They may be over dependent on Cristiano Ronaldo and struggling to replace old faithfuls, yet under the wily leadership of Fernando Santos, Portugal can still be a threat.
Little more than a year has gone by since Tite took over as coach of a Brazil side still reeling from embarrassing exits in the World Cup and Copa America but in that short time he has transformed the team into favourites for Russia 2018.
PSV Eindhoven beat Heerenveen 4-1 to win the Dutch championship on Saturday for the first time in seven seasons.
Coach Fernando Santos blamed a lack of pace and a failure to stay calm in the frantic final minutes for Portugal's inability to beat rank outsiders Iceland in their Euro 2016 opener on Tuesday.
Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said he was the "proudest man on earth" and lavished praise on his "underdog" team for having the belief to upset five-times champions Brazil on Friday to reach the World Cup semi-finals for only the second time.
Images from football friendlies played on Wednesday.
Summary of World Cup qualifiers played across the world on Thursday
Brazil's women's football team was greeted by hundreds of adoring fans in Manaus on Monday, as their performances and fame all of a sudden eclipsed that of their struggling male counterparts.
Cristiano Ronaldo said he is not obsessed by breaking records and believes Portugal have reached the Euro 2016 final thanks to a team effort after they beat Wales in the last four on Wednesday.
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First half goals from Philippe Coutinho and Neymar were followed by a third from Paulinho after 58 minutes to sink the Argentines and extend their winless run to four games.
The Bavarians have now won the German league title a record 29 times.
IMAGES from the Bundesliga matches played across Germany on Tuesday.
'But I want to be Giovanni and nothing more. It is not easy to live with his greatness. That's why I have to become stronger than him. I have to prove that, if I'm here, it's only because of me'
Benfica coach Rui Vitoria faces another test of his powers of improvisation as he tries to patch up a team without topscorer Jonas against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Ten-man Inter Milan replaced AS Roma atop Serie A, at least for 24 hours, after beating Bologna 1-0 away on Tuesday to end a run of four games without a win but coach Roberto Mancini, who was sent off at the end, wants more from his side.
Benfica, helped by an excellent Champions League debut from goalkeeper Ederson, clung on desperately then scored two late goals to beat Zenit St Petersburg 2-1 and reach the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Debutant Helder Costa opened the scoring on his international debut for an experimental Portugal who made 10 changes from the team which started the 3-2 Nations League win in Poland on Thursday.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Portugal won their first Euro title after defeating France 1-0 at the Stade de France in Paris on Sunday.
Polish fans had bittersweet feelings about their quarter-final exit from Euro 2016 on Friday, frustrated by the shootout loss to Portugal but still rejoicing in their team's best run in a major tournament for decades.
Eight time champions Brazil were held 0-0 by Ecuador in the glamour game as the second day of the centenary Copa America tournament mustered up only one, albeit spectacular, goal from three matches on Saturday.
Photos from the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg match played between Benfica and Zenit St Petersburg at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon on Tuesday
After going two games without a goal and being booed off the field by their own fans, the Brazilian men's soccer team found their scoring touch at the Rio Olympics on Wednesday with a 4-0 win over Denmark that sealed their place in the next round.
Centre forward Eder, who scored the winning goal in the Euro 2016 final against France, was among 10 players from that squad omitted from Santos's list. Other unlucky players included midfielders Andre Gomes and Renato Sanches, forward Nani and defender Eliseu.
When France meet Portugal in Sunday's Euro 2016 final, the outcome is likely to depend on the performances of Cristiano Ronaldo and Antoine Griezmann -- the second time the two players have clashed with a European trophy at stake in six weeks. Portugal's Ronaldo steered Real Madrid to their Champions League triumph at the end of May after his French rival Griezmann missed a penalty for city rivals Atletico.
Portugal head into Sunday's Euro 2016 final after another disciplined performance, proving again in their 2-0 win over Wales that they perform like a well-rehearsed orchestra rather than a solo act. That has a huge amount to do with their 61-year-old conductor and coach Fernando Santos who took charge in September 2014, vowing to put "tactics first and technical ability second".
On a day of frenetic spending that took the Premier League total to a record far above one billion pounds ($1.29 billion), Antonio Conte's side also missed out on two of their other targets - Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Fernando Llorente.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football fieLd
Neymar shed tears of joy after delivering Brazil's first men's soccer gold medal with the winning penalty in a 5-4 shootout triumph over Germany after a thrilling final ended in a draw following extra-time on Saturday.
Portugal proved they can flourish without their talismanic forward Cristiano Ronaldo, at least on the pitch, in beating France to win Euro 2016. Coach Fernando Santos has been trying to reduce their dependency on Ronaldo and his team's ability to live without their alltime leading scorer and captain faced its ultimate test when he was went off injured after 25 minutes of Sunday's final. They passed with flying colours. Relieved of any obligation to pass to Ronaldo every time he was free or allow him to take free kicks, Portugal's players appeared less inhibited without him on the pitch.
Having reached the Euro 2016 semi-finals without winning a game in 90 minutes it is probably time for Portugal fans to stop worrying about their misfiring forwards and instead give credit to the coach and defenders who have got the to the last four.
Substitute Ricardo Quaresma turned in three minutes from the end of extra time as Portugal edged a tense encounter to book a UEFA Euro 2016 quarter-final date with Poland. After 116 minutes in which the teams failed to muster a single shot on target, Ivan Perisic headed against the upright.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Hegerberg hat-trick fires Lyon to fourth straight Champions League
AS Roma's Radja Nainggolan scored his first goal for the club as they edged lowly Bologna 1-0 away in a closely-fought Serie A match on Saturday to move within six points of leaders Juventus.
France substitute Kylian Mbappe engineered two late goals to rescue a 2-2 draw against Iceland and spare the blushes of the world champions in their friendly.
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