CONCEICAO: PORTUGAL CAN WIN WORLD CUP

Conceicao, a star of the Portuguese national side that eased to qualification for next summer's World Cup in Japan & Korea, has played starring roles in Serie A for both Parma and Lazio, but has left both clubs in acrimonious circumstances.

"I was very surprised when I was told I was leaving Lazio," Conceicao exclusively told planetfootball.

"I left for my holidays knowing that I would be a key player for the next season and arrived back to find that I had to move to Parma as part of the deal that brought Hernan Crespo to the club.

"I asked myself how it is possible that a player like me, who was instrumental in winning the Scudetto, the Coppa Italia, the Uefa Cup and the Super Cup, could be treated like this.

"I am very proud so I decided if they wanted me to go I would leave for Parma.

"Even now when I visit Rome the fans stop me and thank me for what I did for the club.

"Alberto Malesani [then Parma coach] was a very important boss for me. He gave me the possibility to play on a Sunday without thinking that a bad game would see me dropped.

"This allowed me to concentrate only on my game. Then Sacchi took over and he was a pleasure to work with - even if it was only for one month."

Renzo Ulivieri's subsequent appointment - after Sacchi stood down for medical reasons - saw a bitter spell for the Portuguese flanker.

"He arrived and we had two important games to play - he took me aside and said, 'pick which one you want because I'm not going to play you in both.'

"I was astonished. I picked one and ended up on the bench. There was not a good relationship between us.

"So when Christian Vieri asked me to consider a move to Inter I said yes. Who can turn down Vieri and [Inter supremo] Massimo Moratti?"

Conceicao is one of the first names on Portuguese manager Humberto Coelho's team-sheet, and he believes the quality of the side is up there with the best.

"We are now a perfect team," insists Conceicao. "We are more experienced and finally we have a striker - in the shape of Nuno Gomes - who scores goals.

"We even have Pauleta, and up front, until now, has always been our biggest problem.

"We can do it. We have everything and we can go on until the end."

The winger was not always a guaranteed starter, but an astonishing hat-trick against Germany in Euro 2000 changed his international standing.

"Since the game against Germany I have always started the game," says the Inter star. "After Euro 2000 the coach told me that he was wrong not to play me. That was the best feeling for me."

Conceicao also explained an embarrassing defeat by Udinese in the Coppa Italia - insisting that the team were not just concentrating on more high profile tournaments.

"A team that has 25-27 players has to believe that they can win everything. That is why clubs have large squads.

"When we went 2-0 up we believed we couldn't throw the game away - and we did. It is a pity because I have won the Coppa Italia and I know how wonderful it is to win."