Decisive, although only in the second matchday of the Euro 2024 qualifiers, characterized tomorrow’s match of the National team against Ireland at the Opap Arena by Gustavo Poget. The Uruguayan coach made it clear that he will not change his philosophy, while asked a full court to give the team an extra boost. He pointed out, didn’t he, that there is always the… alternative to qualifying for Euro 2024 through the Nations Leaguebut he and his players want to exhaust the odds through qualifying.
In detail, Gustavo Poget spoke about:
-if Ireland expect to play more open compared to the match against France: “Yes, I expect it. We saw them against France, who have quality and speed. They want to have hope of qualifying in this very difficult group. We expect them to play strongly, to push us maybe a little higher and we are prepared. And they want to win, just like us. It will be a key game for both teams.”
-whether the loser of Friday’s match will have hopes of qualifying: “It will be very difficult for any team that loses. The truth is that when the draw was made we didn’t like being in the group. We have to be realistic though. There is the FIFA ranking and that’s why these draws come. We should take advantage of the opportunities we have. The reality is that if we don’t win tomorrow, it will be very difficult to be second. Realistically, it’s a very crucial game for both teams.”
-whether Ireland have extra pressure because they don’t have the alternative of qualifying through the Nations League: “I don’t want to put more pressure on Ireland, but we do have an alternative route to qualification. We definitely want to win, but if we don’t make it in the qualifiers, we have a second chance. However, we want to get through the qualifiers and if we succeed it will be fantastic. If not, we will prepare even better for the Nations League.”
-how much the course in the Nations League helped to “warm up” the world to the National team: “It was very important for us. After 2004 there was a formidable union of the team with the world and it was maintained with the continuous qualifications in major tournaments. Unfortunately, this did not continue after 2014 and naturally a distance was created between the National team and the fans. To bring people back you don’t have to ask them to come back, you have to win. Our run in the Nations League was a big step in bringing the world together again. I believe we will have more people on Friday and to make the bond even stronger, we should qualify for the Euro. I hope we have a full stadium, I hope people fill the stands because that will help the team a lot.”
-whether Opap Arena will play a role: “If the stadium is full, like in the matches against AEK, it will help us a lot. We’ll know tomorrow.”
-the presence of many fans in the open training: “It is very important. I always try to do my job first. It’s not fair to ask people to come without you doing anything. The first step was our progress in the Nations League. With the successes will come the identification of the world with the players. It’s a great opportunity to see Tsimikas, Bakaseta, Vlahodemos up close… It will be a unique opportunity this summer. The players must feel that they are playing at home.”
-the extra time he had for training: “We national team coaches always complain about the short preparation time. Now we had the chance to prepare for a few more days. I don’t want to reveal what we worked on above. However, we don’t have an advantage, since Ireland had the same time.”
-Evan Ferguson: “When a player can perform at that age in England, he’s a great player. Evan is amazing, he showed it at Brighton and we will certainly have a lot of work to do to limit him in the game on Friday.”
-Ireland’s static phases: “We have worked a lot on this, we have prepared well. But you can work for 20 days on how to take a corner, but the point is to do it in the game, that day. There are many details that play a role.”
-whether Ireland’s style will influence his choices: “In a national team you have to be consistent, so we will not change the system. You have to have a basic philosophy and serve it.”
-whether the inaction will affect the groups: “We and Ireland had this problem with several players. We have been doing some training throughout this time and we are very happy that the players have responded after a short break. I believe that both teams will be ready to fight.”
– the tragedy in Pylos and the holding of the match after UEFA’s decision: “Unfortunately, tragedies like this happen every day, all over the world. It is difficult to express an opinion on this. We always have to adapt.”
Source: Sport Fm
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