Mexico post game interviews

June 22nd, 2006 | by: Luis | Comments(5)

(all links in Portuguese)

Figo: we are going as far as we can

The good mood continues and the team is obviously satisfied with their group phase performance, three games and three victories. In his turn at the mic, Figo suggested it’s Holland or Argentina that should be worried.

“Today we demonstrated that we have a team of very high quality. Regardless of who our coach picks to start, we can all do our jobs in a very positive manner. That is very good.”

He went on to comment on the attitude of the players during this match. “It’s natural that with qualification already secured, that we should play with a little more calm. In the second half, we wanted to preserve ourselves a bit. That’s normal. We’re here to go as far as possible.”

Simão: I jumped at the PK

We know Simão loves those penalty kicks, but he showed he can offer Scolari more then that. “I’m always ready to play, but the coach has the final word. We have to continue to play the same way, as one, because only if we work together will we be able to defeat our future opponents. That’s the main objective.” explained the Benfica star.

You deserve the PK and I’m sure we’ll see you come in for Figo or C. Ronaldo so you’ll get the chance to score a few more for us.

Scolari has some tough choices to make

Visibly pleased with Portugal’s consistency in the group phase, Luis Filipe Scolari still wants more.

“We couldn’t hope for better. We secured qualification for the second round in our second game and today, even with changes to the lineup, we overcame Mexico and ended the group phase with three victories. The performance was secondary. It wasn’t the best we can do, but we had a very good attitude throughout the full 90 minutes. The players made my job a little bit tougher for the next game. We will have to think about this to pick the best players.”

Of course it’s a coaches job to keep focused on what’s in important and Big Phil doesn’t seem to care who we play next. “We’re going to continue to do our jobs, always thinking one game at a time. It doesn’t really matter who our next opponent is. They can choose, not us. All we know is that the difficulty level is going to increase,” he said. By now, we all know we face off against Holland next. A worthy and tough opponent for sure. Keep it up Big Phil, you have all our support.

Reporters also went on to ask Scolari how he felt about getting his 10th World Cup victory in a row. “I never imagined that I would be in the finals of a World Cup competition, let alone win 10 games in a row. It’s a good thing, but it’s just a statistic,” he explained.

Whatever it is, I want more of those positive results. You deserve to enjoy this today, but we know you’ll be back hard at work tomorrow.

Força Portugal!