Fernando Meira turned 30 on Thursday but is happy to wait till Saturday to receive his dream birthday present – victory over Turkey in Portugal's UEFA EURO 2008™ opener in Geneva.
'I still feel young'
The VfB Stuttgart defender may be one of the older members of a relatively young Portugal squad but he is not feeling his age. "I still feel young," said Meira. "And I still have a lot to offer to football. I hope to continue helping our national team become a giant in Europe, which is what I want most. At the moment, victory against Turkey would be the best present."
Team spirit
Meira was a surprise star of the 2006 FIFA World Cup but has been overtaken in the pecking order to partner Ricardo Carvalho by Pepe and Bruno Alves. He is nevertheless happy to wait for his chance and to be part of a group effort. "The important thing is that Portugal are winning," Meira said. "The priority is always the group so the individual comes second. Something that this squad has is a willingness to help each other, a real harmony, no matter who plays and who doesn't."
'Enormous advantage'
That means giving their all on Saturday and worrying about future Group A opponents, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, later. "It would be an enormous advantage to start with a win and a real disadvantage to start with a loss," he admitted. "That's not to say a win would put us through. All the games will be very important, but we have to focus on the first one right now."
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