Queiroz: The doors are wide open (Portugal)

Carlos Queiroz is wrapped up in the excitement that only the FIFA World Cup™ can deliver: the Portugal coach is finally poised for involvement in the sport's showpiece event.

He is, however, intimately familiar with the tournament's host nation, South Africa. Queiroz, indeed, spent two years at the helm of Bafana Bafana, guiding them to qualification for Korea/Japan 2002 before resigning before the competition began. With less than 100 days to go until the big kick-off, FIFA.com caught up with the Mozambique-born 57-year-old to discuss A Selecção das Quinas's qualification campaign and preparations for the 19th edition of the FIFA World Cup.

FIFA.com: Carlos, how are Portugal’s preparations going for the tournament?
Carlos Queiroz: Were moving forward. Presently we are just putting all the details in place and trying to create the right harmony. There’s just a little bit of concern with one or two issues: for example, how the players will come to the camp, how they are going to start training, when to travel. To prepare the team with different stages involved is difficult.

With little time remaining until kick-off, what is the most important work left to do?
At this moment, I would say it is to pray for the players not to become injured - that’s the most important thing. Because once you have a clear picture about the situation of your team and views regarding the future, it’s important that everyone is in good shape when it's time to deliver.