Coach Francisco Neto never doubted that Portugal would qualify for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, not when it started with a disappointing draw, nor when it ended in a knockout triumph in stoppage time.
“Doubt it? Not because we depended only on ourselves, and this is what we convey to our players in many ways: we must do everything to depend only on us, because as long as we depend only on ourselves, we must be invincible”, she explained.
Nevertheless, a 1-1 draw in Turkey at the opening complicated the score, making “the error small”, and already in the second half of the qualification, the triumph of Serbia in the reception of Germany “complicated life even more” for the Portuguese team.
“But always very calm, because we knew that by winning our games, following what we had planned for ourselves, we would succeed, and this is what happened. Since then we have only lost to Germany and won every other game. We have created another culture of victory,” he explained.
The victory in Serbia was a landmark and almost assured qualification, but Francisco Neto believes that “the key game was the home game against Serbia”. [vitória por 2-1, em Setúbal]because in that game Serbia played very well.”
“There we went through some difficulties, whereas in Serbia we were always better and played very well. Here (…), if we hadn’t won that game, we would have hardly depended on us. There I felt a little more pressure in the team, a little more tension, a consequence of playing in Turkey,” he explained.
The breeder believes that “after winning this game, things went better.”
“Of course, then there was Serbia’s victory over Germany at home, and we knew that in Serbia we were not even destined to draw. And then again there was a decisive game, but we also knew that (…) while they also depend on them, in this qualification everything should have been difficult, but I think that the game here was even more difficult, than the game there,” he insisted.
Portugal qualified for the European play-offs after falling behind Germany and managed to eliminate the top two teams, Belgium and Iceland, there.
“In nine years, this was the best double trip we’ve had. I think we were very competitive, we had the right attitude, we were completely focused, very strong psychologically. The players have arrived very well. well prepared,” he said.
And he added: “Presence at the European Championships [de 2022] it gave us a very big competitive advantage because it gave us a lot of time to work with the players. Reaching the finals is a very big advantage and I believe that after the World Cup we will again make a competitive leap with Portugal even better than before.”
Triumphs over the Belgians and Icelanders are not yet qualified, and Portugal has to compete in the intercontinental playoffs, in New Zealand, with Cameroon, against whom they “did not deserve” to suffer to the end.
“But again, it was up to us and for us it was the best feeling in the world. Of course, there is always anxiety about having to make another game, but here it is, ‘thinking’ has come one more time at the top. [As jogadores estiveram] very focused, very accessible and I think we had a brilliant first 30 minutes with Cameroon, we had a lot of opportunities,” he recalled.
The problem was not to “materialize” more moves: “We scored a goal, and then, since we didn’t make it 2-0, we started to get more nervous, and in the final part everything got a little more complicated. On the emotional side, we played a bit and we weren’t as emotionally prepared as we should have been, but it’s just an experience, it’s impossible to recreate these playoff situations without experiencing them. repeat those emotions.
“But we grew and, fortunately, after the goal [do empate, dos Camarões]We managed to find peace to create a moment and score a goal, and Karol to qualify for the World Cup,” recalls the Portuguese coach.
The Portugal women’s team from Portugal will debut at the 2023 World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20, while the Portuguese team is integrated into Group E with the Netherlands (game July 23, in Dunedin), Vietnam (27, Hamilton) and USA (August 1, Auckland).
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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