Figo tips Pauleta for glory

Though the striker is 29-years-old like Figo, he has not enjoyed the glittering career of his compatriot, but the Real Madrid man feels this will change after the tournament.

Asked by fifa.com who he thought would be establish themself as a star of the tournament, Figo said: "I hope it will be a Portuguese player, maybe our striker Pauleta."

After two unspectacular seasons at Deportivo la Coruna, Pauleta has had two back-to-back 20-goal seasons at Bordeaux and comes into the tournament in prime form, which he proved by scoring in the pre-tournament friendly against China.

Pauleta is 25/1 to be the tournament top scorer

Figo himself is recovering well from an ankle injury that hindered him during the latter part of the 2001/2002 season and contributed to his below-par performance in the Champions League final.

"I'm happy to be able to tell you that my ankle is a lot better. My recovery is just a matter of time.

"There's no doubt that every year, we have more and more matches to play and less and less time to recover. That's the way it goes. Recovery time has shrunk for everyone."

Possessing what many people regard as the finest Portuguese side of all time, even better than the Eusebio-inspired 1966 semi-finalists, Figo is understandably confident and determined to not let down his couuntry's sky-high expectations.

"For Portugal, playing in the tournament will taste especially sweet, because it's 16 years since we last reached a final phase of the FIFA World Cup, which means the most to Portuguese football fans.

"We are setting out with expectations sky-high. Falling at the first hurdle would be nothing less than a crushing failure.

"Our aim is to reach the Final. But we'll be taking it one step at a time. Let's get through the group stage first. After that, we shall see."