Portugal have played only one game under new coach Paulo Bento so far, but its positive outcome has got fans excited already. But ahead of the Iceland fixture, the boss has a few points to make…
It had been quite a while since Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest of his national team mates could be seen with a genuine grin during training and on the field. Portugal’s convincing 3-1 victory over Denmark last Friday seems to have dramatically boosted the confidence of the Portuguese players and fans for the rest of their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.
However, Coach Paulo Bento has warned his side to be wise as they aim to keep the momentum alive. Jornaltvs.net quoted the manager as saying:
“This isn’t the time for us to think about the future. We’ve got to think about the present. It’s true that we can breathe a bit better than before after the game against Denmark.
“But, we need to know that we can only breathe for ourselves if we win. [Against Iceland] If we don’t have the same attitude and aggressiveness that we had against Denmark, it will be like taking a step backwards. But right now, we can only look ahead and we can’t afford to go backwards.”
After seeing a Nani-powered Portugal side defeat the Danes 3-1, predictions are that Iceland will be no match for the Selecção. For Coach Paul Bento, though, it will be a mistake to think this way.
“We cannot read anything into the players that Iceland will be featuring because in the end, they’ll have eleven men on the pitch so we can’t take anything for granted,” the ex-Sporting boss explained.
“Such things sometimes lead to bad results. We just have to look at the Cyprus game to understand that.
“It will be wrong for us to think that it will be easy. Sometimes, this happens. It happened in recent years against Azerbaijan, Albania, Liechtenstein, and now Cyprus. I think we’ve already had our fair share of bad expectations.
So what is Paulo Bento expecting ahead of Tuesday night’s vital Euro 2012 qualifying match against Iceland? Certainly not a disappointing performance from his squad as he concluded:
“I don’t just want to win [against Iceland]. I want to win with quality, and above all, I want to win with an honest display just like we did when we defeated Denmark.
“We’ve got to focus on this game. We are the better team, we have the better players, but we need to keep the same humility.”
However, Coach Paulo Bento has warned his side to be wise as they aim to keep the momentum alive. Jornaltvs.net quoted the manager as saying:
“This isn’t the time for us to think about the future. We’ve got to think about the present. It’s true that we can breathe a bit better than before after the game against Denmark.
“But, we need to know that we can only breathe for ourselves if we win. [Against Iceland] If we don’t have the same attitude and aggressiveness that we had against Denmark, it will be like taking a step backwards. But right now, we can only look ahead and we can’t afford to go backwards.”
After seeing a Nani-powered Portugal side defeat the Danes 3-1, predictions are that Iceland will be no match for the Selecção. For Coach Paul Bento, though, it will be a mistake to think this way.
“We cannot read anything into the players that Iceland will be featuring because in the end, they’ll have eleven men on the pitch so we can’t take anything for granted,” the ex-Sporting boss explained.
“Such things sometimes lead to bad results. We just have to look at the Cyprus game to understand that.
“It will be wrong for us to think that it will be easy. Sometimes, this happens. It happened in recent years against Azerbaijan, Albania, Liechtenstein, and now Cyprus. I think we’ve already had our fair share of bad expectations.
So what is Paulo Bento expecting ahead of Tuesday night’s vital Euro 2012 qualifying match against Iceland? Certainly not a disappointing performance from his squad as he concluded:
“I don’t just want to win [against Iceland]. I want to win with quality, and above all, I want to win with an honest display just like we did when we defeated Denmark.
“We’ve got to focus on this game. We are the better team, we have the better players, but we need to keep the same humility.”
