ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Whisper it quietly, but this Confederations Cup might just prove to be exactly the transformative fortnight Portugal had wanted. While there is little gain in getting carried away by a 4-0 win over New Zealand, the European champions are gathering momentum and the identities of two players who made decisive impacts in steering them to the semifinals give cause for optimism.
While Cristiano Ronaldo was named man of the match for the third time in a row -- having started the rout with a first-half penalty -- two of Portugal's newer generation had more-convincing claims to the headlines and suggested they could be in the starting lineup to stay.