Portugal must tire out Slovenia in Euros last 16, says Fernandes

The Manchester United midfielder admitted he gets frustrated playing against defensive sides but pledged to find solutions against the minnows in only their second Euros. Slovenia held England to a goalless draw to progress third from Group C and after Portugal struggled to break down a defensive Czech Republic in their opener, Fernandes said patience was the key.

"Sometimes people don't understand when we face such low blocks, there's no space between the lines and if there's no space then we can't play the ball there," Fernandes told a news conference Sunday. "Against the Czechs I was very frustrated - we needed to play the ball out wide and our goals came from two crosses...

"(Tomorrow) we need to tire them out. If we have the ball we're closer to scoring our goal." Fernandes scored in the 3-0 win over Turkey in Portugal's second group game, which was his team's best performance thus far, but the Selecao were shocked in a 2-0 defeat by Georgia last time out.

Earlier this week, veteran defender Pepe called on the team to be more focussed ahead of the clash against Slovenia, who have reached the knock-out stages in a major tournament for the first time. "Whatever Pepe said, we take it seriously, he is very experienced," said Fernandes.

"Pepe is very assertive in everything he says, he's very honest and open and nobody takes anything the wrong way. "The defeat shows some things we have to improve, we've been working on it and tomorrow we have to show it."

 

June 30, 2024