The coach of Portugal, Fernando Santos, said this Monday, after the victory of the Portuguese team against Uruguay, 2-0, that it was “a difficult match”, but he considered that the team from the corners was “a little higher “.
“The Uruguayan team began to press very hard, it was very difficult for us to circulate the ball well, but then we managed to release it, we managed to gain space, and we managed to control the game, with some good situations, clear movements. , the team well grouped and without letting the rival do what he knows very well, which is the transition attack-defense, defense-attack and also the quick attack ”, analyzed the national coach.
Half an hour into the game, Fernando Santos says that “the game became less balanced” and that Portugal began “to circulate the ball further back”, highlighting the “last 15 minutes” of the first half that were “more complicated, thanks to the Uruguayan team, which has a lot of quality in its players”.
Asked about the departure of Nuno Mendes, with physical discomfort, the Portuguese coach announced that “tomorrow or the day after tomorrow he will undergo tests.” During the match, the winger said that he “felt a kind of contracture”, but the prognosis is positive because, according to Fernando Santos, “the player reacted quickly to what he felt and it may not be that complicated, so let’s let 24 hours go by and We’ll see how it goes.”
Four years ago, in Russia, Portugal was eliminated by Uruguay in the round of 16 of the World Cup. This Monday, the Portuguese team beat the Uruguayans again, but Fernando Santos says he has no “feelings” of revenge, recalling that, in 2018, “it was a round of 16 match” and, “at this moment”, Portugal ensured passage to the next stage, which, in his opinion, were “different feelings”. In Russia, the coach of the corner team says that the “game could have gone either way”, but on Monday he believes that Portugal was “a bit superior”.
On the possible changes in the eleven of the last game for the match against South Korea, Fernando Santos assumes that they will have to take place. “We go to all the games to win, we don’t have to make it easy for them on principle and I have confidence in the whole team,” he stressed.
Bruno Fernandes scored two goals, but for the Portuguese coach, individual achievements are “the result of the whole team, because if the team doesn’t play well, there are no possible individualities, and the main individuality is the team,” he said. he concluded.
This Monday, Portugal became the third team to secure a place in the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup, by beating Uruguay 2-0, on the second day of Group H, played in Lusail.
After giving two assists in the first game (3-2 to Ghana), Bruno Fernandes scored the goals that, in minute 54 and, from the penalty spot, in 90+3, sealed the victory of the ‘quinas’ formation ‘, which added France and Brazil in the ‘eighth’.
In the classification of Group H, Portugal now has six points, ensuring one to guarantee victory in the group, against three from Gana and one from Uruguay and South Korea, who lost today 3-2 with the Africans and faces the Portuguese team on friday.
Source: TSF
