Dimas Ready for Old Friend Zidane
ERMELO, Netherlands, June 26 (Reuters)(DS) - A few seasons ago, Portuguese defender Dimas would have been working hard to help Zinedine Zidane weave his magic. Now he has a rather different response to his former Juventus team mate.
Portugal meet Zidane's France in their Euro 2000 semifinal in Brussels on Wednesday and the left back is proud as ever to remain a close friend of his World Cup-winning midfield opponent.
But Dimas also wants him to realise that he is now playing better than he did in Serie A and that Portugal have one of the tightest defensive records in the tournament after four matches. "Zidane is a very good friend of mine," said the South African-born defender, who joined Juventus in November 1996 and left for Fenerbahce in Turkey in October 1998. "He is someone I respect a lot as a player and outside football he also has a fantastic mentality," he added.
But Dimas, who now plays for Standard Liege in Belgium after a difficult time in Turkey, made it clear that Portugal would be a tough opponent to crack. "The pressure is on and we have been replying to it with results," he said. "We can still go further. It's not finished yet. We have a lot of respect for France but we're going to do our best to try and win. "That's all we are thinking about at the moment."
OLDEST ALLY
Since England went 2-0 up in the first half of Portugal's opening match, before the Portuguese staged an amazing comeback and won 3-2, nobody has scored against Humberto Coelho's invigorating side.
They beat champions Germany 3-0, Romania 1-0 and Turkey 2-0 in the quarter-finals. "Everyone talks a lot about our midfielders and attackers and technique but we mustn't forget that we have been defending very well," declared Dimas, who missed the Germany game but started the others. "We've been working as a bloc, that has helped us in defence and it's been one of the things that has been giving us our success. We have been playing as a whole."
England, Portugal's oldest diplomatic ally, has unwittingly lent a hand in the process. The two early goals conceded to Kevin Keegan's men in Eindhoven could have broken a lesser side. But Dimas and coach Humberto Coelho said that, instead, they had laid the foundations for Portugal's progress through the tournament to the last four. "We suffered two early goals against England but we learned from those two mistakes," said Dimas. "Luckily it was at the start of the competition and it gave us time to clear up a few things."
The Euro 96 tournament in England also helped the Portuguese players mature, with many such as Dimas moving to bigger clubs abroad and developing their game. Dimas was usually a reserve full back at Juventus and his recent form had been patchy. But, like 28-year-old Zidane, the 31-year-old believes he is like a fine wine. "With age, you just get better," he declared.
