Portugal coach Scolari confident in winning first match

GEVENA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Portugal coach Luis Felipe Scolari was confident that his team could score an opening match victory over Turkey at Euro 2008 which kicks off on Saturday.

On the eve of the match to be played in Geneva, the Brazilian, who steered Portugal to the final in the 2004 Euro, said: "We have an extremely talented squad with a midfield which is the envy of almost every team in Europe. To do well at a tournament like this you have to believe you will be there until the bitter end.

"I know we are good enough to win this tournament, but right now we have to focus on the first match. We lost our first game against Greece four years ago and put a great deal of pressure on ourselves. A victory would be the perfect start to get us in the winning mood."

Scolari has twice encountered Turkey during his tenure as Brazil coach at the FIFA World Cup in 2002. "I have a lot of respect for the Turkish team," he said. "They play like a South American team. Most people expect us to beat them but they forget Turkey lost very narrowly to my Brazil team in a World Cup semifinal. They are strong starters so we must be careful."

Portugal are expected to play a 4-3-3 formation with Petit playing in front of a defense consists of Bosingwa, Ricardo Carvalho, Pepe and Paulo Ferreira. That allows Joao Moutinho and Deco the freedom to push forward from midfield to support their attack.

But Cristiano Ronaldo will pose the most threat to Turkey. "It is not about just one man marking him," confessed Turkish Terim. "You defend as a team and I am not going to criticise one player for failing to stop Ronaldo. He is the best player in the world but we have practiced a number of systems which will help contain him."

Terim said there will be no major surprises in his starting lineup. "We have a number of systems to choose from but we will not make any radical changes," he said. "We haven't beaten Portugal since 1955 but we have reversed the tide before and why not this time?"