The Portugal coach, Fernando Santos, spoke on Tuesday about the last match of the group stage of the European Championship against France, whom he considers a “great team”, and recalled that they continue to depend on themselves to get through the round.
“France is a great team, they will take the initiative and will not concede spaces, but we depend on ourselves, that is important,” he said at a press conference.
Santos was critical of his team’s game in the defeat against Germany (2-4) the previous day and acknowledged that conceding so many goals is a sign that something “is not going well.”
The coach, along with his players and the rest of the coaching staff, has been analyzing the mistakes made to prepare a better strategy for the duel against France.
“Any team that wants to win things has to defend well and attack well, if they don’t do both they won’t get it. We have to do what we have done in 90% of the games, it is nothing more than that, “he said.
Santos explained that France’s attack, unlike that of Hungary or Germany, is highly mobile, given the constant presence of three high-level forwards and midfielders such as Pogba or Rabiot.
Against this, the Portuguese coach proposes that his team act as a “big team” and show solidity both in defense and attack, moving quickly and taking advantage of spaces.
Santos also confirmed the absence of Nuno Mendes, who hasn’t trained with the team for seven days, but confessed that his biggest fear is the heat.
“You have to understand that this European Championship has had stops in the middle of the game, even the organization itself realizes that it is not easy. We are training in the afternoon to avoid wear and tear on the players,” he concluded. EFE. (JL).