The coach of the Portuguese national team, Roberto Martínez, commented this Monday on the availability of Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe for the team’s next games. The coach avoided talking about the Eurocup sequence and kept his focus on the friendly against Ireland, which takes place this Tuesday.
“The players are ready for tomorrow, that’s the next step, Pepe has a lot of experience, Ronaldo too, they had a very good period in these four days. They are important in the dressing room, on the field and off it, they are important for the meaning they have and we hope that can do a good job tomorrow, then it’s a step forward.”, said the coach.
Pepe and Ronaldo, aged 41 and 39 respectively, are the most experienced athletes in the Portuguese squad. Both did not take the field in friendlies against Finland – where the Portuguese team won 4-2 – and Croatia – which ended in a 2-1 defeat.
𝗙𝗢𝗧𝗢 𝗗𝗘 𝗙𝗔𝗠𝗜́𝗟𝗜𝗔 towards the #EURO2024 📸🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/XtGMMSjtAN
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) June 9, 2024
“Individually, we have fresh players, with passion and pride, focus on work, a clear idea of how to score goals. (…) Our team will be better with the passage of time. We talk a lot about our opponents, it’s a mistake, we have to talk more from Portugal. We showed that we need to improve. Our players are human, they can have good performances, but also bad ones, but I see a team that is growing.”, added Roberto Martínez.
Portugal’s next match is against the Irish team, on Tuesday, at 3:45 pm (Brasília time). The match takes place at the Estádio Municipal de Aveiro and will be the Portuguese team’s last preparatory friendly for the European Championship. They debut in the competition on the 18th, against the Czech Republic.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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