Portugal came into Euro 2024 as one of the favorites, being the group topper in the qualifiers. With a bunch of top-class players under the new coach, Roberto Martinez, it seemed like Portugal might kiss their first Euro since the crowning in 2016. But despite having Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, and many more, the Portuguese looked less sharp and too predictable in their attack.
After finishing the group stage on top, winning against Czechia and Turkey before losing to Georgia in an insignificant group game, Portugal faced Slovenia in the Round of 16. The star-studded Seleção das Quinas struggled to penetrate the impenetrable Slovenian wall the whole game until the match reached the penalty shootout. Goalkeeper Diego Costa became their hero in the match, denying all the kicktakers in Slovenia. For Portugal, everyone scored, including CR7.
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Joe Mourinho on Portugal Exit From Euro 2024
In the quarterfinal, they faced France, a repetition of the 2016 final. But the outcome was something else, as Portugal had to go out of the tournament in the penalty shootout following a miss by Joao Felix.
Mourinho, who is a Portuguese himself, isn’t impressed with his national team’s performance. Mourinho who described Portugal’s performance as ‘not fantastic’, found Spain to be the best team in the tournament.
“There is always frustration when you feel that you could do better. The team’s potential was extremely high. I wasn’t far off the mark when I said that Portugal, France, and England were the favorites. Two of them are in the semi-finals. Spain is the biggest surprise for me, in the way the team has evolved, they are practically a new team. For me, at the moment, they are the team that plays the best and the one that has played the best throughout the tournament.
“Portugal wasn’t fantastic, despite reaching the quarterfinals. We expected more. I was at the National Stadium for the Portugal-Croatia [friendly] match, and it didn’t smell good. I didn’t get a great feeling. During the tournament, we were the team that was making progress, but we weren’t convincing. Often, when the moment of truth comes, these teams are stronger. This wasn’t the end of Portugal, there wasn’t any improvement in the team. But it’s a young team, apart from the two veterans [Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe], a team with years ahead of them. The World Cup is just around the corner.”
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