Portugal’s debut in the European Women’s Football Championship against Switzerland on Saturday will be decided by details and taking advantage of mistakes, national coach Francisco Neto said.
The coach agreed with a comment by Swiss coach Nils Nielsen, admitting that, being the two closest teams in terms of international “ranking”, the game will be quite divided.
Without a doubt, it is a game of details and when it is a game of details it is to take advantage of the mistakes of others”, underlined Francisco Neto.
The Portuguese coach said that Portugal has to be smart, “Make as few mistakes as possible and take advantage of Switzerland’s mistakes as much as possible or make Switzerland make those mistakes.”
Now, if it will be with the highest line, with the lowest line, with more ball, with less ball, only tomorrow at 5:00 p.m., “he added, without revealing the tactics of the game.
The coach recognized that “starting a competition by scoring and playing well” gives other levels of confidence and takes some pressure off the team.
However, he rejected the idea that this would be a decisive game for Portugal’s aspirations to progress to the next stage.
The coach stressed the importance of having some players who participated in Euro 2017 in the team to help others with their experience and assumed the ambition of getting through the group stage.
For that he wants to “score more goals, suffer less, add more points”, so that Portugal reaches the last game depending only on itself to be able to advance in the competition.
Asked to participate in this tournament instead of Russia, excluded due to the invasion of Ukraine, Neto reiterated that he would exchange his presence “for a world without wars”, but also claimed merit.
“We were the team that scored 19 points, but nobody had scored 19 points. We were the only team that did not qualify with this record. We went to the ‘play-off’, those who were present in the ‘play-off’ feel and understand our competition. That’s why I think we’re here on our own merits”, he defended.
Also at the press conference, midfielder Dolores Silva confessed her “excitement” with the attention the competition is receiving, with the opening match between England and Austria (1-0) sold out at Old Traford.
“This is a European that will mark women’s football”believes, considering that “a giant step is being taken for the sport”, a clear sign of evolution.
As captain and one of the most experienced players, who represented the team at Euro 2017, the Sporting de Braga player stressed that it is important to enjoy and believe.
“I think the key word for us as a team is to enjoy, enjoy the moment, represent Portugal at the highest level. It is the dream of all of us, we worked hard to get here,” she said.
The coach already had Kika Nazareth and Joana Marchão in training this Friday, who were physically limited in recent days.
Portugal debuts on Saturday against Switzerland (5:00 p.m.) at the Leigh Stadium, in the Manchester region.
The next matches will be against the Netherlands, on July 13 (8:00 p.m.), and Sweden (5:00 p.m.), on the third and final day of group C, on July 17, both at the same venue.
The 12,000 capacity stadium is used by the Leigh Centurions professional rugby team and the Manchester United U-23 and U-19 women’s football teams.
Source: Observadora
