The Portuguese women’s soccer coach, Francisco Neto, asked his team on Monday not to “relax” and to be at the “highest level” on Tuesday in receiving Turkey, decisive in qualifying for the 2023 World Cup.
After Friday’s victory in Serbia (2-1) and the consequent overtaking of the Balkan team, heading for second place in Group H, with 19 points, the team of the “quinches” has to win the “final” against the Turks It is only up to you to guarantee a place in the “play-off”, so “relaxing” is prohibited.
We can’t relax. We knew that in Serbia it would not be easy, but we knew that we were competent enough to win the three points, as we also know that, if we are at our level, we are competent enough to beat Turkey,” he said. he said, after morning training, at the Estádio do Futebol Clube de Vizela, scene of the match scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Francisco Neto recalled, however, that Portugal has to “be at the highest level” to defeat a team with which it tied 1-1 in the first of the 10 days of Group H, in a game in which it showed “a very wide offensive volume” and “wasted several opportunities”, aspects that he wants to see corrected.
“Especially in the second half we had a lot of offensive volume, balls to the post, a good performance by the goalkeeper and some shots where we could have been better in the definition. If we build as many opportunities as in this game, they will be enough for success, ”he compared.
The coach also considered that there are several “increasingly strong” and “difficult to beat” women’s teams, giving the example of the Turkish reply to the leader of Group H and European runner-up Germany, having postponed until the first of the three goals conceded. at 58 minutes on Saturday (3-0).
Convinced that the match will have “a lot of people” watching, in a city like Vizela, which “likes soccer a lot”, the The coach also promised a “strong” tackle to try to “manage the match with goals”but also “patience and maturity”, in case the beginning is not the desired one.
Portugal hosts Turkey in the last of the 10 Group H matches of the 2023 World Cup qualifiers, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, at the Estádio do Futebol Clube de Vizela.
The top finishers from each of the nine European qualifying groups qualify directly for the 2023 World Cup, with the top three finishers (first, third, fourth and fifth results) moving on to the second round of the play-offs and the worst six seconds to the first.
After nine games, Portugal is second in Group H, with 19 points, compared to 24 for the already established leader Germany and 18 for Serbia, third, which travels to Israel.
Source: Observadora
