The fighting spirit and no-nonsense approach of the Portuguese manager is reflected in how his team play, writes PADDY AGNEWin Krakow

WHEN PORTUGAL opened up this tournament with a 1-0 defeat by Germany, the prognostications seemed to be going to plan. After all, the poor old Portuguese were drawn in the infamous “Group of Death” with Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark.

The smart money said the first side eliminated from this group would be Portugal. In the past, that miserable start would have killed off other Portuguese teams.

This Portuguese side, however, has been in this sort of tight hole before, and got out of it.

In a dramatic qualifying group, they opened up with an unconvincing 4-4 draw at home to Cyprus and followed that with a 1-0 away defeat by Norway.

With one point from their first two games, they looked as if they were not going to make it.

That was the moment when Paulo Bento was summoned to replace coach Carlos Queiroz, the former Manchester United assistant coach who had been seen by media and fans alike as much too cautious for flamboyant Portuguese tastes.

If the fans thought they were going to get someone devoted to attack at all costs, however, they were to be disappointed.

In a distinguished playing career which included spells with Benfica and Sporting Lisbon, Bento made a name for himself as a chasing, covering, midfield ball winner.

He was no Eusebio, no Deco, no Rui Costa neither. He did an immediate job for Portugal, though, winning five successive qualifiers to earn a place in the play-offs, where Portugal hammered Bosnia 6-2.

To some extent, this Portugal team reflects that background. For example, under Bento, the brightest star in the Portuguese firmament, Cristiano Ronaldo, of course, has been at least partially “restrained”.

No longer free to wander where the notion takes him, Ronaldo is largely confined to a left wing position in a three-man attack which features Real Zaragoza’s Helder Postiga in the centre and Manchester United’s Nani on the right.

The results have been there for all to see as, especially against the Netherlands, Ronaldo gave one of his most impressive performances for the national team in a 2-1 victory, in which he not only scored both goals but also created at least another two clear chances.

Home critics often argue that Ronaldo performs much better for club – now Real Madrid, of course, where he scored 60 goals in the season just ended – than for his country. In the regimented Bento team, however, he seems to be doing very nicely.

Bento puts it this way: “Cristiano was our top scorer in qualifying. Some people always want more from him but as far as I am concerned he has always been an exemplary professional . . . but we cannot be always expecting him to wrap up a game for us.”

It would seem, too, the 42-year-old Bento, the youngest coach here, has the whole team thinking along the same lines when it comes to Ronaldo, judging by what midfielder Raul Meireles said yesterday:

“The important thing is that Ronaldo is one of the most professional players I have ever come across . . . He gives his all at every training session . . . He is our leader and, on the pitch, there is no one who wants to win more than him.”

Whilst Ronaldo is clearly the glamour boy of this side, Bento serves as a serious antidote. He tends to be reserved, restrained but tough and uncompromising.

When experienced players Ricardo Carvalho and Jose Boswinga squabbled with him, he simply dropped them from the squad. Real Madrid man Carvalho even apologised, but to no avail, after he had stormed out of a training camp when told that he would not be playing in a qualifier against Cyprus.

Asked yesterday if he felt his team were now the favourites for this evening’s quarter-final clash with the Czech Republic in Warsaw, Bento gave a classically understated answer: “We don’t claim to be favourites and it won’t be easy. We have to keep up our work and the quality that we have shown so far. Then maybe we can even reach the semi-finals.”

To do so, of course, would be no new experience, given that in the last eight years, Portugal have reached the Euro 2004 final and the Germany 2006 World Cup semi-final. If they do overcome the industrious Czechs, then it will be either France or Spain waiting for them in the semi-final.

At that point, even coach Bento’s discipline and organisation may not be enough, but it has already taken them further than many predicted.