Dan Gaspar

Dan Gaspar will be blogging for sportsnet.ca during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa while serving as goalkeeper coach for Team Portugal.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Tiago both got on the scoresheet on Monday.

Portugal team member Dan Gaspar on how the famous 1966 victory inspired the players against North Korea.

MAGALIESBURG, South Africa -- Now, that is how you play football.

Portugal's 7-0 win over North Korea on Monday was obviously a big improvement for the team.

It really was the perfect game for Portugal. We saw great mental preparation from the players so we couldn't have asked for a better effort or a better result. And most importantly, it certainly puts us in a very good position to get through to the next round.

Having six different players score for our team was huge. To have that kind of variation in scoring, from six different players, is tremendous for Portugal.

The team had four changes in the starting line-up from the previous match and that can be a primary motivator for the players. For the coaching staff, it's important to have players who can be called upon at any given moment. We have a roster of 23 and we know we can depend on any of those players to get the job done.

I think the biggest difference between this win and our draw against Ivory Coast was our flank play, quick combinations and deep runs from midfield. They were all very effective. And to the credit of the North Koreans, they came to play. Even though they use a 5-3-2 system, which is a very defensive set-up, they came to play football. With Ivory Coast, they literally parked the bus in front of goal against us and were just totally reliant on counter attacking.

Portugal's only other match against North Korea, the 5-3 comeback win at the 1966 World Cup, certainly served as motivation for our team. Two great players who played that game and were part of that successful run in 1966, Simoes and Eusebio, are here with the team and that's part of the reason why they are here: to offer inspiration and wisdom and to share their knowledge and experiences. I would have to say that was a factor in our performance. And Both Simoes and Eusebio were extremely excited and thrilled about this 7-0 win so that shows you how historic a result this was for the Portuguese team.

What's important now is to focus on the next task at hand. When you're in the winning business, all a victory does is brings relief. You only celebrate when you win a championship so for us the win was a relief and it instilled a tremendous amount of confidence, enthusiasm and spirit. After the match, you enjoy the moment but as of this morning we start preparations for Brazil.

Dan Gaspar is the head coach of the University of Hartford men's soccer team and founder of the Star Goalkeeper Academy. Watch for Gaspar's blogs throughout the World Cup as he provides a perspective of what it's like to be on the pitch and in the clubhouse as part of the coaching staff with Team Portugal in South Africa.