Coach Francisco Neto said this Tuesday that Portugal will take charge of Thursday’s meeting with Vietmane, in Hamilton, of the second round of Group E of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
“What we need above all is a dominant Portugal with the ball, a Portugal that manages to settle in the last third, a Portugal that manages to have an attacking dynamic that allows a lot of people to reach the area, with a lot of shots.”explained the Portuguese coach in a preview of the match.
For Francisco Neto, Portugal will have to play its game, “try to attack the depth, try to have the ball, recognize the spaces, have free players, have good dynamics and look for the finish zones”.
This will be the offensive recipe, but Francisco Neto said he expected “a very complicated game” in which the formation of the ‘corners’ must be very balanced at all times.
“Both with the United States and especially with Germany and New Zealand, Vietnam has always had very dangerous situations during its transitions. It’s its great strength, it’s Vietnam’s great offensive power”he explained.
The Portuguese coach explained that when they win the ball, Vietnam “separate the team and normally explore the depth with four very aggressive and technically gifted players”.
“We always have to be balanced and respect the opponent as much as possible, because this is a World Cup match and whoever is here has to have quality. We have to be very careful at that moment, when we lose the ball and when Vietnam recovers it.”strengthens.
After the x-ray he took, the technician also presented Vietnam as one “a team that defends with many players, with all players behind the ball”.
“They always play with a player who is more in defensive reach, in what is commonly called a libero, who always takes away a lot of depth. They have a lot of physical availability to put pressure on the ball and what mainly happens is there are spaces, but they close quickly.”he explained.
With more or less effort, the truth is that only victory counts, after Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to the Netherlands in Dunedin, where the coach emphasized the Portuguese growth in the second half, in which, he recalled, he came to dominate.
“Even if the result had been different, these two games had to be played the same way. What has changed is that our margin of error is smaller, there is not much margin for error.”he acknowledged.
But nothing ended: “There are six points up for grabs and we have to go for our points, to be able to do what we dreamed of, which is to move on to the next stage, but for now our focus is on the game with Vietnam, and then, as we said from the beginning, reach the last game that depends only on us and see what our competence is against the world champions.”
To take a step in this direction, Portugal are playing in the same venue where they sealed their passport to the 2023 World Cup with a 2-1 win against Cameroon just over five months ago on February 22nd.
“We had a bit of a laugh here as a structure. Some say you shouldn’t go back to where you were happy, there are those who say there’s no two without three because it’s our third game there. Most of all happy to be able to play another game in the World Cup, very proud to be able to hear the national anthem again in a great competition”he claimed.
Hamilton is like the Portuguese home in New Zealand: “It’s a stadium that we know well, that can be considered our home here. That’s why we’re going to try to take advantage of that advantage that’s on our side. Since we’re going to play at home, we’re going to try to be powerful and dominating.”
Paying attention to the sporting phenomenon, Francisco Neto finally left a word to Portuguese swimmer Diogo Ribeiro, silver medalist in the 50-meter butterfly at the World Aquatics Championships, which take place in Fukuoka, Japan.
“I take this opportunity to congratulate Diogo [Ribeiro] for the silver medal. We are all very proud here too (…) He has had an incredible career and we are also here to support all Portuguese.”he stressed.
After the defeat with the Netherlands, Portugal will play on Thursday at 7:30 PM (8:30 AM in Lisbon) in Hamilton against Vietnam, which made its debut with a 3-0 loss against the United States.
To advance in the race to the round of 16, a prize for the top two of each group, Francisco Neto’s men must beat the Asians, in a clash between newcomers, from the second round of Group E.
On the same day, at 1:00 PM (2:00 AM in Lisbon), the United States will take on the Netherlands in Wellington, in the rematch of the 2019 final, which was then won by the North Americans, who won 2-0.
Source: DN
