On July 9, renowned manager José Mourinho expressed his disappointment with Portugal’s performance at the 2021 European Championship, stating that the team, despite its immense potential, had failed to live up to expectations.
Portugal, after a tense penalty shootout, were unfortunately eliminated in the quarter-finals by France. Mourinho had watched Portugal’s warm-up match against Croatia before the tournament began, and at that time, he frankly admitted that the atmosphere “wasn’t ideal” and he “didn’t feel a good vibe.”
In an interview, Mourinho remarked, “You always feel frustrated when you know you can do better. This team has incredible potential. I said earlier that Portugal, France, and England were the favorites, and two of them are now in the semi-finals. Spain surprised me the most; they’ve transformed into a completely new team. I think they are the best team at the moment and the best team in this tournament. Portugal reached the quarter-finals, but not with a good performance. We expected more. I watched Portugal against Croatia at the National Stadium, and the atmosphere was not ideal; I didn’t feel a good vibe.”
Mourinho further asserted that Portugal had “not made any progress” during this Euro tournament.
However, despite some challenges faced by Portugal in Germany, Mourinho believes the team’s future remains hopeful.
He said, “Throughout the tournament, the team has been trying to improve, but they haven’t been convincing enough. Usually, when it comes to crunch time, these teams become more resilient. This is not the end for Portugal; they haven’t made any significant progress. But it’s a young team, except for two experienced veterans (Ronaldo and Pepe), all the other players have a long career ahead. The World Cup is coming.”
Mourinho also revealed that Turkey was the biggest dark horse of this European Championship. Montella’s team beat Austria 2-1 in the round of 16, but then lost 1-2 to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. Mourinho has recently been appointed head coach of Turkish giants Fenerbahçe, so he has been closely following Turkey’s performance.
In an interview, Mourinho stated, “I watched Turkey’s matches professionally. Whenever Turkey won, it was a problem for me, and whenever Portugal won, I was happy.”
Mourinho’s first game as Fenerbahçe head coach is scheduled for July 23rd, where they will face Swiss giants Lugano in the second round of the Champions League qualifiers.
This article is from a user submission and does not represent the views of Soccer News Pick. If you repost it, please indicate the source: https://www.soccernewspick.com/uefa-european-championship/7974.html
