Platini praise for Portugal
Saturday, July 3, 2004
Article summary
Michel Platini has praised Portugal for playing the best football at UEFA EURO 2004™ - and providing a tournament to remember.
Article body
'Very strong'
"I have been especially impressed by the way Scolari has managed to reorganise and lift Portugal's game since the beginning of the tournament," he told euro2004.com. "The team has become very strong. We all know the best players, it is not their value that counts but team performances."
Best team
Portugal will face Greece in the final tomorrow after the Greeks overcame the Czech Republic in the second semi-final on Thursday, but Platini, a member of UEFA's Executive Committee, had words of comfort for Karel Brückner's beaten side when he said: "The best two teams have been Portugal and the Czech Republic.
Attractive styles
"Portugal have a coach who knows how to get the best out of the team. The Czechs have great individual talent. In different ways, Portugal and the Czech Republic have displayed the highest quality, they both have attractive attacking styles."
Host team
Portugal, who have won four successive matches since losing their opening game against the Greeks, are now aiming to become the first host country since Platini's France in 1984 to win the UEFA European Championship. Platini, who was French captain that year, believes the Portuguese have coped well with the pressure of being the host team - something he puts down to the quality of the players in Scolari's side.
Under pressure
"In every competition, home support is nice but when you are at home you are under pressure, you read the newspapers and everyone is waiting for you, you have your family at the stadium, you are the focus of attention. The pressure is important but this depends on the player - sometimes the player is good or he is not good. In Portugal's case, they are winning because they are a good team."
Celebration of football
Comparing the impact of EURO 2004™ with what he saw in his home country 20 years ago, Platini congratulated the Portuguese people for making this tournament a celebration of football. "France was not a football country. Twenty years ago in France, the football people were happy but a lot of it was national pride. This is a football country and people are very happy - it is an opportunity for the whole country to celebrate something."
