Replaced in the 65th minute by Roberto Martinez while he was having a great match, Vitinha was praised this Tuesday by the Portuguese press, who did not understand the choice of the Portugal coach to replace him against Slovenia.
Portugal had a close call, but will be in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 this Friday against the French team of Randal Kolo Muani, Ousmane Dembélé, Bradley Barcola and Warren Zaïre-Emery, who has still not played a single minute in this European championship.
On Monday night, Portugal had to wait until the penalty shootout to eliminate Slovenia and can thank their goalkeeper Diogo Costa, who saved all three of Slovenia’s penalties. Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty in extra time, but beat Jan Oblak in the penalty shootout a few minutes later.
“Vitinha’s replacement in the 65th minute is incomprehensible”
Vitinha was a starter, like Nuno Mendes, and had a very good match before being replaced in the 65th minute by Diogo Jota. A replacement that the Portuguese press did not understand. “Not much to report, just the feeling that he was taken out too early. He was always the team’s beacon, with his usual ability to get out of tricky situations with class and move the ball into interior spaces. He did what almost no one else could do, but Martínez wanted something else.”writes the Portuguese sports daily Record today.
The same feeling comes from O Jogo, who gave it a score of 6/10: “One of the best until he came off in the 65th minute. With his ruler and set square, he surprised his opponents with an uninterrupted flow of passes and even delivered a cross.”. A Bola also gave him 6/10 and also regretted his replacement: “The engine of the Portuguese midfield, the main link between defense and attack, and also dangerous in the final third, like that perfect cross for Cristiano (who missed his jump). His substitution in the 65th minute is incomprehensible.”
“The condition of the lawn is the cause of this change”
If Portugal qualified and ultimately avoided Vitinha playing 55 extra minutes, which could be useful to him on Friday against Les Bleus, Roberto Martinez was inevitably questioned about his coaching after the match and his decision to take the PSG midfielder off. And his justification has already caused a lot of reaction on social networks.
“The condition of the lawn is the cause of this change, This is how the Catalan justified himself.. It didn’t help the team on the pitch. The pitch is not fast, it’s not stable. Slovenia suffered in the same way as us. The inside game couldn’t work with the risks to be taken and the passing lines. It helped what Slovenia were trying to do. The idea was to add width and freshness. I had to take Vitinha off because we couldn’t use the inside game.”
Having moved to the mixed zone, Portuguese defensive midfielder João Palhinha also commented on Vitinha’s substitution: “Vitinha always ends up being the conductor, if you will. He is the engine of our team when we have the ball, and his absence is felt. But it was the coach’s choice and you always have to respect his decisions.”
Nuno Mendes: “intense in defense and dazzling in attack”
On Friday against Les Bleus, Vitinha will undoubtedly be a starter again, having taken on a new dimension in the national team during this Euro 2024. Starting at left-back against Slovenia, Nuno Mendes played everyone and also responded, despite receiving several knocks.
“He had a bit of a scare in the 19th minute when he collapsed holding his right ankle, but it was just a scare. He reacted shortly afterwards by making two high-quality interceptions (22′) to stop two attempts by Sporar. And he took the bread out of Sporar’s mouth (39′) on Slovenia’s most dangerous play. Intense in defence, dazzling in attack, he is growing in this Euro.”wrote this Tuesday A Bola, who gave it a nice 7/10.
