DORTMUND, Germany (Reuters) -Following is reaction after Portugal beat Turkey 3-0 in their Euro 2024 Group F match on Saturday:
Portugal coach Roberto Martinez: “I think we played at the same level as against Czechia (in their opening game) and that is important. That we scored first was important and changed what Turkey could do. We were very focussed defensively, after the first goal, we controlled the game and the fact we kept a clean sheet was also important.”
Portugal man of the match Bernardo Silva: “We’re very happy. It’s another three points and, if I’m not mistaken, we’re guaranteed first place because it’s a head-to-head. We’ve only secured first place and now we have to think about the next phase, we have to work hard because the objective hasn’t been realised yet. We’re on the right track and today was a good display from Portugal. As I said, it’s nothing more than three points.”
Turkey head coach Vincenzo Montella: “In general, I don’ think we played a bad game. We were closer to scoring a goal in the first 20 minutes. Against these types of opponents, if you don’t find a goal in the first minutes everything becomes harder.
“After our opponents scored, there was a loss of confidence and we fell off… We tried to be part of the game by imposing our spirit onto the game, we fought until the end.”
“I know that when you are the national team head coach and things go wrong or the end result is a loss, the number one enemy becomes the coach, but when I make a decision or an analysis I try to reflect my knowledge and information.”
Turkey forward Yunus Akgun: “We want to forget this game now because everything is in our hands. Nothing is over, everything is in our hands. We want to win the next match and get out of the group… We are a strong team, there can be accidents, but we believe we will win the next game and get out of the group.”
Turkey midfielder Ismail Yuksek: “It was an upsetting loss for us. To be honest, it was a loss that we didn’t expect, we had gotten prepared very well but we played against a very good team. There were goals we conceded due to our own faults, but we need to learn lessons from our mistakes.”
(Reporting by Toby Davis, Fernando Kallas and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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