KEY POINTS:
Portugal has been in the international headlines for the past four months because of the disappearance of British child Madeleine McCann and questions about the competence of the police inquiry.
This week questions will swirl about how suitable it is for the amateur Portuguese side to be involved in the World Cup and the dangers of a mismatch with the tournament favourite All Blacks.
In March this year, Portugal qualified for their first World Cup after skirmishes with Italy, Russia, Georgia, Morocco and Uruguay. But on that eventually triumphal trek, they lost 83-0 to the Azurri.
The All Blacks' opening 76-14 thrashing of Italy emphasised the massive gap in quality there will be between the sides when they meet in round two on Saturday at Lyon.
That disparity has already been addressed by coach Graham Henry who said his side will be "sensitive" to the inequality while there are equal arguments being thrown around about the festival spirit needed in rugby and the boredom of mismatches.
Los Lobos stepped into the World Cup proper for the first time yesterday and while they acquitted themselves strongly at St Etienne, they were well beaten 56-10 by a very mediocre Scotland side.
Before that match, assistant All Black coach Wayne Smith said this weekend would not be as awkward for the All Blacks as it would be for their next amateur opponents.
"Clearly there is going to be a gulf in class," Smith said.
"You have got to respect the fact that it is going to be a huge day for them, Portugal, and their rugby historically.
"We like to honour the game, you know, and I think if we do that and we keep working on our own standards then it will honour us. That is what we have got to do I think, just take our eye off the other dugout and respect the fact it is going to be a big day for them, they are going to throw everything into it and respect the World Cup and try and get our standards up.
"That means all week, making sure there is an intensity there and an accuracy at training that is really high and even a step up from last week."
The coaching staff had already given a great deal of thought about how the All Blacks should play the match and how they should deal with any obvious power and strength advantages.
They did not want to be "stupid and humiliate anyone" but they also needed to concentrate on their own patterns and being accurate when the match lost its shape.
Against a Scotland side which had moderate attacking venom, Portugal defended stoically and contested the breakdowns well. But they were given a tough time in the scrum and will not be able to live with the All Blacks' sustained aggression.
There is a real possibility that they will ship more than 100 points if the alternate New Zealand XV play anywhere near as well as the main side did against Italy.
