Portugal manager Roberto Martinez was pleased by how dominant his side were in their 3-0 win over Turkey on Saturday and said that he is confident they are ready for the Euro 2024 round of 16 after securing qualification as Group F winners.
Despite facing criticism following a last gasp fight back win against Czech Republic, Martinez said he didn't think his team had had a bad performance in their opener,
considering it was a similar display to the latest game with the result
being determined by the circumstances.
Portugal had to dig deep to beat the Czechs 2-1 with a stoppage-time winner, which raised questions about Martinez's side who arrived in Germany among the favourites.
"I think our game was on the same level as the first one what is very important for us, to maintain a good level. The difference is that we managed to score early and that allowed us to play more calm and relaxed," Martinez told a press conference.
"After we scored the first goal it changed what Turkey needed to do, it is important to start well. We were focused on defence and controlled the game better, it was so meaningful to keep them from scoring."
After abandoning the system used in the opener of deploying three central defenders and reverting to a back four, Martinez said that he will remain flexible and keep his rivals guessing.
"It's important to balance our abundance of individual talent and the best way to do it is being tactically flexible," Martinez said.
"To have that flexibility in a national team is difficult so I think it's great that we have players talented enough to play different roles according to the situation and the rival."
As the victory secured Portugal's progress to the knockout rounds, Martinez said that he will rotate his squad in their last group stage game on Wednesday against Georgia.
"Securing first place is good because there are a lot of players in the dressing room who deserve to play and we need to give them opportunities to show what they've got and create a competitive environment in the team during the tournament," Martinez said.
Meanwhile, Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella defended his decision to start with midfield prodigy Arda Guler on the bench in their 3-0 Euro 2024 defeat to Portugal on Saturday and said his side lacked boldness against opponents he described as among the very best.
Guler marked his European championship debut with a sublime strike in Turkey's opening 3-1 win over Georgia but the 19-year-old was only introduced for the final 20 minutes against the Portuguese.
Montella said, “Arda wasn't fit to play I can say clearly he could not play more than 30 minutes without increasing the risk. So there was also a temptation of not putting him in 20 minutes from the end, but finally I gave in because good players must play my opinion," Montella told reporters.
"Because we often tend to forget about it that most of our footballers are not used to playing with continuity in their clubs and I am talking about one game a week... when you play once every four days, it's another sport you need to be physically fit, you need to be prepared.
