THE BALL – «I don’t believe that any Portuguese want Portugal to fail» (Portugal)
Fernando Santos was asked if extra-football issues could condition the support of the Portuguese to the National Team.
«I do not believe that any Portuguese wants Portugal to fail, whether in the country or abroad», stressed the coach, assuming that the questions surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo are normal: «It is not from now, whenever we come to a press conference , 90 percent of the questions are about him. It has to do with its size.”
«I believe that the fundamental thing here, and I believe that Portugal will stay here for some time, is the fantastic atmosphere that exists between these 24 players. Without that, we could not and would not be here, for sure», he added.
Asked how the players are dealing with the pressure of being in the fight for a place in the semi-finals of a World Cup. «Most of these players have already been in these competitions and in these stages. Every day they are faced with situations in these countries and then in clubs, in the Champions League or the Europa League. They know how to deal with that anxiety of reaching a final and wanting to win a final. They are used to this environment. We just need to put into practice what we have been working on and improve on some aspects.”