In Portugal, too, the national team ends a mixed year 2024. Under the orders of Roberto Martinez, the Seleção “tries to play like a big team”, we are told, but the coach’s lack of consistency is clearly criticized.
After the draw against Croatia meaning a far too premature elimination from the 2022 World Cup, Roberto Martinez resigned from his position at the head of the Devils. The Spanish coach headed to Portugal in January 2023, while Domenico Tedesco replaced him in Belgium.
At the end of the journey, the former Everton and Wigan coach was very criticized at home for several reasons. Lack of rotation in the squad, missed generational transition, missed opportunities in major tournaments, justifications not always very clear, privileges for executives… Martinez had gradually exhausted his credit despite his interesting results on the field, and the World Cup had been the final blow.
In Portugal, Martinez has not changed
At the end of 2024, we took the temperature in Portugal. Boasting one of the best cores in the world from an individual point of view, the Portuguese have recorded nine victories and four draws in sixteen matches, for three defeats. A not-so-great outcome. “It doesn’t matter, he sings the anthem” comments ironically Alexandre Carvalho, avid follower of Portuguese football and founder of the media “Golaco_Tv”, on .
We wanted to know more, and interviewed this scouting enthusiast. “The majority of Portuguese supporters are already very unhappy with Roberto Martinez. People are fed up with his illogical choices, his political side and always favoring status over the team. He has no consistency in his decisions , and his justifications make no sense every time. Moreover, he sinks into his lies as if he takes us for idiots,” he tells us.
“Like a sense of deja vu” we say to ourselves, on our side. As in Belgium, Roberto Martinez does not seem to succeed in ensuring the generational transition. “Ronaldo, Ruben Neves, Cancelo, Semedo, Otavio no longer have anything to do in the selection, but they are still there. He favors the CV rather than the performance of a player, there is no competition with him .”
At the same time, the Portuguese people were demanding playing time for Samu Costa (RCD Mallorca) and three great talents from the local championship, namely Trincão, Pedro Gonçalves and, above all, Geovany Quenda. In total, over the entire Nations League campaign, these players were on the pitch for 47 minutes, including 32 for Trincão alone and none for Quenda, a 17-year-old right winger considered to be the greatest current talent in the League. country, who could have become the youngest Portuguese international in history by stepping into the game.
Is Roberto Martinez missing his second challenge at the head of a selection?
Quarter-finalist of the last Euro (eliminated by France on penalties), Portugal nevertheless displays a relatively attractive face on the field. However, and this is the most important, the results do not follow. “On a sporting level, it’s a little better than with Fernando Santos, especially in the content. Even if we are often bored during the majority of matches, we see that we are trying to put in place a real playing identity, and for once, we try to play like a big team, with the ball and high pressure,” continues Alexandre Carvalho.
As during his time with the Devils, Roberto Martinez and his Portugal compete in qualifying, against more affordable opponents. But when the road gets higher, the problems come back… “We manage to win the qualifying matches for the Euro or the Nations League quite easily, whereas under Fernando Santos, we struggled against any team But hey, in the end, we’re coming out of a pretty average Euro, winning against teams like Luxembourg is good, but it doesn’t pay off much.”
In turn, and in the same way as here, Portugal is discovering the “Martinez touch”. The Portuguese Seleção will undoubtedly be among the first outsiders to the final victory, in 2026, but the Spaniard must not miss the opportunity to make history, as in Belgium, with, there too, the best breeding ground in history recent developments in the country.
