Queiroz faces uncertain future

A Portuguese Football Federation board meeting on Thursday is expected to discuss Queiroz's future amid growing demands for him to be replaced.

A 1-0 loss at Norway came after a 4-4 draw at home against lowly Cyprus and constituted Portugal's worst start to a qualifying campaign since 1996.

Queiroz is also set to miss Portugal's next two qualifiers in October after he was suspended for disrupting an anti-doping test ahead of the FIFA World Cup.

The coach is fighting possible dismissal, denying wrongdoing and saying he will appeal the suspension.

Portugal's dull performance in Oslo suggested the players are feeling the strain of what daily sports paper O Jogo called a 'soap opera' surrounding Queiroz's stewardship. 'That's enough disasters!' the paper's front-page headline said on Wednesday.

The team, missing injured Cristiano Ronaldo, looked unsettled and uncertain in both matches. With Deco and Simao Sabrosa both recently retired from international football, the Portuguese lacked an inspirational playmaker.

"I don't think things are going very well on or off the pitch," captain Ricardo Carvalho said after the Norway game where Queiroz's assistant Agostinho Oliveira was once again in charge.

Bruno Alves, Carvalho's partner in central defence, said, "We just want everything to be fine again, we just want someone to make a decision for everyone's sake."

The 57-year-old coach, Sir Alex Ferguson's former assistant at Manchester United, is just over halfway through a four-year contract.

His appointment has long been contested.

Portugal's qualification for the World Cup was a bumpy ride. Three 0-0 draws, including one at home against 10-man Albania, dropped the team to fifth in the group before it recovered to qualify through the playoffs.

In a disappointing campaign in South Africa, Portugal went out in the second round against eventual champion Spain, though it was ranked third in the world by FIFA.

Portugal's Sports Institute, which governs the National Anti-Doping Agency, ruled last week that Queiroz disrupted an anti-doping test ahead of the World Cup and suspended him for six months.

The Portuguese Football Federation earlier this month suspended Queiroz for one month on a charge of misconduct related to the same incident in May. But it said that though he had used foul language with the inspectors he had not disrupted the test itself.

Queiroz has said he will appeal the six-month ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

However, it is unclear if the suspension would be lifted pending the outcome of his challenge.