Deep sadness in Portugal after the elimination in the eighth final of the European Championship. The Portuguese media saw Cristiano Ronaldo and his team deliver a good match against Belgium (1-0), but the 2016 European champion is still going home. One is proud of the performance of the team of national coach Fernando Santos, while on the other side a damning judgment is passed on the victorious Belgians.
Correio da Manhaã believes that Portugal cannot blame itself despite the elimination. “The team was actually consistently better than Belgium, which has done nothing more than take the only chance of the game. If that was an opportunity … “, is the reference to the winning goal of Thorgan Hazard. “Belgium is in first place in the FIFA ranking, but it has really shown nothing to justify that position.” Publico Desporto also saw the Belgians win against proportion in Seville. “The Belgians were blown off the field in an offensive way, but the jackpot was won with one shot on target.”
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according to A Bola Portugal only really came to life after Hazard’s goal. “The players woke up too late”, the newspaper laments the day after the elimination. “And therefore the end of the European Championship is a fact. For the first time in history, Portugal is already out of the European Championship before the quarterfinals.” The newspaper then turns to Cristiano Ronaldo, who was also unable to prevent a defeat. “His sadness was clearly visible afterwards. In perhaps his last European Championship match, he knelt in the center circle, while his captain’s armband had to suffer. Then he made his way to the dressing room very disappointed. He threw his captain’s armband on the ground again and kicked out of disappointment.” The anger at Ronaldo was also Record do not miss.
“After the hug with Romelu Lukaku, he was the first to disappear from the field. Ronaldo was really the face of the Portuguese disillusionment.” Nevertheless, some bright spots are also put forward by the Portuguese newspaper. “The team has fallen from its pedestal, but there is nothing to complain about lack of commitment. Renato Sanches and João Palhinha symbolized the determination of the Portuguese team on Sunday evening.” After the meeting in Spain, there were tears with some of Portugal’s internationals, national coach Fernando Santos admits.
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“Some players were crying in the locker room,” Santos told the Portuguese media. “They really gave everything. We really believed that we could win the European Championship, just like in 2016, which makes the disappointment extra big.” The coach is disappointed with the ineffectiveness of his team in Seville. “We had almost 30 shots and also hit the post twice. Belgium only had six shots in total, but they did score. But a defeat is a defeat. It is difficult to find the right words to describe this now. I don’t blame my players in any way,” Santos said.
Despite the early retirement, the national coach of Portugal looks combative to the future. He already has his sights set on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. “At the 2018 World Cup we were eliminated in the eighth finals (by Uruguay, ed.), but a year later we won the Nations League. It is now important to look ahead. We would love to win the World Cup next year,” so concludes the losing national coach.
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