Tiago Djaló says Portugal needs “concentration” to win in Iceland
After two victories in two games in Group D, one of them the biggest ever in the category – 11-0 against Liechtenstein, on Thursday -, the group under the orders of coach Rui Jorge travels to the island in the north of the Atlantic Ocean with the “notion” that he has to face a match “like a final”, in order to be successful, emphasizes the 21-year-old player.
“We expect a more difficult game [do que contra o Liechtenstein]. The team has to be focused for the match against Iceland. (…) The team is prepared. [A Islândia vai exigir] concentration. (…) Let’s do our best and try for the three points”, he said, in a press conference held before the morning training at a hotel in Guimarães.
Although Vikingsvöllur, the stadium that will host the game in Reykjavik from 16:00 in Lisbon, has a synthetic turf, Tiago Djaló stressed that “all players must be prepared to play in any field”, against “any team that is on” .
After playing the majority of training at Sporting and a spell with the Italians at AC Milan, in the 2018/19 season, the defense has asserted itself in the French of Lille, with 44 official games played since the 2019/20 season and a title of French champion already in the curriculum (2020/21).
Even with the experience he has amassed in club competitions at the highest level, the totalist athlete in the qualifying phase, after being an unused substitute at Euro2021, recognized that it is “always great to be in the national team” to “know new realities” and ” new things the coach asks for”.
Portugal, European under-21 runner-up and third-placed in Group D, with six points from two games, face Iceland, fourth after two games, with four points, on Tuesday, at 16:00 in Lisbon, at Vikingsvöllur in Reykjavik.