When you think of the Portuguese National Team, it is almost impossible to think of anything other than Cristiano Ronaldo. Unfortunately for the Real Madrid forward, he is not always able to put the nation on his back and carry them forward, leaving a lot of questions to be asked of Portugal's strikers.
From Hugo Almeida to Helder Postiga, Paulo Bento is not left with a pure goal scorer, making things extremely difficult in front of goal. While Hugo Almeida has the size, he is not all that convincing in front of goal, and does not always make things easy on himself.
The Besiktas striker has scored 17 goals for his country since earning his first senior level appearance, but only one of those came on the big stage. One goal against North Korea at World Cup 2010 leaves Almeida searching for consistency on the international stage. Making his stats even more interesting is the fact that he has only managed to score against one team in the top ranking of FIFA, which was against Spain in a friendly that Portugal won 4-0 at the Estadio da Luz in 2010.
So what does that say for Almeida and his presence on the Portuguese squad? Well, I believe his presence matters due to his size and ability to cause problems in the opponents 18 yard-box, but he is far from deserving a starting role.
With Almeida not really the type of striker Portugal needs to start every match, Helder Postiga has been getting the most playing time, but he also has made a limited impact.
Postiga has 13 more appearances for Portugal, while having netted eight more goals than his teammate. His advantage in goals scored could come down to the fact that he is more of a regular in the Portuguese squad, but Postiga has also managed to score three goals in three different tournaments.
He got a very important goal against England during Euro 2004 which sent the Estadio da Luz into complete chaos, leading to the Portuguese eliminating the Three Lions after a penalty shoot-out. A second goal in Portugal's 2-3 defeat against Germany at Euro 2008 gave the Portuguese a glimmer of hope, but an equalizing goal never arrived. His third goal came against Denmark at Euro 2012 when he put Portugal in the lead 0-2 in a match that they went on to win 2-3.
While the Zaragoza striker has made his fair share of contribution to the National Team, he is far away from making the same impact Nuno Gomes or Pedro Pauleta made. Combined, these two Portuguese legends scored 76 goals for their country, with 11 coming in major tournaments, putting them among some of the Portuguese greats.
Knowing that neither of them is going to walk through the door anytime soon given Pauleta's retirement and Nuno Gomes' age and lack of playing time at Blackburn Rovers, Paulo Bento is now left with a big decision to make. A decision that regardless of the outcome, will have some fans happy while their will also be some fans who will be upset.
Calling On An Outsider
The idea of calling up a player who was not born in Portugal, or at least a descendent of a Portuguese family was something that was never really discussed among Portuguese fans. Why would they have to? They had players such as Pauleta, Nuno Gomes, Rui Costa, Luis Figo, etc., so where was the need to even have that cross their mind?
Fast forward things a few years, and now the Portuguese are left with a hole in their attack that no matter who they put their, they are unable to fill it properly. Postiga looks all out of sorts, lacking confidence and the fact that the expectations of Portuguese fans are so high, he does not have much room for error. Patience are running thin, so the next option some Portuguese fans are calling on is to call up Benfica's Lima.
Lima was born in Brazil, but he has played in the Portuguese League since 2009 when he signed with Belenenses, making him eligible to apply for Portuguese Citizenship. Is this a good idea? For right now, even though Lima is 29 years old, he would at least be able to contribute in two, if not three major tournaments, given Portugal qualifies.
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He is a proven goal scorer and has shown interest in representing the Portuguese side, but does that make it right? As I mentioned, before Deco, Pepe and Liedson came along, this was not something that would cross the mind of a Portuguese fan, but with these three having spent time on the Portuguese side, this thought process is starting to become the norm.
I have always been a firm believer that a player who represents a country should at least have some connection to that country through family and not just a piece of paper, but my opinion does not matter. Heck, I also think that a nation's manager should be from that country and players should not be paid to represent their country, but again, what does my opinion matter.
Bringing Deco, Pepe and Liedson on board opened up a big can of worms which for some is ok, but for others, it is not as appealing. Portuguese fans have lived in the shadow of some of the world's greatest, and lately, they have had to live in the big shadow of their neighbors Spain.
Should Lima be considered for a spot in the Portuguese squad? My argument is that if I was an up and coming Portuguese striker and I saw my possibility of representing my country limited due to a situation like this, I would be significantly upset, but that is just me. Does that mean players like Nelson Oliveira would take it personally, or would that be added motivation to make them work harder to earn the manager and the nation's trust? Honestly, only those players who would be directly affected by it would be able to answer, but you would think that it would cause more frustration than motivation.
If the Portuguese Federation does make the decision to add Lima, he will be respected by all the Portuguese fans, although they may not all agree with the decision. Scoring goals to help him prove that he deserves the spot will be his main priority, but if this was to happen, would he truly be able to win over the fans, or would he turn out to have the same impact Liedson had?
Do you think players who are not descendant of a country should have the option of playing for them?
