Roberto Martinez emphasizes Iceland’s quality and wants Portugal to “play well”.

Coach Roberto Martínez said on Monday that Portugal had to “play well” to beat Iceland in Reykjavik on Tuesday in Euro 2024 qualifiers and highlighted the qualities of the Nordic opposition.

“I know Iceland well. They are a balanced team. Well organised, dangerous, very good in set-pieces. We have to play well. They are a competitive team that we have a lot of respect for,” Roberto Martinez said at the Laugardalsvellur stadium in the Icelandic capital, on the pre-match press -Groupo J conferences.

The Spanish coach was ‘very pleased’ with the energy shown by the players in the final days of the June international training camp, which is always physically demanding, as it is after a long club season.

“Yesterday’s training (Sunday) was full of energy. We have 25 available players and this is very important when you play for 72 hours. Especially after a hard physical game against Bosnia. After today’s workout [segunda-feira]Let’s see who’s playing,” he said.

Martínez praised the role of the Portuguese defense, as well as the two goalkeepers, Rui Patricio and Diogo Costa, in the last games of the national team, leaving Portugal without a goal conceded in qualifying and with 13 goals scored.

“The team always defend together, as a team, but the central defenders and goalkeepers did a great job. Diogo Costa with Bosnia made a fantastic defense in the match,” said the 49-year-old coach.

The Iceland-Portugal match in the fourth round of Group J of the Euro 2024 qualifying tournament is scheduled for 19:45 (18:45 local time) and will be officiated by Germany’s Daniel Siebert.

The quinas lead the group with nine points, followed by Slovakia with seven points and Luxembourg third with four. Bosnia and Iceland follow with three, finishing fourth and fifth respectively, with Liechtenstein in last place without points.

Only the top two in the group advance to the final stage of Euro 2024, which will be held in Germany.