Analysis: Euro 2024 draw puts Portugal in an accessible group, Coach Martinez is happy
By being in Pot 1, Portugal already knew that they were going to avoid most of the more serious title contenders in the opening round, although the remaining pots also included some strong teams. But, as it turned out, the draw for the EURO 2024 finals, held on Dec. 1 in Hamburg, Germany, was kind to Portugal, which was placed in Group F, along with Turkey (number 37 in the FIFA rankings), the Czech Republic (number 39), and the winner of Path C of the play-offs, which includes Georgia, Luxembourg, Greece and Kazakhstan.
Thus, in the group stage, Portugal avoided some complicated opponents, namely the Netherlands (6), Croatia (10) and Italy (9).
UFA pointed out that Portugal, Turkey and the Czech Republic were also all in the same group back in Euro 2008. Portugal eventually won the group with victories over Turkey (2-0) and Czechia (3-1), ending the group stage with a 2-0 defeat against Switzerland. Portugal fell in the next round, losing to Germany, 3-2.
Coach Roberto Martinez happy with the draw
By being placed in Group F, Portugal will be the last of the contenders to see action and will therefore have fewer days of when they enter the knockout phase. But coach Roberto Martínez was not at all concerned and actually expressed his satisfaction with the schedule.
“For us, it’s good news to have finished in Group F. We’ll be in central Germany and we’ll have some extra time to prepare for the first game. That’s important for us,” Martínez said shortly after the draw concluded.
Portugal open against the Czechs on June 18 in Leipzig, face Turkey on June 22 in Dortmund and close the group stage on June 26 in Gelsenkirchen against the winner of path C of the play-offs, scheduled to be played in March.
“They are tough opponents. The Czech Republic is a bit of an unknown because they don't have a coach. Turkey won their qualifying group against Croatia and Wales. It’s a team with a mix of talent, youth, and experience. We want to have a perfect preparation. We had a very good qualifier stage, but that doesn't give us an advantage in the tournament. We need to be prepared,” Martinez said.
And he also has to take into account the opponent that emerges from the playoff.
“They're all different. In modern soccer we need to have the tactical flexibility that we have shown,” Martinez added. “We need to work on more concepts in order to be ready, but the winner of the playoff could be very different, a team like Luxembourg, that we know well, or a Greece that is very competitive. It's not the opponent but rather what we can do.”
Positive history against first opponents
Portugal has a very positive record against the first two opponents, as they have never lost to Turkey in official matches and have suffered only one defeat in the five games played against the Czech Republic.
The most recent clash between Portugal and Turkey took place on March 24, 2022, at the Estádio do Dragão, where Portugal won, 3-1 in the play-offs for the 2022 World Cup.
Otávio, Diogo Jota and Matheus Nunes for Portugal, and Burak Yilmaz for Turkey, were the goal scorers.
Before that, Portugal had already beaten Turkey 2-0 at Euro 2008, with goals from Pepe and Raúl Meireles and the same result was registered at Euro 2000, where a double from Nuno Gomes led the team to the quarter-finals. Portugal eventually fell in the semi-finals to France.
There are also fond memories of Euro 1996, played in England, as Fernando Couto's solitary goal in the 66th minute resulted in a 1-0 victory. Portugal was then eliminated in the quarterfinals, with Karel Poborský's goal sending the Czech Republic into the final four. Interestingly, Poborsky signed for SL Benfica the following year and ended up making 112 appearances for the Reds, scoring 17 goals.
The first official matches between these two national teams took place during the qualifying stage for the 1966 World Cup, an historic mark since it was the first time that Portugal reached the final stage of a major competition. In addition, in England the Portuguese team reached the semi-finals, where they would be eliminated by the hosts in a very controversial match.
During that qualifying round, Portugal thrashed Turkey 5-1 at the Estádio Nacional on January 24, 1965, thanks to a hat-trick from Eusébio and goals from Mário Coluna and Jaime Graça. On the return leg in Turkey, Eusébio scored the only goal of the match.
At Euro 2012, Portugal met the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals, with the game being decided by Cristiano Ronaldo in the 79th minute. In the next game, they were eliminated by Spain on penalties.
And in 2022, Portugal won both Nations League games. On 9 June, at the José Alvalade Stadium, they beat their Czech counterparts 2-0, with goals from João Cancelo and Gonçalo Guedes, but in the return leg in Prague they had an easier time and cruised 4-0, on a brace from Diogo Dalot and goals from Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Jota.
On the road to Germany, Portugal had an immaculate record, with wins in all 10 games played. Turkey finished top in a group that included Croatia and Wales but had a turbulent campaign that resulted in the sacking of coach Stefan Kuntz, who was replaced by Vincenzo Montella in September 2023, before some key games.
Turkey's best showings were the semi-finals of Euro 2008 and the 2002 World Cup.
The Czechs also struggled to qualify for Germany. They finished second behind Albania, having won only four of their eight games. At the moment, they still don't have a coach as Jaroslav Silhavy resigned shortly after the qualifying round, something that may have had to do with the fact that he sent home three of the players for missing curfew after going out to a club on the eve of the last decisive game of the group.
Opponents consider Portugal to be the favorite
After the draw, Turkey's football coach, Italian Vincenzo Montella, said that Portugal are the favorites to win Group F of the Euro 2024.
“Portugal are the favorites. They are a team that is used to [being in the finals] and very strong. That will serve as motivation for us,” Montella said.
Despite that, the Italian coach has some hope as there is a large Turkish community in Germany, meaning that his team can count on strong support from their fans.
“We played against Germany last month here in Germany and the love of the Turkish people meant that we played at home. That will be an advantage if we win, otherwise it won't be,” Montella said.
Hamit Altintop, a member of the Turkish football federation and a former 'star' of the country's national team, also rated Portugal as the favorite in the group.
“Portugal is very strong. They have a great team, fantastic players and also a great coach. They are favorites to win the group, but we'll see what we can do. Our goal is to reach the next round,” Altintop said.
Since the Czech Republic does not have a coach at the moment, the assessment of the draw was provided by the national team's technical director, Erich Brabec. After considering that Portugal “has a lot of quality” in all positions, he added that the ‘seleção das quinas’ is “definitely the favorite” to win Group F.
“Definitely, Portugal is the favorite to take first place,” Erich Brabec said. “In each position, Portugal has two or three good players playing in Europe. They have a lot of quality in every position on the pitch.”
Although Jaroslav Silhavy's replacement has yet to be appointed, the Czech’s national team technical director believes that, at this moment, this is “not a problem”, although they are searching for a coach.
“We're without a coach, but we're looking for that. We will find a coach as soon as possible. Right now, it's not a problem, we have some time,” Brabec explained.
In closing, Erich Brabec recalled the Euro 2012 quarter-final match, decided by Cristiano Ronaldo, in the 79th minute, when he burst into the penalty box and headed in a cross from João Moutinho, beating well-known goalkeeper Peter Cech for the only goal of the match.
It was a difficult game, but the teams are different now. I hope we get another result now and that Cristiano doesn't score,” Brabec said.
Confronted with the comments from his opponents regarding Portugal's favorite status in the fight to win Group F, Roberto Martinez downplayed the subject.
“Our strength is in the locker room. For us, the next important steps will be the training camp in March, finalizing the squad list and then having a perfect preparation,” Martinez said. “Games are important to grow. We're a team that had a very good qualifying stage, but that doesn't give us an advantage for the tournament. We need to be prepared to grow in the first three games. We want to give our fans joy, so we need to be prepared with enthusiasm for June 18th.”
In any case, it is important for Portugal to win the group because that will avoid meeting one of the favorites in the first knockout games. If Portugal finishes in second place, in the round of 16 they could face either France or one of the countries in the so-called 'group of death', Spain, Italy or Croatia.
Here are the six groups:
Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary and Switzerland;
Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy and Albania;
Group C: Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia and England;
Group D: Winners of playoff A (Poland, Estonia, Wales or Finland), Netherlands, Austria and France;
Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania and playoff B winners (Israel, Iceland, Bosnia or Ukraine);
Group F: Turkey, winners of playoff C (Georgia, Luxembourg, Greece or Kazakhstan), Portugal and Czech Republic.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Analysis: Euro 2024 draw puts Portugal in an accessible group
