Big Phil Adds Steel to the Golden Generation ; Spotlight On Euro 2004 Group A: Four Days to the Big Kick-Off: Ian Chadband Reports From Lisbon Where an Expectant Host Nation Believes They Can Finally Fulfil Their Promise Under a World Cup Winning Coach

Evening Standard - London › June 09, 2004

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Summary

A NATION stopped to listen and, frankly, there appeared to be no way here of avoiding the news even if anyone wanted to. Giant screens dotted around this city showed the same stern medic talking about Luis Figo's leg muscle strain. Don't worry, he was apparently telling his compatriots, the great man was going to be okay. Hooray!

If you're one of those who despair about football hype gradually taking over our world, then Portugal is probably not the place to be this week. When the national team's press conferences are deemed worthy of live transmission to Lisbon pedestrians, you can gather how Euro 2004 is being packaged here in the build-up to Saturday's curtain-raiser against Greece in Porto.

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Big Phil Adds Steel to the Golden Generation ; Spotlight On Euro 2004 Group A: Four Days to the Big Kick-Off: Ian Chadband Reports From Lisbon Where an Expectant Host Nation Believes They Can Finally Fulfil Their Promise Under a World Cup Winning Coach

Portugal is even more obsessed than usual because, for a change, Portugal believes.

Normally, folk here tell you, fans are generally as downbeat as we are in England about the chances of the national team actually succeeding in a ma...

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