Fernando Santos confirmed this Thursday, at the start of Friday’s match against South Korea, that the World Cup is over for Nuno Mendes due to an injury. And he revealed that the national team’s aim is to finish the group in first place, not so much to avoid Brazil, but to have one more day of rest before the round of 16. CR7 is already in doubt.
“Nuno Mendes will be out of this World Cup, but he will stay with us. The club has granted his wish. What we have to do tomorrow is win, we want to be first in the group, but we know how difficult this match is.” It’s a great match, even though the results didn’t match. It is a team that has many principles of Paulo Bento. The players never give up a bid and fight until the last second. It will be a tough match,” he said.
The Portuguese Football Federation also confirmed that Nuno Mendes was “considered unavailable for the work of the national team by the Health and Performance Unit”. “The player suffered a muscle injury in his left thigh during the confrontation with Uruguay,” he explained in a statement, emphasizing that “Nuno Mendes remains part of the national delegation, where he will begin the recovery work” .
Santos did not open the game much, but hinted that he could rotate in the match against South Korea. Not only because of yellowish players, but also because some are starting to get tired. “The most important thing is the confidence I have in the players. Playing every four days starts to hurt a little. We have one or the other who is tired and that is why we will have to evaluate, as well as in the case of the leadership of the yellow. But I have confidence in everyone. The team that I have more confidence in will play,” he shot.
The absence of three players in the clash with South Korea is certain, because in addition to Nuno Mendes, Danilo and Otávio are also unavailable.
Santos reiterated once again that Portugal “wants to stay at the top of the group” and explained the main reason. “I understand the question they ask me when they say we want to escape to Brazil first. But neither me nor Tite.” [selecionador brasileiro] we worry about it. What’s important is that if we’re in first place, we get another 24 hours of rest,” he said.
One of the players who could rest easy against South Korea is Cristiano Ronaldo, but Santos was also inconclusive in this case. “We’ll see. Basically he will train, and if he is fit he will be part of the pool of available players. I don’t even know if it’s 50/50. Is there a plan in case Ronaldo doesn’t play ?
Pepe Salad
Pepe was the designated player to speak in the press room this Thursday. The 39-year-old centre-back admitted that he was going through some tough times ahead of the World Cup due to injury, but that he always believed he could be in the group.
“When I got injured I didn’t sleep because I wanted to recover quickly to be able to be at the World Cup and contribute to my national team,” he said, confirming that he is 100%: “If I play in the national team is because I can play I didn’t go to the first game [com o Gana] at the discretion of the coach.”
The centre-back, who is about to turn 40, would not confirm whether this will be his last World Cup, but left a message of hope for the new generation of players, particularly young Benfica player António Silva: “I will not say if it is the last or not. I am here to enjoy this World Cup to the fullest. We have wonderful players. I hope that António can make his journey, just like Rúben Dias. I wish him good luck and that he can be happy and help Portugal”
Ensuring that Portugal will work to get as far as possible in the competition, and praising the South Korean national team, “a well-organized team that knows what it is doing on the pitch”, Pepe also spoke of the evolution of the national team in recent years. “I’m going to give you an example I heard the other day. We have all the ingredients, but if we don’t put them together, we won’t make it. It was an example the gentleman gave us. If we don’t put them together and we don’t make salad, it makes no sense for the tomato or the onion to be alone. If we don’t work, if we don’t respect our opponents, if we don’t do what the coach prepares, what’s the point of having a lot of quality? The main thing is that the group knows, no matter who plays, we have to do our best to carry the flag,” he said.
Source: DN
