Portugal is on fire for Vitinha's XXL performance

Portugal with a record Cristiano Ronaldo did not make any details against Poland (5-1), orphan of Robert Lewandowski. With this great success, the selection of Roberto Martinez validates its ticket for the quarter-finals of the League of Nations. Author of a double, CR7 continues to make headlines in the country's media. He was even voted man of the match by To Ball but there is one man who changed the face of the meeting. It's Vitinha. Because this victory is a bit of a sham. Before the break, the score was still goalless and the game was frankly sluggish, but the entry of the Parisian, in place of his club teammate, João Neves, changed everything. It's quite simple, everything went through his feet. “Everything was thrown away in the first half, probably the worst for Portugal in the Martinez era» tackles him Correa da Manha This morning.

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In addition to his beautiful assist for Ronaldo's acrobatic recovery at the end of the match, the former FC Porto player lit the light in Portugal's game. Although he only played 45 minutes, he was the third player in the match to have touched the most balls (78). He missed just one of his 71 passes, 25 of which were attempted in the final third of the field. His influence was considerable. He is also recovering the leather on the 3rd goal signed Bruno Fernandes. To Ball even gave him the best score of the match, a 7, after that of his captain (8). “Entering after the break, he added color to the gray situation of the first 45 minutes. Faster and more dynamic, he made Portugal play (much) better. He is the pass for Ronaldo's beautiful goal, that of 5-0. He was great and brought much better variety to the game!» summarizes the sports daily.

Vitinha: «the coach has his choices and I understand his choices»

Observers were also surprised by his status as a substitute at the start of the match, even though he had not been out of the eleven for a year. His entry into the game served as a reminder of why he has the makings of a starter. “The coach has his choices and I understand his choicesexplained Vitinha after the meeting. We are happy with this victory in front of our audience. We ended up conceding a goal at the end, which always tarnishes what we have done a little but that's part of the game. We played an excellent match, the victory was more than deserved», Judged the midfielder for whom it was one of the best collective performances of the Seleçao in recent months. “I think this is without a doubt one of the team's best matches. But I'm not going to say it was the best.»

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For Roberto Martinez, on the other hand, there was no doubt. “We are very happy because the first half was very, very bad compared to what we wanted to do. We lost our concentration, we were very frustrated. The second half was the best I have ever seen from us. We played as a team, with concentration and put a lot of quality into everything we did. It's not easy trying to win every game, score five goals and win in front of our fans. It was very special.» However, he minimized Vitinha's contribution. “I think it was a general situation. Vitinha came in and played very well, he is not a player who changed everything, the mentality, the intelligence. We were able to exploit Poland's spaces, but of course it helps when we have players like Vitinha.»

An indisputable holder in the making

There is no doubt that the latter scored points in the mind of his coach. “Without my teammates, I'm nobodyassured the Parisian after the meeting. I started well, but now we have to beat Croatia, that's the most important thing for us. You just have to be a little calmer, a little more relaxed with the ball, to think about the game. Stop trying to score at all costs. When we force too much, it's sometimes worse in the game, we break our own game. We have to know how to keep control of the match. That's what we did in the second half and that's what made the difference.» A team player, the 24-year-old midfielder did not want to pull the rug over himself. Nevertheless, here he is becoming an important member of a 5-star Seleçao, and who will be one of the favorites for the final victory in the Nations League, as during the victory in 2019.