Portugal continues to ride on a wave of success in the main round and can continue to dream of reaching the semi-finals after their win against Slovenia and ahead of their clash with Sweden.
Portugal’s head coach Paulo Pereira was more than satisfied with his team’s victory. “We were the better team today,” said Pereira, pointing to the quality of the Slovenians, who had only been beaten by world champions Denmark in the preliminary round. His young team had mastered the task against “one of the best teams in this tournament”.
Martim Costa in particular was the focal point of the Portuguese attacking fireworks. With eleven goals, the older of the two Costa brothers was the key figure in the game. “We controlled the game very well from the very first minute,” said Costa. His team was “ready for this fight” from the very first minute.
With the win, Portugal stays in touch with the Scandinavian top duo in the main round Group II and keep their chances of reaching the semi-finals alive. “Despite all the difficulties, you don’t come here just to enjoy the game,” said Costa ahead of the clash against Sweden. “When you get to the main round, you want to win all your games.”
“It will be a very difficult game for us, we know who Sweden is,” predicted Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Rêma Marques, who bolstered his team with his saves, especially in the closing stages. “We know their strengths and their weaknesses and we will try to take advantage of that.”
The game will be broadcasted live starting 4.52pm (with game starting at 5pm) on RTP2 TV.