Midfielder Vitinha recalled on Tuesday that Portugal could be close to qualifying for Euro 2024 football if they win the next two games, and believed closing the transfer window will give players peace of mind again.
“After the market closed, we were mentally calm. That took a cloud out of everyone’s head. Now we have the match in Slovakia, perhaps the biggest challenge yet. They are in second place and only got one goal against. We expect difficulties, even more.” while they played at home,” said Vitinha.
The Paris Saint-Germain player spoke at a press conference at Cidade do Futebol, in Oeiras, minutes before a new training session for the national team, which is preparing for the Group J match scheduled for Friday, in Bratislava.
“We know that with two wins we can stay close to qualifying. I think we are only one point short of qualifying. That’s what we want. Against Slovakia we want to be dominant and press hard when we don’t have the ball. ” That’s what we’ll try to do.”he stressed.
When asked if the Portuguese national team with coach Roberto Martínez is a closed group in which few new players have the opportunity to be called up, Vitinha rejected that idea, guaranteeing that “anyone can make it” with the squad.
“Anyone who says it is a closed group is wrong. The door is open for people to come and go. Whoever is here, if they don’t try their best, they leave easily. Those who did not come must continue to do their best for their club.”
During his second season with Paris Saint-Germain, Vitinha, aged 23, assumed he had “a new fill” at the French crest and commented on the recent controversies in Portuguese football, following the events of FC Porto- Arouca (1-1 ), of the First League.
“If you start talking about everything that is not the player, the footballer, it’s not positive. It’s not positive for anyone. We have a lot of quality in players, in coaches, we have resources and we need to talk about that.” and talk less about everything else”considered.
Portugal will face Slovakia in Bratislava on Friday and receive Luxembourg in the Algarve three days later, on Monday.
After four rounds, the national team leads Group J, by 12 points, with only wins, ahead of Slovakia, second in second, with 10, and Luxembourg, third, with seven. Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland have three points, while Liechtenstein remains at zero.
The first two places in the group give direct access to the final phase of the European Championship, which will take place in Germany next year.
Source: DN
