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World Cup: Portuguese hope to hit peak fitness

Luis Boa Morte and Nuno Gomes are hoping to be fit in time for Portugal's first World Cup match.

The two players have recovered from injuries which they picked up at the end of the season, team doctor Henrique Jones said on Monday.

Boa Morte, who plays for Fulham, missed the final games of the English Premier League with a muscle strain. Gomes missed Benfica's last five league matches with a left knee injury.

Neither of them featured in Portugal's World Cup warmup games against the Cape Verde Islands and Luxembourg over the past two weeks, but they are aiming to be ready for the country's opener against Angola on Sunday. Neither are expected to start, however.

"Now it's just a question of time to get them into top shape," Jones said.

Like many squads at the World Cup, Portugal features top players coming off a long European season.

Deco, a Champions League winner with FC Barcelona, Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Inter Milan's Luis Figo were regulars for their clubs in domestic league and cup matches as well as European and international games.

The main purpose of a 10-day training camp in southern Portugal was to help the players shake off the pressures of the heavy European schedule, physical trainer Darlan Schneider said.

"Most of the players had strenuous seasons, both physically and emotionally," Schneider said. "But they have all now got over that fatigue."

Some of the squad, though, had a different problem.

Chelsea midfielder Maniche made few appearances after his midseason transfer to Chelsea. Francisco Costinha was in dispute with Dynamo Moscow after expressing a wish to leave the club and didn't play a league game for months. Everton defender Nuno Valente also lacked match practice. Those players have been undergoing a special fitness regime at the training camps in Portugal and, since Sunday, in Germany.

Schneider said the players had not been affected by the change in climate from the intense heat of southern Portugal to the cooler temperatures of northwestern Germany.

"It's much easier to adapt from hot to cold than vice versa," Schneider said.

Jones said the squad was most concerned about avoiding humid conditions.

He added that the medical staff were aiming to build a fitness curve which would reach its peak next Sunday, though avoiding injuries remains the priority.
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