Despite the expressive victory over Switzerland (6-1) in the round of 16 of the World Cup, Fernando Santos felt that this was “not a perfect evening, but it worked out well, thanks to the attitude and concentration”.
“It was a victory. It is important not to lower this level”emphasized the national coach, who during the super flash interview I didn’t want to dwell on the comparisons between Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonçalo Ramos: “They are different players.”
in later flash interviewFernando Santos said the “players should be congratulated” because “they gave a very good performance at every moment of the game”, but warned that there is a game against Morocco in four days.
Devaluing the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, the coach stressed that his options may be different in other games, and also recalled the case of João Cancelo, who was on the bench for the first time in this World Cup. “It was game strategy, all players are different, I also launched Dalot, Raphael, but Cancelo is also a fantastic player. He was what I thought we would need for this game with Switzerland”he explained, making sure he had no problem with the 37-year-old striker: “There is no problem between Fernando Santos and the captain of the national team, we have been friends for many years. Players make decisions. Things don’t affect us. I already explained that part was completely resolved and he put a great game down.” example of a great captain.”
As for Morocco, he recalled the difficulties caused by the African team at the previous World Cup, in 2018, and said he did not count on Spain being the opponent. “But why should we count? Now it’s Morocco and what I remember is the difficulties I had with Morocco in the 2018 World Cup”he concluded.
At the press conference, however, he remembered the duel with the Moroccans four and a half years ago: “We won, but with a lot of effort and they could already qualify there. We will analyze it well, study it well, get to know its characteristics to make our decisions.”
Pragmatically, Fernando Santos asked the players to put their feet on the ground. “At half-time I said to the players: if we get into a state of euphoria, we go beyond what should happen in football. Here and there we have a little too much fun. And football is not fun at all.” It can cause problems and bring complications. They played a delivery game in which they were fantastic. I don’t want this to cause problems later on.”creased.
Players in direct speech:
Goncalo Ramos🇧🇷hat trick🇧🇷 It all went very fast. We have to concentrate on the next game. Start in the next game? These are things that are not for me. Cristiano spoke to me the way he talks to everyone else. He is the captain and tries to help everyone. This is game by game, let’s not think about the title right away.”
William Carvalho: “Gonçalo is a young man with a lot of quality. The atmosphere in the dressing room is good, it’s a tight environment. The most important thing was to win. To score six goals is always good, but winning 1-0 would also be good. ” every match. Gonçalo Ramos will have to buy everyone a meal tomorrow.”
Otavio: “We played a great game. We controlled the whole first half. The game was all ours. Now it’s time to rest for the quarter-finals. I felt good. Injury? At first I was a little scared, but then it went well, I’m 100%. If Morocco succeeded, it was because it had the quality to eliminate Spain.”
pep: “Goal increase? We are lucky to have great players, who put the ball in well. I was in the right place. There is no problem between Cristiano and the group. He knows that ‘us’ is the most important. Morocco” In today’s football it’s not enough to have quality, you have to work a lot. And we will work a lot to make our people happy.”
Bruno Fernandes: “We played a good game against Korea regardless of the result. Overall, the team’s performance was very, very good. We have to keep it up because the collective will win more games like this. The team is as it was when it was lost 1-2 to Korea. We just have to follow the ideas of the coach and the group.”
Joao Felix: “We did well for 90 minutes. We looked the opponent straight in the eye and if that’s the case, it’s not very difficult for anyone to beat us. We’re going to try to take advantage of Morocco’s weaknesses and their strengths nullify, without losing.” our identity. Whether Cristiano is here or not. , the most important thing is the team.”
Source: DN
