionable youngsters at that time, the Portuguese found themselves to be the object of flattery on the part of foreign experts like Dutchman Ruud Gullit who commended their highly technical style as being "sexy football" before the Portuguese Seleccao had even qualified for the quarterfinal. By the time Portugal was definitely through, their team had come to be widely talked about as "the Brazilians of Europe". In their last group match, Europe`s Brazilians fielded a B-team which, in demolishing Croatia`s A-team with three goals to nil , delivered one of the most impressive performances in the history of the competition - one of which the very team the Portuguese owed their sobriquet to, the reigning World Champions BRAZIL, would have had every reason to be proud.

What happened next ? The "Brazilians of Europe" entered the tournament`s knockout stage as group winners and huge title favourites.
Did they underestimate their opponents, the Czechs who, after beating the mighty Italians 2-1, had drawn with Russia in their last group match (3-3) ? The Portuguese simply choked under the weight of expectations. Having failed to qualify for the World Cup two years prior, Portugal`s early exit from the EURO in England would be followed by Europe`s Brazilians missing out on the World Cup in France.