Roberto Martinez brings goal rush to in-form Portugal, as 5-2 thumping of Sweden made it 11 wins in 11 games since he took over the helm, with a team that can work with or without Cristiano Ronaldo


No team heads into this summer’s Euros in better form than Portugal after Thursday’s 5-2 thumping of Sweden made it 11 wins out of 11 since Roberto Martinez took over.

The former Swansea, Wigan and Everton manager who led Belgium to a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup, has built a team capable of winning with and without Cristiano Ronaldo.

He was missing from the thrashing of Sweden in Guimaraes last week as Portugal made it 41 goals scored and only four conceded since Martinez took over.

Portugal won all 10 of their group matches in qualifying with Martinez silencing the doubters who wondered how he would pick up the pieces of a team whose morale was shattered by a quarter-final defeat by Morocco at the Qatar World Cup late in 2022.

Roberto Martinez has won 11 straight games since taking over as the manager of Portugal

Roberto Martinez has won 11 straight games since taking over as the manager of Portugal

He has been able to make a national side that can with with or without Cristiano Ronaldo

He has been able to make a national side that can with with or without Cristiano Ronaldo

The steady decline of the now 39-year-old Ronaldo looked to be his biggest problem, coupled with accommodating Joao Felix, Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Leao and Ramos in the same line-up.

Santos had been hugely popular and the squad wanted him to stay on but Spaniard Martinez spoke individually to all 26 players who had failed in Qatar and he started taking Portuguese classes for 90 minutes every day, insisting that everyone in the Federation spoke to him in Portuguese so that he would learn the language as quickly as possible.

He has built a strong group of assistants with former Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho working as his No 2 and former Portugal international Ricardo his goalkeeper coach.

Martinez has won the players over and they have responded. He now heads into this summer’s tournament in Germany, believing they can win it, despite England and France being favourites.

‘A coach likes to have headaches but now is not the time for that,’ added Martinez of the naming of his squad scheduled for May 19. ‘This is the time to gather information and create a good group spirit.’

Portugal’s Iberian neighbours Spain, European champions in 2008 and 2012, are not striding as impressively towards this summer’s tournament. They were beaten 1-0 by Colombia at the London Stadium on Friday night and the only positive to take away from their dismal display was a record-breaking debut for Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi.

Aged 17 years and two months Cubarsi became the second-youngest player to debut for Spain when he came on with seven minutes left in the game.

Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi became the second-youngest player to debut for Spain

Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi became the second-youngest player to debut for Spain

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente was always going to prioritise the Brazil game over Colombia

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente was always going to prioritise the Brazil game over Colombia

He had already seen his Barcelona team-mate Lamine Yamal come on in the second half — the winger holds the record as the youngest debutant having won his first cap last year aged 16 years and 27 days.

Beyond the Barcelona youngsters there was little grounds for optimism ahead of this summer’s Euros but coach Luis de la Fuente was always going to prioritise Tuesday’s home friendly against Brazil at the Santiago Bernabeu.

De la Fuente will start that game with Atletico Madrid’s Alvaro Morata, Yamal and Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams in attack —the trio are likely to be his first choice front three in Germany come June.



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