The President of the Republic confessed this Friday that he was “a little” disappointed by the defeat of the Portuguese soccer team, but he congratulated Paulo Bento for having managed to qualify South Korea to the round of 16 of the World Cup.
“I am a little [desapontado]but life is made of small disappointments”, replied Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, at the end of the last match of the Quinas team in the group stage of the World Cup in Qatar, which they lost by two balls to one.
The President of the Republic attended the match between the teams of Portugal and South Korea at the Club Internacional de Foot-Ball, in Lisbon, but arrived five minutes from the end of the first half. At the time, the match was tied and the head of state expected “just one more” for Portugal to become the only team in this World Cup with three group stage victories.
That did not happen, but the President of the Republic defended that the defeat “does not take away confidence” for the round of 16 and maintains the hope of seeing Portugal in the final of the competition and returning to Qatar to see the semifinal. .
And more than 7,400 kilometers away, he left a message for the national coach Fernando Santos: you have to “learn the lessons, with another team, another formation”, since the next game “is no longer about beans”.
“It is not enough to be a better team, you have to play better,” he warned.
The President of the Republic also congratulated the South Korean coach, the Portuguese Paulo Bento, for qualifying for the next phase of the competition: “Paulo Bento was very effective, the South Koreans were very effective and we were not very effective.”
Even so, he added, the defeat “had no consequences” and Portugal finished first in Group H, meaning they will avoid Brazil in the round of 16.
Portugal won Group H of the 2022 World Cup today, despite losing 2-1 to Paulo Bento’s South Korea, who qualified for the ‘eighth’, eliminating Uruguay and Ghana.
The Portuguese team, which had already qualified, took the lead in the fifth minute, through Ricardo Horta, but, in the 27th minute, Kim Young-Won equalized, after an involuntary assist from Cristiano Ronaldo, and, in the 90th minute +1, Hwang Hee-chan sealed the turn.
The South Koreans thus jumped to second place, taking advantage of Uruguay’s 2-0 win over Ghana, sealed by a ‘double’ by Giorgian De Arrascaeta, in minutes 26 and 32.
In qualifying, Portugal had six points, against four from South Korea and Uruguay, with the advantage of the Asians in goals scored (4-4 against 2-2), and three from Ghana.
Source: TSF
