Now is time for art of Deco

"National anthems can be learned but they aren't felt," he said. It was obvious who he was getting at.

Deco, born and raised in Brazil, had come here as a 20-year-old. At the time, his comments seemed to divide the country but Scolari, Brazilian himself of course, ignored the controversy, selected Deco and once he'd scored on his debut - ironically, against Brazil - the debate was supposed to be dead in the water.

Certainly, a year on, no one here seems bothered where he hails from as long as he offers more options than Rui Costa, whose somnolence in the first 45 minutes on Saturday was in notable contrast to Deco's sparkiness after the break.

Still, though, the issue won't disappear since Figo recently insisted that he stood by his comments, prompting Deco to reportedly respond tartly: "Figo can say what he wants - it's a free country - but only Scolari picks the team."

When it was suggested that Figo, Rui Costa and captain Fernando Couto had undermined team spirit with supposed opposition to Deco's presence, the fiercest defence of Portuguese unity came from an intriguing source. "It's just a lie, we are all friends," said Helder Postiga. "We're united and if it had been up to us, we'd have taken on Russia on Sunday morning because we're all so determined to atone for our mistake."

It is fascinating to see how the 20-year-old striker is regarded here.

He's perceived not as some Premier League misfit but, like Ronaldo, as the future of Portuguese football. There are those here who'd rather see either of them, rather than Nuno Gomes, drafted in to support Pauleta up front tonight.

Ronaldo, it seems, will get the nod but there is still the outside possibility that at the back Scolari could drop Paulo Ferreira, Chelsea's new £13million man, because he was so dismal on Saturday, and give a chance up front to a Spurs player who was dismal all season.

Nobody is suggesting the unthinkable that Figo himself be dropped but a widespread sentiment here is that, even though he looks morose at the best of times, the old soldier seemed worn down with the responsibility of carrying a team which appeared paralysed with nerves on Saturday. There were times when he appeared to be trying almost too hard.

Yet he remains their talisman. There have been plenty of re-runs of that thunderous strike against England in the Euro 2000 opener which transformed their fortunes when they were almost down and out and inspired them to go on to the semifinals.

An even better bet, though, could prove to be the state of their opposition, who have so far vied for the title of the competition's worst team. The Russians' disharmony makes the Portuguese look like the Osmonds, with their most experienced midfielder Alexander Mostovoi yesterday being kicked out of the squad for saying coach Georgy Yartsev was flogging them too hard in training.

"The gentleman didn't believe in the team's chances and he made that public. I don't consider that is acceptable from a player of his experience," intoned Russian team press chief Alexander Chernov, but the Russian football federation were apparently less happy about the decision to ditch Mostovoi.

If this was all music to Scolari's ears, he wasn't about to let on. He gives away nothing other than that, as ever, he's going to do it his way. For Big Phil's sake, you would not wish his way to be the wrong way for it may be hard for this nation to forgive him.