One of the most memorable (but underachieving)
international football teams of all time was Portugal’s so-called “Golden
Generation”.
A spectacularly talented team whose prime years spanned
from the mid-1990s to early 2000s, this iteration of A Seleção that contained
legends such as Fernando Couto, Rui Costa, Pauleta, Nuno Gomes, and of course,
former Ballon d’Or winner Luís Figo, could never quite put it together in
tournament play.
They were knocked out in the semifinals of Euro 2000 and
were runners-up in the 2004 edition. These two deep runs, however, came among
some shocking failures. Portugal were knocked out in the quarterfinals of Euro
1996 and the group stage of the 2002 World Cup and, most shockingly of all,
failed to qualify for the 1998 World Cup.
The post-Golden Generation years proved to be lean for
Portugal. Despite being led by Cristiano Ronaldo, they only made a tournament
semifinal once between 2008 and 2014, and later made an early exit from the
2018 World Cup. Although Portugal did win Euro 2016, this victory was largely
seen as an outlier and a one-off.
This is not the case anymore, though.
Portugal’s 1-0 victory over the Netherlands saw them add
the UEFA Nations League title to their European Championship title. Gonçalo
Guedes’ goal proved to be the difference-maker against the Oranje.
This current Portugal team has proven that life in the
post-Ronaldo era will not be difficult. They have also made something else
evident: this is the best Portugal team since the Golden Generation. In fact,
it might arguably be even better.
Obviously, this team is currently built around Ronaldo.
However, the Juventus striker is now 34 and on the decline. For this reason,
the abundance of young talent representing Portugal is an extremely positive
sign. Players such as Raphaël Guerreiro, Guedes, Rúben Neves, João Cancelo,
Bernardo Silva, and Nélson Semedo, who are all aged 25 or younger, have all
shown tremendous potential and appear to have very bright futures. Silva in
particular has stood out. Having deservedly been selected as the Nations
League’s MVP, the Manchester City winger has proven that after Ronaldo, he
might be the next superstar around whom Portugal can build their team.
The Lisbon-born player has arguably already supplanted
Kevin De Bruyne as the best player at City. His greatest attributes - his
decision-making, versatility, and intensity – were on full display throughout
the campaign. Although the Belgian star missed most of the season through
injury, Silva’s outstanding play ensured that the Citizens did not miss a beat
during De Bruyne’s absence. The Nations League victory capped off what has been
easily the best season of Silva’s promising career.
Head coach Fernando Santos also deserves much credit for
the success of this new generation.
When Santos succeeded Paulo Bento in 2014, he inherited a
team seemingly devoid of any verve, spirit, freshness, or even any semblance of
a plan other than “get the ball to Ronaldo and have him do all the work”. It
wasn’t long before the former Porto and Greece coach revamped the team by
placing a new emphasis on young talent, and thereby changed Portugal’s fortunes
for the better.
The changes made by Santos culminated in a victory at
Euro 2016. At the time, this was seen by most as a victory that came out of
nowhere. This belief was only strengthened when Portugal were knocked out by
Uruguay in the 2018 World Cup’s round of 16. However, this recent Nations
League victory has proven that Portugal’s World Cup failure was merely a blip
and that this team is a bona fide powerhouse and will remain one for the
foreseeable future. This represents a turn of events that few could have
predicted after Bento’s dismissal following an upset loss to Albania.
The shadow of the Golden Generation has hung over every
Portugal team since. This is not surprising, because it had been the greatest
collection of talent to ever wear the famous red jersey – until, perhaps, now.
Considering the relative youth of many of the core pieces
of Portugal’s current team and what they have already accomplished, they will
definitely be among the favourites to win the 2022 World Cup.
We might very well be witnessing the “Platinum
Generation” in action.
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