Portugal caps 23-man roster with 3-1 win over Cameroon

There were some real telling friendlies within the last few days in case you weren't paying attention. The Netherlands showed that "Clockwork Orange" is back with a thumping 4-1 win over a Ghana side that is really reeling with the loss of Essien and a few other key players. Don't sleep on the Dutch - this is my sleeper team to finally win their first cup.

Other key games, Australia nipping Denmark another World Cup side, 1-0, Paraguay knocking off Greece 2-0 - as Rich said don't sleep on Paraguay they are a strong South American attacking side - and Serbia tying Poland 0-0, and Costa Rica knocking off Switzerland 1-0.

But one team that is also being talked about as a sleeper that had looked more like it was playing asleep leading up to the World Cup was Portugal, who finally awoke with a convincing 3-1 win in which midfielder Raul Meireles scored two terrific strikes and my boy Nani hit another one of his world class chips for delicious goal to cap it. Of course Samuel Eto'o was red carded and did not play much of the match, but Portugal finally looked like a team that is capable of making a World Cup semifinals or beyond as they did in 2006.

Here are the highlights:

Portugal was also one of the last teams to announce their final 23-man World Cup roster. As Rich said Pepe, a sometimes controversial defender for Real Madrid, was one of the last players to be declared fit for the World Cup and as such was put on the roster.

Portugal should have no problems scoring goals with the Ronaldo leading the attack and sidekicks Nani, Simao, Hugo Almeida, Danny, and Leidson. But to be perfectly honest they have questions marks everywhere else. The defense is old or injury prone or not match fit - led by Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, and Pepe. And like the defense the midfield is either old or unproven led by Deco, who barely saw the light of day in England this past season and by that I mean playing time, believe me I know it rains there every day. Meireles two goals had to be good news, but still this is a team that as recently as a week and a half ago tied the Cape Verde Islands 0-0. Make of that what you will, but here's the roster:

Goalkeepers: Eduardo (FC Braga), Beto (FC Porto), Daniel Fernandes (Iraklis).

Defenders: Duda (Malaga), Bruno Alves (FC Porto), Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea), Miguel Brito (Valencia), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Rolando (FC Porto), Fabio Coentrao (Benfica), Pepe (Real Madrid), Ricardo Costa (Lille).

Midfielders: Deco (Chelsea), Tiago (Atletico Madrid), Raul Meireles (FC Porto), Pedro Mendes (Sporting), Miguel Veloso (Sporting Lisbon).

Forwards: Nani (Manchester United), Simao Sabrosa (Atletico Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen), Danny (Zenit St. Petersburg), Liedson (Sporting Lisbon).