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The sack of Carlos Queiroz – which was preceded by Portugal's unimpressive showing at the 2010 FIFA World Cup – put an end to the national team's frustrating run which begun to build itself after the departure of the retired Luis Figo. In the early moments of this embarrassing period for the former European Championship runners-up, Captain Cristiano Ronaldo was key to Portugal's acceptable results as ex-boss Luiz Felipe Scolari managed to compensate Figo's loss through different tactics.
The Selecção weren't displaying the best football that any fan could dream of, but they did just enough to reach Euro 2008 with Cristiano Ronaldo emerging as the team's top scorer in the qualifiers. But just as the star winger was expected to power Portugal to more success ahead of the competition in Switzerland and Austria, his fitness suffered a setback.
It eventually blew the Selecção's chances of going one better than they had done four years back in their own country; Portugal couldn't stand Germany's forces in the quarter-finals of the tournament. They crashed out at the expense of Joachim Lowe's men who subsequently lost to Spain in the final whereas Captain Cristiano Ronaldo had to go through an ankle operation under the advice of doctors.
Following his return to the Portuguese national team, the former Manchester United play maker needed time to adjust and adapt to the tactics of Luiz Felipe Scolari's successor, Carlos Queiroz. In fact, it seemed like Cristiano Ronaldo never found himself on the pitch for the Selecção anymore: his influential performances and goals had been substituted by poor shows, petulant body language and a two-year goal drought – much to the anxiety and annoyance of Portugal's supporters.
The country's national football team couldn't hide its problems from the public as Portugal's 1-0 defeat to Spain in South Africa revealed Carlos Queiroz's lack of control over his players. Time was running fast down the clock for the ex-Manchester United assistant who later got replaced by Paulo Bento following Portugal's alarming start to the Euro 2012 qualification campaign.
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