On October 16th at 02:45 GMT, the Portuguese national team will face Scotland away in the 4th round of the UEFA Europa League group stage. Prior to the match, Portugal manager Roberto Martinez attended a press conference to discuss topics related to the match in depth.
Martinez began by talking about Scotland's home atmosphere: "It's one of the challenges of playing away from home. As we've already said, it's never easy to play two away games in a row in 72 hours, both in packed stadiums. We've experienced it before in Poland
atmosphere, and although we show good traits there, the atmosphere in Scotland will be even stronger. It's very important to stay true to yourself and be yourself in such an environment. Scotland have improved significantly, they beat Spain and that has made them believe in what they are doing even more. So showing fighting spirit will be key to us winning against Poland
The tournament provided us with great preparation."
On Scotland's ranking and ability to score goals, Martinez was wary: "You observe well that Scotland is really a competitive team and they will fight until the end. They played against Poland
The were awarded a penalty in injury time and had a goal blown away in the final minutes against Croatia. They are physically strong, fast and good at utilizing set pieces. I think Scotland's performance is far superior to their results so far."
Speaking about whether Renato Vega will be paired with Ruben Diaz, Martinez said, "It's not necessarily so. The important thing is to get as many players on the pitch as possible who can help the team. Renato has proven himself to be a player with great potential and can help the team in the moment. But we have other good center backs. We need to manage the fitness of our players to avoid injuries. Renato's debut was excellent, but it's about quality not quantity. I really liked his performance and he made the position competitive."
On the subject of Florentino Luis, Martinez clarified, "First of all, I want to emphasize that Florentino is a very talented player and we like him a lot. We've been following him since I took over. I was talking before about two players who could represent different national teams, and I was emphasizing that they have to have the will and the feeling to play for the national team. The message I've gotten is that Florentino is willing to play for Portugal and he's already had a very successful run with the youth team. Now we need to continue this process and there is no doubt that he has the qualities to play for the national team."
On Scotland's recent performances, Martinez praised: "Scotland have a lot of energy and quality in their game, which makes it very difficult to stop them. They have very good players in every position and don't need too many chances to score because they are well organized. Players like McTominay and Gilmour are very good. Steve Clarke is building a very special team, he has had success and is now in a new cycle. If we can continue to perform well, the results will come naturally."
Martinez also revealed his family background with a Scottish connection, "This is my fifth time playing against Scotland, but it's much easier now. Everything is calmer now because my in-laws are Scottish."
Speaking about whether Cairo will play, Martinez said, "I don't think the age of the players is an issue. Cristiano doesn't work or play like a 39-year-old at all. We work with every player with his feelings in mind and Cristiano has been doing very well. I have no doubt that he will be involved in this game. I called up 26 players so that we can be flexible and adapt our squad to the game."
Finally, Martinez spoke about what it's like to have a player like Crowe: "It's a huge inspiration for us to have a player with such an illustrious career, so many goals and trophies. It's very easy to manage a player who gives his all and is always eager to win. We can all learn from having a player like that around us."
Martinez wasn't surprised by Scotland's performance in Lisbon: "No, they've already played against Poland
The tournament has shown great strength. Scotland are a team with multiple threats, which makes everything very difficult. They have very few chances needed to score goals and are very physical."
