Santos hails Portugal’s spirit after France draw
Euro 2016 finalists both secured knockout stages with a 2-2 draw on Wednesday night, with France finishing top of Group F and Portugal third, but still qualifying for the competition’s next round.
Going into the game to
revenge
their
Euro 2016 final game
defeat against Portugal, France were held to a draw against the Reigning Euro champions.
Braces from former
Real Madrid
teammates,
Cristiano Ronaldo
and
Karim Benzema,
concluded the match as a 2-2 draw
while both of the Portuguese's goals coming from penalty kicks.
Conclusively,
France
will top Euro 2020’s
Group F
as they’ll face Switzerland in the last 16 on Monday,
Germany
will qualify as the runner-ups while
Portugal
qualifies as one of the best third-placed teams and will play
Belgium
on Sunday.
“What I really liked was the team's collective behaviour,"
Portugal
head coach
Santos
told reporters after the final whistle.
"When I was asked what we had to do that was different from the game against Germany, I said it was to be like ourselves.
"We were strong, consistent, with a great spirit. We can continue to improve.
"In the second half we didn't start well but we regrouped."
Playing his part in implementing Santos' game,
Sporting CP
midfielder
Palhinha
was undoubtedly a candidate for yesterday's game’s man of the match award.
"The Germany game served as a lesson. The team improved a lot, defending more compactly, managing [the game] better with the ball, and that was reflected today," Palhinha told UEFA.com.
"The coach asked me to be more positional, to be more compact in the middle, and to not give space to the midfielders and [Antoine] Griezmann."
On his side’s upcoming last-16 game against title-contenders
Belgium
in Seville on Sunday, the Portuguese coach added: "Now we have to think about Belgium, who are tough opponents. If we look at the rankings, they are first. But let's evaluate and realize what we have to do for this match.
"Is not at a disadvantage [to have less recovery time. Rest is very important, we have to recover so that they are fresh. We cannot use this as a handicap.
"Let's see if there have been any changes in Belgium, let's analyze the team and prepare for the game with the usual goal: to move forwards."
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