The pill does not pass through Portugal. After being eliminated in a thriller at the hands of the French team on Friday (0-0, 5-3 tab), the Seleção leaves the Euro in the quarter-finals despite several great situations. The lack of efficiency was expressed by Vitinha, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder, who felt “a sense of injustice” in front of the microphone of the “CNN Lusitanian” channel after the match. “There is a lot of frustration at the moment. We felt that we deserved it, we worked hard, we gave everything, and when it is like that it hurts. But that is football. »
It's the same story with his midfield partner, Ruben Neves. In response to Channel 11, the Al Hilal player considered the Portuguese defeat “unfair for all the work that has been done since the start of the Euros”. “It's hard to leave this competition like this. We played a great game, we controlled most of the game with the ball and created chances. We deserved better, but we gave everything we could.”
Despite this positive setback, coach Roberto Martinez also wanted to highlight the collective performance of his men. “It is a sad moment because the players fought. They showed the values of Portuguese football,” said the former Belgium coach. “It is sad, the fans deserved to be happy, but we lost on our feet. We gave everything. We had the ball very well. The defeat is tough. I leave the message that we lost, but with pride. Portuguese, we will not stop there.”
“Penalties are a lottery”
The 2016 European champions qualified after a successful penalty shootout in the last 16 against Slovenia, and this time they stumbled after a missed penalty from Joao Felix. A failure linked to the failure of most Portuguese players, such as Ruben Dias. “Penalties are a lottery and today they did not smile on us,” said the Manchester City defender on the record. “It is difficult to leave like this, since I have been here, it is the most successful match in terms of chances. We had the clearest chances but we faced one of the strongest teams.”
For his part, Paris Saint-Germain left-back Nuno Mendes told CNN that the penalties were “a matter of luck”. “The last game was ours, today was lucky for them. It’s about continuing, keeping our heads up and continuing the work we are doing.”
Pepe, who was moved to tears after the match and did not confirm that it was his last match in the Portuguese jersey, seemed calmer, saying: “For what we did, and for everything my teammates did, we do not deserve it. I lost. Football is cruel, sometimes it gives glory and sometimes it takes it away. Our journey was short, we could have gone much further. We know that this is football and we fell today (Friday).”
