If we want to make comparisons with the current England team, it will be to say that the Portuguese have a pair of dazzling wingers and a splendidly versatile midfielder whose absence from the first game against Angola was certainly all too palpably influential.
England in fact, as we know, do have a genuine winger in the electric Aaron Lennon, as he showed once again the big-match temperament to go with his pace, skill and ability to go past the opposing full-back on the outside and hit the line.
So long as Sven-Göran Eriksson continues to suffer from a severe case of what we might call “Beckhamitis”, determined to use his captain at all costs, even if it means, as it did against Trinidad, shifting him to right-back to allow Lennon to appear, the Tottenham winger is likely to have only restricted chances.
By sharp contrast, Portugal possess beyond a doubt two of the best wingers in the world, in Luis Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo. They switch flanks constantly, which must confuse the opposition. In the very first minute, Figo pulled the ball back threateningly across the Iran goal, and somebody should have been there to take advantage.
Both wingers were in exuberant form, and behind them, Deco was making bullets for his team to fire and of course firing that gloriously spectacular bullet himself to put Portugal finally ahead in the 63rd minute. But who was it who shrewdly and precisely crossed the ball to him from the left for his first-time drive? Why, Luis Figo.
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Portugal coach Luis Felipe Scolari was happy enough, declaring that this was Portugal’s best performance for the last eight games, delighting in the fact that, for the first time in 40 years, they had reached the last 16.
It was of course in 1966 that their sparkling side, with Mario Coluna deploying that powerful left foot, actually survived a 3-0 deficit in the quarter-final against North Korea, to win 5-3, and were pressing England hard for the equaliser as the home team palpably ran out of steam in the closing minutes of the quarter-final at Wembley.
Deco, voted man of the match, spoke in modest generalities. “All teams that played their first game had difficulties. That’s normal. Many people said that Angola were a weak team and we could win by three or four goals, but you saw that Mexico couldn’t beat them.”
“It’s fantastic to see the improvement in the team,” said Scolari. “And they have not reached their peak. The teams are very even, all in good condition, and in 90 minutes any one of the five or six best teams can have an off day and be eliminated because it’s now the knockout phase.
“Those who make fewest mistakes and those who create more difficulties for their opponents have better chances. We put in a good performance in the first half but didn’t score. We operated at the same pace in the second half and we scored.”
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Yet he may have been worried at several chances made by a solid Iran team, such as in the 41st minute when his defence seemed to fall asleep, leaving Javad Nekounam all alone in the box, only for the chance to be wasted. In the second half, just before Ronaldo put in his penalty, an excellent Iranian move set up a header for Vahid Hashemian to which goalkeeper Ricardo had to respond athletically.
All in all, Portugal have awoken, but can hardly be counted among the favourites.