International career:
The leader of Portugal's "Golden Generation," Figo won a FIFA World Youth Championship in 1991, the same year he made his senior debut against Luxembourg
on 16 October 1991, in a friendly match that ended 1–1 when he was only
18 years old. He has performed at the highest level ever since, making
appearances at Euro 1996, Euro 2000, Euro 2004 and the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. He announced his retirement from international football following the Euro 2004 final upset-defeat by Greece. It was believed because there was a rift between him and national coach Luiz Felipe ScolariHowever, in June 2005, he reversed his decision and returned for the 2006 World Cup qualifying wins against Slovakia and Estonia under Scolari. although this was denied.
Figo captained the squad during the 2006 World Cup, leading the team to the semi-finals, where they were beaten by France courtesy of a penalty from his former club-mate and French captain Zinedine Zidane. This was Portugal's best finish in 40 years. The third place playoff caused some controversy as Figo did not start; Pauleta captained the team in his place. However, Portugal fell behind 2–0 to hosts Germany
and Figo replaced Pauleta in the 77th minute, who handed him back the
captain's armband, to cheers from both Portuguese and German fans.
Although Germany scored another goal shortly after Figo's entrance, he
ended his final cap for his country on a high note by setting up Nuno Gomes
to head in an 88th minute consolation goal. Despite having no trophies
to show for the "Golden Generation," Figo managed to captain the team to
their best World Cup performance since the Eusébio era in 1966. He finished his international career with 127 caps and scoring 32 goals.
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