Defender Carole Costa stated this Sunday that Portugal needs creativity and better decision-making to overcome Norway’s defensive organization in the second round of Group 2 of the Women’s Nations League.
Portuguese international on 159 occasions, with 18 goals scored, the 33-year-old center highlighted that the ‘quinas’ team must rely on its “unity and quality” to defeat “a very strong team”, with “very strong individuals”, who “He protects his goal a lot,” in the match scheduled for 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday, at the Estádio Cidade de Barcelos.
“From what we saw, they are a team that condenses their lines a lot, that protects their goal a lot. It won’t be easy to get in there.” [na área], but you have to look for the free player and, through that creativity, break those lines. And we have to improve what was not so good against France, our decision-making capacity in the final third,” he said, before training at the Estádio 1.º de Maio, in Braga.
Despite Friday’s defeat against the Gauls (2-0), in the city of Valenciennes, on the opening day of the tournament, Carole Costa stressed that Portugal today has “the respect of all the teams”, something she hopes to return to see before the Gauls. Scandinavian team.
“We saw that against France, a team that adapted to us put another player in the midfield to counteract our offensive ability. This shows the respect that the teams have for us. Norway will not be an exception. Obviously, they will study us in detail” . , but we will try to do our best for Portugal,” he promised.
The Benfica defense also stressed that the Portuguese players must concentrate on their tasks against a team they faced in July, in New Zealand, during preparation for the World Cup (2-1 defeat, in an unofficial match behind closed doors). , but who appeared at Friday’s reception against Austria (1-1) with a new coach, Leif Smerud, successor to Hege Riise.
Trained at the Casa do Povo de Martim, a club in the municipality of Barcelos, Carole Costa stated that for Portugal it is “great to play at home” and called on the public to be present on Tuesday, before starting a training session that included 24 athletes at orders of coach Francisco Neto, including Lúcia Alves, affected by an injury to her left hand.
Source: TSF
