In 2002 World Cup, almost everybody thought 葡萄牙黃金一代 would do some damages. They were technically and skillwise much more superior than USA and Korea. With Rui Costa, the 2nd best No.10 in the world then, to direct the offense, on the paper they were already in the second round without even playing a single minute of soccer. The end result was painful for Portugal and its fans. They lost 2-3 to USA and 0-1 to Korea. The good thing was that Portugese did not make excuses that we lost to the quarter-finalist and semi-finalist by only one goal each, respectively. Rather they hired the Big Phil, who took the Brazil to the top for the record fifth time in that very time. With pretty much the same personel, Big phil changed to tactics to follow his formula in Brasil. Now you constantly see three of the following four; Maniche, Costinha, Petit, and Diego guarding the mid-field with out Deco as the lone offensive mid-fielder. Instead of those pretty soccer that drew me as their fan since 96', they have played in a very efficient way. They were only stopped by France in the semi-final because the lack of a true world class forward.