"I watched Portugal play Spain and Figo is an unbelievable player, one of the world's best, and we have to pay him the respect he deserves," said Neville.
"We were watching the game on an English channel and there were some pundits at half time saying he was finished and past it, and shouldn't even be in the team, which shows a complete lack of respect towards a great player. People sitting in studios shouldn't talk about a player like him with such disrespect.
"We know a lot of these players well. The Porto players have carried a lot of confidence into the tournament with them - Carvalho and Valente have really strengthened their defence.
"They have got great players, but we have as well. We can talk about comparing the players and coaches, but they won't have enjoyed seeing what they saw from us against Croatia last night - they will have seen a high-energy game, power, pace, counter-attacking at speed and good tactics.
"We just hope we can produce that kind of performance on Thursday. I always believe that you need a little bit of luck - sometimes your name is on the game before it starts and, on Thursday, I hope the major moments, the major decisions, go our way."