Portugal are forced to beat Belgium (this Tuesday, 17:00) to qualify for the quarter-finals of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. But triumph may not be enough. It is also necessary that the Netherlands fail to defeat host Georgia.
The national team, last placed in Group A, still doesn’t know what it’s like to win this edition of the Under-21 Euro (lost to Georgia 2-0 and drew with the Netherlands 1-1). Issue raised by Rui Jorge in the game preview: “Obviously we have quality, but we have to get here and prove it, and we didn’t. I hope we can do it against Belgium,” said the coach.
Rui Jorge said he had spoken to the coach of the national team A, Roberto Martinez, who was in charge of the Belgian senior team: “There was a conversation about this a while ago. He did not believe that any players from A Selection would be present at this European tournament. He carefully told us about some strength of the Belgian team.
Fabio Silva, the striker, acknowledged the bad moment: “This is a difficult stage. Margins are minimal and we can’t be wrong.”
Author: Filipe Ribeiro
Source: CM Jornal
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