International Career
Ferreira was called up for the Portugal under-21 team and accumulated 27 caps.
He was called up to the national team for Portugal's UEFA Euro 2004 campaign and started their opening match against a lowly Greece team, but a series of mistakes in the match saw him dropped for Miguel for the rest of the tournament. He did, however, come on in Portugal's huge upset defeat against Greece in the final, following an injury to Miguel.
Paulo made two appearances for Portugal in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In the semi-final against France, which Portugal lost 1–0, Ferreira came on in the second half for the injured Miguel. He then started the third place play-off against the host country Germany, which the Germans won 3–1.
Ferreira faces competition from José Bosingwa and Miguel for the Portugal right-back slot and is often played at left-back since the retirement of Nuno Valente.
Ferreira was named in the Portuguese Squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 championships. Portugal were knocked out in the quarter-finals and Ferreira was a starter in all of their four matches, playing at left back.
A regular in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Ferreira would then be included in the 23-men squad to represent the Selecção das Quinas in the final stages of the tournament where he only played the opening game.
On 30 August 2010, Ferreira announced he would be also retiring from the national team, shortly after Simão Sabrosa did. Internationally, Ferreira represented Portugal 61 times and played in four tournaments (UEFA Euro 2004, 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008 and 2010 FIFA World Cup).
Read more about this topic: Paulo Ferreira
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“I’ve been in the twilight of my career longer than most people have had their career.”
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