The Besiktas striker has faith in his side’s abilities and is confident of progression to the final.
The 28-year old Portugal international, who has a slim chance of being in the starting line up of his side’s clash against Germany is not worried about the claims made in the press. Many pundits have tipped the Seleccao to fail
in the first hurdle of the 2012 European Championship.
The Iberian side, who are drawn in the same Group as Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, face an uphill task of getting through to the next round.
The Portuguese went close to winning the Euro 2004 on their own home soil, but were frustrated by plucky Greece. Almeida believes memories of that final in Lisbon will spur them to give their best in this year’s tournament.
"We have been close before and I hope this will be our year. In regards to a surprise, this is a very short tournament,” he is quoted as saying in an interview.
The former Werder Bremen man believes that this tournament is capable of springing a surprise, and he reckons that, in recent times the European Championship has proved to be more difficult than the World Cup due to the quality
of sides involved.
"As you know, whoever is better at a certain moment can win. It does not mean the best teams will reach the finals,” he added.
The striker is aware of the amount of individual talent his side posseses and is confident of a good finish if his they play as a tightly knit unit in the tournament.
"We have a lot of quality players who represent the best clubs in the world," the 28-year-old noted,” he further added.
Paulo Bento’s men, on the other hand, would relish the underdogs’ tag; this will take considerable amount of pressure off them. Being in a tough group lowers the expectations back home and allows the team to fulfil its potential,
because a lot of talented teams have crumbled under pressure.
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