Coach Fernando Santos said this Thursday that Portugal’s priority is winning Group H and one more day to prepare for the “eighth” meeting of the 2022 World Cup, regardless of whether Brazil is a rival.
“This is the most important factor. Playing with a difference of three or four days is completely different. Neither Tite nor I [selecionador do Brasil] we are concerned about this and it is clear that this 24 hour issue is more important [a mais]🇧🇷 We want to be in first place in the group, this is one of the most important aspects,” the Portuguese coach said at a press conference.
If the Kinas formation wins the pool, which is Paulo Bento’s sufficient tie against South Korea on Friday from the start, it will guarantee first place and the right to play on Tuesday. round 16 instead of Monday.
However, to avoid a possible confrontation with Brazil, the Canarinhos also need to win in Group G, which they are in the lead, and they play against Cameroon only after Portugal faces the South Koreans.
“I don’t have three [jogadores] and let’s look in relation to this or that. Players introduce themselves here [no Qatar] in great shape but games end every four days with fatigue which could lead to injuries,” he explained when asked if he would be doing some management work on Friday as Portugal already has a guaranteed eighths passport. ‘.
However, he made it clear at the Qatar National Congress Center in Doha that he has “full confidence” in whoever goes to the game, who will cause trouble for the Portuguese, who is not going to present himself with the idea of launching counterattacks.
“We know the challenges the game will bring because this is a great quality opponent. In the two games he played, he was great, but there were no results. The principles are very clear and have a lot to do with the fact that Paulo Bento is in shape, different nuances of a fast and very objective team. She puts a lot of players up front with their sides up and they fight bravely until the last minute,” he analyzed.
Finally, he turned to the physical condition of Ronaldo, who did not train on Wednesday, to do special recovery work.
“We’ll see. Basically, today he will train. Right now I don’t even know if it will be 50/50, but it’s part of the lot available. Of course, there is a plan if he can’t play, it would be bad for us if we had he was gone because he was replaced [contra o Uruguai]”, he explained.
On Friday, Portugal will play South Korea starting at 18:00 local time (15:00 in Lisbon) at the Education City stadium in Doha in the third round match of the Group H of the 2022 World Cup, which will last until December 18 in Qatar.
The Kinas team, who qualified for the round of 16 with a 2-0 victory over Uruguay, leads the group with six points, three more than Ghana, second and five more than the South Koreans coached by Paulo Bento and the Uruguayans, who simultaneously oppose the Ghanaians.