![](https://i3.wp.com/imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/D3GIVFKFS5EWHA4BQKOZ5KKR2E.png?auth=0e8df45daba742d62a9676731ea1a02098e4adeb10610d9b0b2aa7a2adbc04c8&width=1200&w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1)
“My level of Portuguese does not have the vocabulary to explain this reception,” said coach Roberto Martínez upon his arrival in the Rhineland town of Harsewinkel, headquarters of the champion team in 2016. Only four footballers survive from that winning group: Rui Patricio, Danilo Pereira, Pepe, of whom it was learned this Monday that at 41 years old he will not continue in Porto, and Cristiano Ronaldo, totem of the team that no one dares to retire even though in the last World Cup he stayed on the bench for the benefit by Gonçalo Ramos. “He has scored 50 goals in 51 games, he was very consistent in his team and he is in the national team due to his merits. His numbers support him,” explains Martínez, who in January 2023 became the first non-Portuguese-speaking coach in direct the selection. But he makes an effort to have vocabulary and does so with some success. Also from the first game he sang the national anthem, A Portuguesa, as if he had been born in Guimarães. Born in Balaguer (Lleida) and with a long career in the United Kingdom since he arrived at Wigan in 1995 as one of the members of the Three Amigos, Martínez knows how to reach people’s hearts, so in Portugal he has landed on his feet.
Perhaps because of that spirit he has decided to pilot a quiet revolution. Since losing to Morocco in the quarterfinals of the World Cup two years ago, Portugal has barely changed his ideology. Only five players (Semedo, Neto, Inacio, Neves and Francisco Conceiçao) have been included in the squad compared to the squad that traveled to Qatar. And Cristiano, after that desert storm, is once again captain general. He is the only footballer who has played in five European Championships and is now going to take to the field in the sixth. “It is essential for us,” diagnoses Martínez, who is satisfied with the mix between veterans and newcomers. He also has thirteen victories in the fifteen games in which he has led the team.
The combo of the Czech Republic awaits Portugal in a debut that seems affordable. “Cristiano’s career shows us that he can dream and achieve many things,” says defender Ruben Dias. Always seven as a reference. “We want to neutralize him!” exclaims Ivan Hasek, who was an excellent and industrious midfielder in the nineties, a scorer even in the 1990 World Cup with the defunct Czechoslovakia, and now directs Portugal’s first rival in the European Championship. “But this is a team that is not just Ronaldo,” he warns. “They are famous all over the world and we are not. The only way to compete with them is to play as a team,” says Hasek. Nobody disputes Cristiano, who has a dream record in the competition, champion eight years ago in Paris, even though in the final he had to leave the pitch after getting injured before half-time. The Madeira star has made 25 appearances with 12 victories in the final stages of the Euro Cup, has given six assists and scored 14 goals with four doubles, two more than those achieved by Gerd Müller, Rudi Völler, Romelu Lukaku, Karm Benzema or Antoine Griezmann.
“He knows well that to reach those figures you have to go game by game,” his teammate Diogo Dalot reflects on Cristiano Ronaldo. “And that is the key in this tournament: go step by step,” he reflects. “We are a passionate team,” says Martínez, who warns that he has packed seven shirts in his suitcase, one for each game until the final on July 14, but demands that his team reach the best level in just “two or three games.” ”. Although he is also on the mend: “The first match of a group stage is not a knockout, it does not give or guarantee you qualification. It is important to maintain peace of mind,” he prescribes. And when asked again about Cristiano, he insists: “No one here is by name. He scored nine goals in the qualifying phase.”
You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes in Facebook and xor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_
#Roberto #Martínez #Portugal #coach #carries #shirts #suitcase #game #Euro #Cup #final