By Phil McNulty and Paul Fletcher Our men in Portugal

Cole will have to remember what Ronaldo's favourite trick is

Ashley Cole's memory has not matched his performances during Euro 2004.

After beating Croatia, the Arsenal man was asked about the prospect of facing Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo in the quarter-final against Portugal.

Cole then gave a detailed description of how he had tackled Ronaldo in the FA Cup semi-final and how he had helped quell the threat of the step-over king.

All very impressive until the record books revealed that it was Gael Clichy who was Arsenal's left-back that day.

Chelsea's new manager Jose Mourinho has been keeping himself busy during the tournament - both for business and pleasure.

Mourinho has been aboard Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's magnificent liner parked in Lisbon harbour, and has also been doing a spot of co-commentating on Portuguese television.

And he won praise in the Portuguese media for his "scientific" analysis, delivered in a gloriously deadpan style in contrast to the "helium-fuelled" delivery of his sidekick.

Mourinho had some interesting views on the diamond formation, relevant after the almost inexhaustible debate about England's decision to use the system against Switzerland - or not as it turned out.

Chelsea's new chief was insistent there can be no change to the diamond during the game, declaring it took too much time to perfect to be suddenly introduced mid-match.

Look forward to more strategic tips at Chelsea next season.

It does not take long for the internet to reflect new trends - and spitting seems to be in vogue at Euro 2004.

A journalist in Porto amused himself before Denmark's game with Sweden by playing a game he found on the web.

The idea was to play as Francesco Totti and spit at as many opposition players as possible.

It has not been ascertained whether the Italian has tried the game, but he has had time on his hands while serving a ban for doing the real thing.

Sweden emerged to face the press after their game with Denmark looking most dapper in brown pin-striped suits.

Virtually every other team at Euro 2004 wears casual training gear after a match.

But Swedish skipper Olof Mellberg still managed to give his outfit a more casual edge.

He set his suit off nicely with a pair of Louis Vuitton sandals and also sported a black bin liner slung over his arm.

Auxerre's legendary coach Guy Roux has been showing off his English skills to the assembled press.

In Portugal while working for French television, the Frenchman seemed initially unhappy at conducting interviews in English.

He started out by explaining: "Please, speak slowly and we cannot do this if you are from Liverpool."

But by the end Roux had got into the swing of things and quipped: "You see. I told you my English was very good."