 |
 |
 |
| Wednesday, 27 June 2012 12:17 |
Paulo Bento: “The game will have moments in which we will dominate”Coach confident of extending Portugal’s run at Euro 2012 He may be the youngest national team coach at Euro 2012, but Paulo Bento’s handling of his team and the media at this tournament has exuded the confidence of a veteran. The Portugal manager gave another demonstration of controlled optimism and intelligent analysis in the pre-match press conference ahead of the semi-final against Spain.
“The game will have moments in which we will dominate; I have no doubt about that. We want the ball, but we know that on the other side is a team that has bettered the opposition in this aspect,” began Bento.
“We must show ambition to get possession of the ball, courage to attack them and patience when we don’t have it, without becoming unstable. We know in what areas we want to press the opponents, and who we will use to do that job. We don’t want to spend the whole time defending. We want to dispute the game with the European and World Champions.” No change in approachBearing out this philosophy, Bento insisted he would not be modifying Portugal’s shape or tactical approach to the game.
“We have our identity. It makes no sense playing a semi-final and not drawing inspiration from our own game. At times we are going to have to suffer, and wait for the best time to apply pressure again. This is all down to managing each moment of the game.
“We have to play with an enormous heart, like we have done, but in a balanced way in emotional terms. The game will last 90 minutes, or 95 minutes, or even longer, but we want to try and settle it in 90 minutes.”
After confirming that Hugo Almeida will come in for Hélder Postiga at centre-forward, Bento was asked if he expected Spain to continue to line up without a recognised striker.
“Will Torres or Fabregas play? Will David Silva or Pedro play? I don’t know, we’ll have to wait and see. This may ask different questions of us, but we will be highly organised whatever.”
If Bento’s assurance off the pitch can be matched by Portugal’s players on it, the Selecção may well be celebrating come later tonight.
by Tom Kundert
|
As Duke told Rocky during training for the Drago fight: "You're gonna have to go through hell, worse than any nightmare you've ever dreamed. But when it's over, I know you'll be the one standing. You know what you have to do. Do it... Do it."
an early goal would frustrate Spain, and the longer we could hold that advantage the more it would force them to try vertical passes and not just a ball possession game.
I see this as the path to victory.
I love his comments and thought process. You're right VoR, all Portuguese should be incredibly proud of this squad. A lot of questions were asked of it going into the tourney, and frankly they have answered them.
It is a mentality that we didn't seem to have with CQ - who I am not criticizing, I like his appointment when it was announced.
I hope the players heed Bento's instructions - win, draw, or "lose in glorious fashion" (paraphrase Tom Kundert here) if we play the way we can and should, going out at this stage is no shame.
I think Portugal will win this game...I think Bento believes it, the players believe it, jeezus man, even Victor believes it (A FIRST! - kidding Victor). Seriously, there hasn't been this sentiment from fans and country since 2004...this time, the team gets it done.
So very proud of this team.