You know the day's top Euro 2008 stories are Italy, Cannavaro. Spain. France barely, scraping a win yesterday in the friendly with Colombia. It's so rare for Portugal to make the news. So.
Turkey forward Nihat Kahveci:
"We completely missed the last big international tournaments (Euro'2004 e Mundial'2006) as opposed to the Portuguese that achieved good results. For that reason, they are logically, favorites in the group and in the duel with us."
About the Portugal-Turkey Euro 2008 match on June 7th:
"That doesn't mean that we're defeated in advance. It's necessary to recognize that it's [Portugal] an impressive team, physically and above all in talent. But we can win if we are tactically perfect. The details are usually the decisive factor in these matches. Nothing has to be neglected. That's why, for the first time in the national team, we studied our opponents with video."
About stopping Portugal in the match:
"The key to the match is the organization of the defense. It's necessary to be extremely disciplined in front of players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Quaresma or Deco."
About Cristiano Ronaldo:
"Was the best player of the year. Nobody wins matches with just one player. Portugal has other good players like tem Quaresma, Deco, Simão, Miguel or Pepe, whom we respect."
Source: www.record.pt/noticia.asp?id=789405&idCanal=1252
I absolutely loved that he recognized that Quarema is also decisive not just Cristiano Ronaldo. There's a guy who studied the Portugal matches.
- Portugal-Turkey June 7th, Euro 2008. Who's your favorite to win it?
- What did you think of Nihat's statements?