Win and hope that Georgia will lend a helping hand. This is the recipe for the national team under 21 this Tuesday to celebrate the qualification for the quarter-finals of Euro 2023, at the end of the match against Belgium, scheduled at 5 p.m. (RTP1) in Tbilisi. At the same time, the Georgians play against the Netherlands and cannot lose to qualify to help Portugal.
In 10 appearances in the final stages of the European Under-21 Championship, the Portuguese team failed to progress through the group stage just four times (1978, 2002, 2006 and 2017) and managed to qualify three of the six times. a finalist was won. Striker Fábio Silva gave the motto: “It’s our last chance.” A warning that was supplemented by the certainty that the Portuguese players will show “a lot of ambition and will to win” against the Belgians.
Coach Rui Jorge is not disappointed after the defeat with Georgia and the draw with the Netherlands and defended the value of the group: “Of course we have quality, but we have to prove it and we didn’t do it 100%.”
The 50-year-old coach believes that Portugal and Belgium are “two good teams, with the ability to create danger among the opponents”. For this reason “it will be a very interesting match where both teams will be forced to win”, and therefore, he presumes, the need for the corner team to be “very careful with defensive depth” in order to “maintain the speed of the Belgian “. players”. Rui Jorge also warned that the team “will have to have a better quality with the ball” than what was shown in the game against the Netherlands, saying it is fundamental “to take advantage of the inner game to avoid difficulties to create” for the opponent.
Asked about the fact that national coach Roberto Martínez, who worked in the Belgian national team, had helped to map out a strategy, Rui Jorge explains that the conversation they had “was a while ago”. “He did not believe that some of the players who are here from the A team would be present at this European Championship. He was careful to tell us about any strength of the Belgian national team,” says the national coach, who said in relation to the other game in the group admits that Georgia “could cause problems” for the Netherlands and thus help the corner team. “The Georgians started losing 2-0 to Belgium and the result could have gone into extra time, but that didn’t happen and they finished with a balanced game and a 2-2 draw,” he recalled, guaranteeing that the games ” depend on the circumstances”. “, which is why he says he doesn’t like doing futurology.
“Motivation Is There”
For this afternoon’s game against Belgium, Rui Jorge will be able to count on all the players he brought with him to Georgia, as central defender Tiago Araújo is available again after being suspended for a red card in the first game. Another available player is Fábio Silva, a striker who represented PSV Eindhoven last season. With the Orange he was only used for the first 55 minutes, but he assured that the motivation is “above it”. “I’m a player who likes challenges and plays against the best. I’m always available to help and give my best. Games,” he supposed.
Fábio Silva acknowledged that “this is a difficult phase” for the selection, but guarantees that everyone knows “what led” to this situation. “The margin is minimal and we can’t make mistakes,” he said, ensuring everyone is “focused on correcting some mistakes”, not least because, as Rui Jorge tells them, “the team is up to the end must demonstrate the best version. regardless of the result”.
The striker admitted that he knew some of Belgium’s footballers, having played against them, but still warned that “Belgium is one of the most competent teams” of Euro 2023 as “they have a very mobile team up front, that likes combinations and there are fast players”. Among the Belgian strikers, Lois Openda stood out, who stood out last season at Lens, the French number two, with 21 goals, but also Charles De Ketelaere, teammate of Rafael Leão at AC Milan, a club for which he scored 40 games last season.
*with employment agencies
Source: DN
