National coach Roberto Martínez landed in Kutaisi, Georgia, this Sunday to watch the match between Portugal and England in the quarter-finals of the European Under-21 Championship, a Portuguese Football Federation source told Lusa.
The Spanish coach arrived at the airport in the country’s third most populous city at around 11 a.m. local time (8 a.m. Lisbon) and immediately joined the concentration of the team led by Rui Jorge, who took over from 8 p.m. will enter the field. :00 (17:00), at the Ramaz Shengelia Stadium, in a confrontation with the referee of Slovenian Rade Obrenovic.
Roberto Martínez had already been to Georgia on June 24, but due to a delay in the air connection, he was unable to attend the draw between Portugal and the Netherlands (1-1), so that this contact with the under-21 entourage was only at the end of the second round clash in Group A, before returning to Lisbon at dawn the next day.
The ‘AA’ coach, aged 49, had planned to travel again to the capital Tbilisi last Tuesday, but changed plans ahead of the success against Belgium (2-1), pushing the number two in the title to second place in the standings increased. the ‘group’, setting up a meeting in the ‘quarters’ with England, undefeated dominator of Group C and champion in 1982 and 1984.
The winner will meet Israel in the next phase, which on Saturday knocked out hosts Georgia – they had beaten the Portuguese in the opening round of the first phase – with the help of a penalty shoot-out (4-3), after the ‘nil’ at the end of extra time (0-0).
In addition to aiming for entry to the semi-finals of the European Under-21 Championship, a competition in which it already lost decisions in 1994, 2015 and 2021, Portugal can now fulfill its fifth participation in the Olympic Games after Amsterdam1928. , Atlanta1996, Athens2004 and Rio2016.
Source: DN
