Striker Joao Felix spoke about the applause he received at the Dragao Stadium after his team’s victory over Slovakia and said he hoped it would be a “positive change”.
“I hope it was a positive change. We’ve seen episodes of teammates whistling in the past. We must understand that the clubs are one thing, the national team is another,” he said in an interview with Sport TV. The Portuguese was whistled at the same stadium a few days earlier in the match between Porto and Barcelona, where he now plays.
Ahead of the meeting with Bosnia, Felix said that even with qualification for Euro 2024 already guaranteed, Portugal are in Bosnia and Herzegovina to “win and play well” in a match in which the local team “will fight like never before”.
“Bosnia played very well in Lisbon. They defended very well and made our task very difficult. This is a good team with good players. Bosnia is still fighting for qualification, so we know that tomorrow [segunda-feira] I will fight like never before,” said João Felix.
The Barcelona player spoke to reporters at a press conference dedicated to the match of the eighth round of Group J at the Bilino Polje stadium in Zenica.
“Portugal are one of the best teams in the world and so you always have to play well and win. Tomorrow [segunda-feira], it will be the same. Even though we have already qualified, our goal is to win and play well,” assured the 23-year-old striker.
Felix, who has 33 caps and six international goals to his name, also warned of the atmosphere Portugal will encounter at Bilino Polje. “We know the fans are crazy in a good way. They love their team and love football very much. They will try very hard to help the Bosnian team and we must be prepared for such a situation,” he said.
After seven rounds, Portugal have already qualified and retain overall victory in Group J, leading with 21 points, eight more than second-place Slovakia.
Luxembourg is third with 11, followed by Bosnia with nine and Iceland with seven. Liechtenstein still has no points. The first two places in the group give direct access to the final phase of Euro 2024, which will be held in Germany.
The Bosnia-Portugal match is scheduled for 19:45 (20:45 local time), and will be refereed by Turkey’s Halil Umut Meler.
Author: Lusa This morning Post
Source: CM Jornal
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