'Portugal are better than ever'

As Deco continues his recovery from a thigh injury, his FC Barcelona side are closing in on a place in the UEFA Champions League knockout stage while Portugal have qualified for UEFA EURO 2008™. In the latest entry in his uefa.com diary, he explains why he thinks this Portugal team are better than the one that reached the 2006 FIFA World Cup semi-finals and suggests Olympique Lyonnais will have a mountain to climb against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.

Deco's diary

Everybody knows I am Brazilian but I play football for Portugal, the country that gave me my big break. I didn't go to Portugal for our final UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifiers yet over the last fortnight I have been talking to my colleagues and the coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari. It has been a complicated campaign, right down to the last match, but I'm glad we finally got through. I didn't expect it to be that tight. We had some tough moments and we didn't have much luck, especially in the home draws against Poland and Serbia. We deserved to win both games but conceded late goals.

I don't know if we are going to win the EURO yet we are a better side now than in the 2006 World Cup, when we reached the semi-finals. Some of the players are more experienced and there are other new talents, like Ricardo Quaresma, Miguel Veloso and Nani. We will miss Luís Figo, who was our captain, but now Cristiano Ronaldo is more mature and he's got the qualities to be a key player. We have more options now in the past.

We are taking my treatment slowly to avoid any setbacks. During a recovery programme, you always run the risk of falling into a trap whereby you think you are fit to play, but your body isn't ready. I'm feeling better. I guess in about ten days I will be back training with my team-mates. It's very frustrating to be out of the team, watching and waiting. It's the hardest part, to see everybody training when you can't do the same. But I try to give them my support. I watch all of Barcelona's games. The team are playing well at home, but it's obvious we have problems when we play away from Camp Nou. We can improve and do a better job in that sense. The fact we can't win away is causing some controversy here in Spain. It is more of a press thing, though. Inside the dressing room I don't see any crisis going on.

Our next match in the UEFA Champions League is at Olympique Lyonnais, who I had thought would be our main rivals at the top of our group. The fact is, they need this victory more than we do, because a draw combined with a Rangers FC win would see them almost out of contention. It is better when you play a desperate side, because you can control the game and the emotions more. It is not that we don't want to win, but we don't actually need to, so it makes things easier.

As well as all the big names in our team, such as Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry, I'd like to mention a youngster called Bojan Krkić. He's an easy-going lad, with a good family structure. He's very focused. There is always a good reason when a young boy comes into the first team: he has to be very good. He is acquiring experience that will serve him for his entire life. Bojan has everything to succeed. But the responsibility right now is ours, not his. People have to take it slowly with youngsters like him.