Portugal's World Cup back midfield situation

Portugal's World Cup inches closer and we continue out serioes on Portugal's World Cup situation with our look at the back midfield. Portugal coach Carlos Quieroz usually plays with a formation of 1-3-2-4-1 due to Portugal's immense midfield talent. Quieroz has used Pepe in the back two midfield postions before but with Pepe not at 100% it looks best to use players that are accustomed to the positions then to rely on a player who has not seen much action over the last few months. Portugal looks to be taking at least 9 midfielders to the World Cup which would include the attacking front three out of these 9 we assume that 3 to 4 will be able to play in the back end of the midfield one who is a defensive specialist and the other who helps on both sides of the pitch with a little more freedom to roam.

The Inside Track:

Raul Meireles (FC Porto) 27 years old
Portugal stats- 31 Caps, 3 goals
2009/10 Season stats- 22 games played, 2 goals

Tiago (Atletico Madrid) 28 years old
Portugal stats- 49 Caps, 1 goal
2009/10 Season stats- 19 games played, 1 goal

Joao Moutinho (Sporting) 23 years old
Portugal stats- 26 Caps, 1 goal
2009/10 Season stats- 24 games played, 4 goals

On the Bubble:

Miguel Veloso (Sporting) 23 years old
Portugal stats- 10 Caps, 1 goal
2009/10 Season stats- 21 games played, 2 goals

Pedro Mendes (Sporting) 31 years old
Portugal stats- 5 Caps, 0 goals
2009/10 Season stats- 13 games played, 0 goals

Maniche (Cologne) 32 years old
Portugal stats- 52 Caps, 7 goals
2009/10 Season stats- 23 games played, 2 goals

Carlos Martins (Benfica) 27 years old
Portugal stats- 5 Caps, 1 goal
2009/10 Season stats- 14 games played, 3 goals

Outside shot:

Manuel Fernandes (Valencia) 24 years old
Portugal stats- 4 Caps, 1 goal
2009/10 Season stats- 11 games played, 0 goals

Ruben Micael (FC Porto) 23 years old
Portugal stats- 0 Caps, 0 goals
2009/10 Season stats- 26 games played, 2 goals

Ruben Amorim (Benfica) 25 years old
Portugal stats- 0 Caps, 0 goals
2009/10 Season stats- 21 games played, 2 goals

Flavio Meireles (Guimaraes) 31 years old
Portugal stats- 0 Caps, 0 goals
2009/10 Season stats- 18 games played, 1 goal