Portugal beat Luxembourg to secure their spot at Euro 2024
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez leapt to the defence of Cristiano Ronaldo after a record-breaking night for his side.
The Euro 2016 winners recorded their biggest ever win – a 9-0 victory against Luxembourg – on Monday night as they secured qualification to Euro 2024 in Germany.
Bruno Fernandes was the standout as he scored one and assisted three while Diogo Jota, Goncalo Ramos and Goncalo Inacio all grabbed a brace each. Joao Felix and Ricardo Horta also got in on the act.
Luxembourg boss Luc Holtz couldn’t face watching the whole game and was seeing storming down the tunnel shortly after Fernandes had made it 8-0 with seven minutes to play.
Seleccao das Quinas produced their most-impressive under Martinez without Ronaldo, who was suspended after being shown a yellow card in Friday’s game against Slovakia, taking his total in the qualifying campaign to three and subsequently triggering a one-match suspension.
After the game, Martinez was asked if Portugal play better without Ronaldo in the side however the Belgian was quick to lend his support to the Al Nassr forward.
“No. Cristiano is a very important element for this team, Ronaldo has experience and a way of his own,” he told reporters.
“We don’t need to cause controversy. Ronaldo as well as Pepe. They have an infectious way of working and give our team important value.”
Despite that, the former Belgium boss was quick to praise Ronaldo’s replacements, Ramos and Jota, and admitted that they are “ready to win” when the 38-year-old is ruled out of action.
Martinez added: “Gonçalo Ramos showed today what he can do, and Diogo Jota did the same.
“We need players who have the level to win games. The group is special. We don’t need to compare them. Cristiano is important, but our team is ready to win without him.”
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