By optimistic, I don't mean that I can enter the quarter-finals, quarter-finals or play beautiful games. When I say optimistic, I mean it can win the championship.
In fact, we can see that Portugal does have the elements to win most championships (except luck, an important element): a reasonable age structure, a stable core, a set of formed styles of play and several alternatives that can cope with various situations, a strong midfield, a solid defense, a relatively relaxed group match, an ideal schedule and the advantage of half the host country (Germany and Portugal are adjacent). The most important thing is that they have a very good coach-of course, if there is anything wrong with him, it is that his efficient front line held the team back in the game, but there is a strong midfield attack line to make up for it, and a Portuguese striker as a human wall is more important than scoring goals, so it should be no problem.
Of course, I must say that the most important reason why I trust Portugal so much is Scolari (I am a follower). He is theNo. 1 in my opinion of the World Cup coach, and I even think that he is the best coach of the national team if only considered subjectively. But now his situation is the same as that of Portugal. Let's just say it doesn't hurt. Everyone agrees that he is a good coach, but no one takes him seriously.
Looking back, it was he who won the World Cup with weak Brazil. When people looked at Brazil's gorgeous offensive line in 2002, how many people remembered that he changed Brazil's consistent 442 generation to 352 generation, which made Ronaldo crazy? It was he who led Portugal, turned a team that was a "dark horse" in 2000 but was beaten back to its original shape in 2002 into a first-class team in Europe, and even took Portugal to an unprecedented height the year before last-although time was running out, Greece finally won the championship strangely, which made Portugal's new style and temperament, which should have been outspoken, forgotten. But I always feel that Scolari would have been crowned king if the Feng Shui had not been right the year before last.
But people still don't recognize him. Even if he is the world champion coach, even if he beat Eriksson without temper, people always think that Brazil made him, and Cristiano Ronaldo made him, not the other way around.
So I have always felt that Scolari's heart should be resentful and demand to prove himself.
To paraphrase an NBA famous saying: Never underestimate the heart of a champion.