Portugal 3-0 Türkiye match reaction: “Portugal are in the mix to win Euro 2024” - Kökçü
The Seleção put down a marker at Euro 2024 with a convincing 3-0 victory against Türkiye at the BVB Stadion in Dortmund this evening.
Roberto Martínez admitted he will make changes for Portugal’s final group game, having already guaranteed top spot, while all the players were keen to emphasis the importance of keeping the winning start going.
Meanwhile Benfica’s Turkish midfielder Orkun Kökçü was impressed with Portugal, going as far as to suggest they are genuine contenders to win the competition. PortuGOAL rounds up the match reaction.
Roberto Martínez, Portugal coach:
“I think we improved compared to our first game. That’s always a good sign. We were very dangerous in attack. We defended the box well, but we can improve.
“Will be take it easy against Georgia. No way! Our changing room is focused. All the players are ready and we have seen that they are ready. It’s time to give opportunities to others and improve the competitiveness of the squad for the tournament.
“But I’m not going to carry out a revolution. Rotate? Yes, there are lots of players who deserve to be in the eleven. My big difficulty will be using all 23 outfield players plus the goalkeepers. But it’s going to be a revolution – I don’t like that word.
“All the players have an important role to play for the Seleção. On certain days they are important on the pitch, on others off it.”
Bernardo Silva, Portugal midfielder and official man:
“I’m very happy, we’ve collected three more points and we’ve ensured top spot. Now we have to think about the next phase. Even so, the objective isn’t completed yet, despite the good display by Portugal.
“The two games we played were very different. Against Czechia they played with a very low block, and a back line of five. Against Türkiye we had more space behind them, so you can’t compare the games. What’s important is that we’re really happy about the result.
Pepe, Portugal defender and PortuGOAL man of the match:
“The team played well and we did what Roberto Martínez asked of us. We knew it would be a very tough game, in a fantastic atmosphere inside the stadium, but today we fought for our families and for our supporters.
“Will we take the foot of the pedal against Georgia? Not at all. We always play to win. We want to keep winning. We want to better ourselves every game and it will be no different against Georgia.”
Bruno Fernandes, Portugal midfielder:
“Obviously we all want to score goals, but it’s not the most important thing. Cristiano is our best goal-scorer but at that moment when he had the chance to score he passed it across. It shows we’re interested in winning games and not scoring goals.”
“The most important thing is the win all our games. We want to beat Georgia to further boost our morale. Playing for Portugal means winning every match.”
Rúben Neves, Portugal midfielder:
“We did what was asked of us. We knew the difficulties our opponents would cause, but we controlled the game from start to finish. They only had one chance and didn’t create much else.
“The main goal of booking our place in the knockouts as soon as possible has been achieved, but we’ll use all our games to prepare ourselves. We look at all our games the same way and we want to go into the round-of-16 in the best shape possible.”
Orkun Kökçü, Türkiye midfielder
“We knew Portugal had a very strong team. I knew it because I play for Benfica and there are lots of high-quality Portuguese players. We knew it would be tough, they were better than us and now we have to give it everything in the last game.
“We had a plan and I think we didn’t carry it through 100%. Portugal dominated most of the game. Did I talk to António Silva and João Neves (Benfica team-mates)? We had a small chat, I swapped shirts with João Neves. They are two great players with a great career ahead of them.
“There are other very strong teams who can win the trophy, but Portugal are in the mix to win Euro 2024.”
By Tom Kundert