Portugal coach talks about his World Cup dream…and reveals his expectations for Argentina trip

Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez spoke about his team’s upcoming clash with Colombia at 02:30 Mecca time on Sunday at the end of the 2026 World Cup group stage.

Colombia have secured a place in the second round with 6 points to finish top of Group 11, while Portugal are in second place with 4 points and will be looking to secure a place in the round of 32 and also take the lead if they win.

The coach of the Portuguese national team opened his press conference regarding the match held today, Friday, talking about the best way for Portugal and prefers to be in the first, second or third position, where according to the information reported by the newspaper, he commented:Record“I think that in a tournament like AA, there is no one right way or position. The important thing for us is to reach our best levels and that can only be achieved through victories. Tomorrow we have to respect Colombia, but we want to continue what we did in the second game, continue to improve the areas we need to develop and use these three matches to start preparing for the next round of the World Cup.”

Regarding the confirmation of Portugal’s awakening for the upcoming game against Colombia, especially with the big crowd expected for the opponent in Miami, Martinez explained: And in that second game we managed to do it very well, it will be the first match we play away from home, especially since there are a lot of Colombian fans here in Miami, so tomorrow’s match will be a good test.

When asked if this generation is capable of taking Portugal, with its global reputation and strong league, to the finals of the World Cup, he answered realistically. “We must first understand what is needed to reach the finals of the World Cup. Like Colombia, we are not talking about big steps.” “Just like winning the World Cup now, we are trying to deal with the tournament game by game.”

As for the morale of the team, aware that a win would officially guarantee them first place, Martinez praised the management system, saying: Having a captain with six World Cup experience helps us a lotBut we also have a top management group that includes two captains from Manchester United, two from Manchester City, a captain from Porto and a captain from Al Hilal. “We have a very influential leadership team.”

Asked if there was any real advantage to finishing first in the group stage, Martinez surprised the crowd by denying it, saying: “No, no advantage at all. If this was my first World Cup, I would say yes. When you’re lacking experience in the World Cup, you want to sit down and plan everything possible, every round, every opportunity… and then you realize that in Game 8 it’s not really possible. Knowing that the winner will face Brazil and we beat England and finished the tournament in 3rd place, I think the focus has to be the best in the dressing room.

Coach Roberto Martinez concluded his conference Answering two questions. the first was about whether the turnaround between the first and second legs had restored Portugal as a prominent title contender, while the second was about his opinion of Argentina’s performance and whether their style was solid or overshadowed by the brilliance of Lionel Messi, to which he answered emphatically; all and does not affect our morale or our preparation for the matches, and now we are more prepared with Argentina because “My focus is only on our opponents, but I am sure that Argentina will continue to have a great World Cup.”