Fernando Santos considers Portugal “one of the favorites” to win

Former Portugal coach Fernando Santos said this Wednesday that the Quinas team is among the favorites to win the 2024 European Football Championship, recalling that victory in 2016 increases status.

At a panel celebrating the Euro 2016 victory at the 18th International Football Congress at the University of Maya, Fernando Santos praised the strength of the Portuguese team and admitted that he was “working hard to ensure a repeat” of the European triumph led by Roberto Martinez, “personally friend” whom he calls himself.

“I have always said, as I said yesterday (Tuesday), and our candidate Roberto Martinez, with whom I am friends, Portugal is one of the candidates. Regardless of whether this team is better than the 2016 team. “I’m not saying. But Portugal always has conditions, and they already existed before my arrival, with the only difference being that now they can do it again, they couldn’t do it before because they never won,” he emphasized. José Fonte and Eduardo’s former guardian were also present at the ceremony.

Despite this, the coach, who parted ways with Turkish club Besiktas last month, has always been mindful that other teams have legitimate ambitions to win the competition, thus causing some caution about the Portuguese enthusiasm.

“Naturally, I would bet on Portugal. Because this is my desire. Portugal has good conditions to get there, but that’s always been the case because they’ve always had great players and great coaches, but when you go to a competition like this, there are a lot of other teams with great coaches and great players who want to win too , but only one will win,” he warned.

Looking back on the 2016 campaign, Fernando Santos was asked to pick the moment that stood out to him the most: the former Portuguese coach had no hesitation in setting up Eder’s goal in the final at the Stade de France against the hosts (1-0).

“I told Eder that I needed him to stay in front and hold the ball so the team could go up because I was too far behind and couldn’t come on. I explained to him and he told me: “Don’t worry, I’ll score a goal.” And I told him: “Look, then go.” And he came and scored with all his confidence, despite the opinion of the fans who might consider him “ugly”. duckling”.

Finally, he explained that the communication strategy used after the 3-3 draw with Hungary, the realization that he would only return to Portugal after the final, proved important in restoring the players’ trust, which he felt was threatened by criticism. . for performances in the group stage.

From the moment I joined the national team, from the first training camp, we were supposed to become European champions. I always believed and that was very important. We went to the European Championships, and the team was convinced, they believed that it was possible. Until some noise starts to be heard outside, this is a problem that the team is just picturing and is starting to notice. So I thought it was very important to confirm that we were here to win. A lot is outside, but mostly inside the group,” he suggested.

At the final stage of Euro 2024, which will be held in Germany from June 14 to July 14, Portugal will be in Group F, in which they will meet the Czech Republic (June 18 in Leipzig), Turkey (22nd place in Dortmund). and Georgia (26, in Gelsenkirchen).