da betano casino： Jose Mourinho claims Portugal’s Euro 2024 campaign “didn’t smell good”, with Cristiano Ronaldo & Co only making it to the quarter-finals.
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Star-studded squad were among favouritesLost to France in a penalty shootoutPotential to unlock ahead of 2026 World CupWHAT HAPPENED?
A star-studded squad were considered to be one of the favourites for ultimate glory in Germany, with head coach Roberto Martinez looking to emulate the efforts of Fernando Santos from 2016 – when a continental crown was captured on French soil.
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France proved to be Portugal’s undoing this time around, as they prevailed in a penalty shootout, with Ronaldo bowing out of what will be his last European Championship. The all-time great generated plenty of headlines, without scoring a goal, and must now decide what his international future holds at 39 years of age.
WHAT MOURINHO SAID
Mourinho believes that Portugal will be stronger by the time the 2026 World Cup rolls around – with CR7 potentially still at their disposal – but has told of their latest Euros efforts: “There is always frustration when you feel that you could do better. The team’s potential was extremely high. I wasn’t far off the mark when I said that Portugal, France and England were the favourites. Two of them are in the semi-finals. Spain is the biggest surprise for me, in the way the team has evolved, they are practically a new team. For me, at the moment, they are the team that plays the best and the one that has played the best throughout the tournament.
“Portugal wasn’t fantastic, despite reaching the quarter-finals. We expected more. I was at the National Stadium for the Portugal-Croatia [friendly] match and it didn’t smell good. I didn’t get a great feeling. During the tournament we were the team that was making progress, but we weren’t convincing. Often, when the moment of truth comes, these teams are stronger. This wasn’t the end of Portugal, there wasn’t any improvement in the team. But it’s a young team, apart from the two veterans [Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe], a team with years ahead of them. The World Cup is just around the corner.”
GettyWHAT NEXT?
Nations League action is next on the agenda for Portugal, with that campaign set to get underway in September. Ronaldo has hinted at forming part of that quest, with the Al-Nassr superstar not ready to call it a day after earning 212 caps for his country and scoring 130 goals.