Fernando Santos (Portugal coach, winner of Turkey (3-1) in the semi-finals of the FIFA World Entry Qualifiers 2022): “I think the first 20-25 minutes were very good, in offensive and defensive organization, with and without the ball. Everything to perfection. Then we reduced the intensity a little bit in the game and especially in pressure. From there, the opponent started to play, and when we had a little ball, We had more difficulties.We had ten minutes when things didn’t follow each other.Since the 35th minute we came back and scored the second goal.
In the second half, we started again well. We failed to score the third goal, that’s football. You do not materialize and the opponent, in a dangerous act, ends up scoring a goal and this punishment (Burak Yilmaz missed Turkey 2-2) The game can be held. Now I think it’s a fair win for Portugal. Everyone was planning for Italy Portugal, except for the Macedonian people, no doubt. We will have a lot of respect for Macedonia (from the north) As we had it for Italy. Finals are very tough, they are matches to be won without thinking that we are winning from the start. (On Ronaldo’s performance) We always analyze Cristiano Ronaldo by his goals. Today, he didn’t score, but gave a great match in intensity and pressure. Open up a lot of space for others. A task that must be highlighted for a player with the quality of Cristiano, which cannot be reduced to goals. »
Turkey coach Stefan Kontz after the loss to Portugal: “Tonight we weren’t as lucky as Portugal. After the first goal, we woke up and had three chances without scoring. The second goal we conceded was a bit stupid and that’s why we lost. At half-time, I asked my players to believe it and they did. We almost changed the game, We have to be proud of our team when we played in Portugal. We didn’t equalize but if we did it would have been another game as Portugal panicked with a penalty kick in the 85th minute.
If we watched this match, we learned a lot of things and in Turkey, no one can be ashamed of this team. We are at the beginning of the road. We’ve done some good things considering the age of this team. We should have believed in our game plan and our strengths from the start of the game and not after 20 minutes, especially against a strong team like Portugal. »
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