With the European Championships having transformed the game in their home country, the Portuguese might have felt as though they had gone a few years back in time as their bus slipped out of Dublin's rush-hour traffic and into Lansdowne Road yesterday evening, writes Emmet Malone

Only the darkening sky looked greyer and less welcoming than the crumbling stadium where tonight's game will be played as the European finalists made their way into the west stand for the first time.

Two of the visitors, Benfica midfielder Petit and Sporting Lisbon goalkeeper Ricardo made their international debuts four years ago in a World Cup qualifier that ended with the two sides tied on a goal apiece, but even they can't have been exactly overjoyed to see the place again.

Both men were named by Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari in his team to start tonight's game, a strong side that includes six of the players that featured in last summer's Euro 2004 final defeat by Greece. Two of the Chelsea team currently dominant in the premiership, Paolo Ferreira and Tiago, will be amongst the starting 11 as will Ronaldo, Deco and Jorge Andrade, all of whom have become central characters in a team that has followed second place to Greece last July with a generally impressive start to the current qualifying campaign.

The bulk of the personnel may be unchanged, but in front of goal the team's fortunes have been transformed since the summer with a side that averaged just over a goal a game in the European finals scoring 20 in their last five games, seven of them against Russia in the last of their first four qualifiers.

"The results against Russia and against Liechtenstein (they drew 2-2) are not normal results," sighed Scolari yesterday, "so I suppose you could say the true form of the team lies somewhere in between.

"Losing to Greece," he continued, "was a disappointment, but we can't hide away with our head in our hands thinking about it forever. I think it's fair to say that the two best teams in Europe reached the final and we should be proud of that. Since then we have been playing well, but we know that Ireland have a good team too and a draw would probably be a good result for us here."

Scolari is generally complimentary about the Irish and the progress he says he has seen Brian Kerr's side make over the last few years, but what he wants his side to take away from tonight's game is not exactly flattering from the home team's perspective.

"They are a good team, strong physically but technically good too and improving a great deal over the last year or too," he says. "I saw them play Brazil here last year so I know very well how tough my players will have it.

"What I want, though, is my players to learn how to react against a team that is very physical when they are playing with a referee who is not going to act in the same way that one would in Portugal or Spain or Italy. That's what we are going to experience when we go to play Slovakia in the World Cup and it is better if we are prepared."

Preparation for this game has been an issue, with the squad meeting up late and only travelling yesterday morning, but there is still a question about the ability of the individual talents contained within the team or the threat they will pose tonight.

At Euro 2004 they showed they could work well both in defence and attack and if Paris Saint Germain striker Pauleta, who was carrying an injury during the tournament, had shown the sort of form then that he has shown since it is hard to imagine how even the Greeks could have prevented Portugal from winning their first major international trophy.

Scolari's confidence in the striker has never waned, it seems, but six goals in the team's last five games have restored the 31-year-old's standing with the public at home too. A player with something of the van Nistelrooy about him, Pauleta is at his best when working deep within the opposition's box where a strong right foot and the ability to use his head well has yielded a healthy return of late.

He travels to Dublin seeking to maintain his recent run of form ahead of the second phase of the World Cup qualifying campaign, but says that it is getting to Germany that is the only real priority.

"I'm a striker so I look to score in every game," he said before training yesterday, "but most of all I want to help this team to the next World Cup. If I can score here then, of course, I will, but if not then it will not matter so much as long as the team does well next month and we keep moving towards the finals together."