Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, a Brazilian, praised European football Wednesday, just hours before the great football classic between Brazil and Argentina, the dpa reported.
"The Euro is a World Cup without Brazil, Argentina and perhaps Paraguay. Because Paraguay has appeared very strong in several South American tournaments," Scolari noted.
Portugal were set to play Germany Thursday in the Euro quarter- finals, and Scolari made it clear that he sees no "easy teams" among his men's potential rivals at the tournament.
South American national teams, in turn, are immersed in the region's qualifying round towards the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Paraguay currently leads the qualifiers, followed by Argentina.