Coach Roberto Martinez recognizes that the match against Poland had two distinct parts: the first “very bad” and the second “the best I’ve ever seen”.
To departure
“It was a game of two halves. We are very happy because the first half was very very bad for what we wanted to do. We lost focus, we were very frustrated. The second half was the best I have ever seen from our team, with focus and quality in everything we did. It’s not easy trying to win every game and scoring five goals and winning in front of our fans was very special”, the national coach began.
The team improved a lot in the second half. Decisive vitinha?
“No, I think it was a general situation. We had three players with yellow cards, it was important to avoid a worse situation. Vitinha comes in and performs very well, but the difference from the first to the second half was not one player. We changed our mentality, our intelligence, we managed to explore the spaces that Poland left for us to play.
What did you say at halftime?
“First of all it was frustration. I don’t like it when we play with frustration. The referee has a job to do, but we need to focus on our pace of play and what we can do with the ball and what to explore. It was more about trying to change the focus of what was a very bad first half on our part.”
Qualification for the quarter finals
“Very important. We have to keep winning. Even with new players, the team plays at the same level. Then, in the quarterfinals, playing the second game at home helps a lot because our fans are very important. But it’s also important that we finish in first place in the group.”
Cristiano Ronaldo with two more goals
“The commitment he showed during all the training sessions is important. He has been disciplined working in his position. He works very hard. So, it’s about continuing to do what he’s been doing at the elite level of world football, which is scoring goals.”
Management for the Croatia game
“Yes. We did that in the last stage. We made 16 changes to the starting eleven. In modern football there is a starting eleven and a finishing eleven. There are five substitutions, so we have to continue like this. It’s November and I think the overload on the players is a responsibility we need to keep in mind.”
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