‘Well prepared’ Portugal eye victory against New Zealand

Saint Petersburg:  European champions Portugal have done their homework on football minnows New Zealand with coach Fernando Santos predicting an all-out attack against their Confederations Cup rivals at Krestovsky Stadium today.
Portugal beat hosts Russia in their previous game in Moscow where star striker Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal of the match at Spartak Stadium. Portugal kicked off their Confederations Cup campaign with a 2-2 draw against South American giants Mexico.
”We do not worry about what happens in the other group. We are only concentrating on New Zealand. In recent days we have worked only on our next opponents,” Santos said yesterday.
”We have watched both matches (involving New Zealand) and studied their game. Today, the entire team met and discussed how we will play against the New Zealanders. We are well prepared,” he added.
Santos said Portugal are taking one match at a time.
”We respect other teams but we are not afraid of anyone. We have a team rule: the maximum trust, the maximum respect and the maximum attitude. I think once we emerge from the group and only then we will begin to study (semi-final) opponents,” Santos said.
When asked to predict the outcome from the Russia vs Mexico clash today, Santos refused to pick a winner. Russia and Mexico are the other two teams in Group A.
”I believe we will win against New Zealand but I can’t say what will happen in that match,” said Santos.
”These are two high-quality teams. And we will play against the third strong team in Group A and this side has given their rivals the heat in the two previous meetings.
”New Zealanders will try to show their talent. We are aware of that.  We will be playing a difficult side but we think that we will win,” Santos said.
He added Russia and Mexico could not be compared as both teams play with different tactics.
”These are two completely different teams with different characteristics. The only similarity is that they play with three central defenders. Russian football is very different from New Zealand’s football. Their last game was played in a style similar to the British,” Santos said.
”Although English style is no longer what it used to be but it is different from the football of the past. In general, all the players in my team are used to playing in different championships with different styles,” he added.
Santos said Portugal earned their status as European champions despite winning only two games at Euro 2016 in regulation time.
”Portugal has always played well otherwise it would not become European champions. The game is not limited to 90 minutes. The match can last for 120 minutes also. At Euro 2016, we won four games and the fact that it was done in extra time shows our good preparation to play long games,” he said.
Santos said key defender Luís Neto is certain to feature in the game today.
”Luís came here (for the press conference) because I’m one hundred percent certain to see him on the pitch,” he said.
”All our players are fit and confident. We have a great team spirit. I repeat - some players play more, some play less but everyone feels an important part of this team. This is the most important thing for me,” the coach added.
Meanwhile, All Whites coach Anthony Hudson said his team was not just competing against Ronaldo in their clash today against Portugal.
”This match is not different from any other  game we have played so far,” Hudson said yesterday.
”All coaches are asked about it but Portugal is not only about Ronaldo. If you remove Cristiano, they will still remain a side with a lot of high-quality players. We have a definite plan but I would not want to go into details. We do not think that  we will play only against Ronaldo. We are thinking about how to achieve results,” Hudson said.
”After the game with Mexico, we had mixed feelings. The players have been proud of their show,” the Briton said.
New Zealand were beaten 2-0 by Russia in the opening Confederations Cup match.
”Everyone said that Mexico will score 3, 4 or even 5 goals. However, we have a good side. We had a chance to get a draw. We are pleased that we showed a good game but disappointed with the result,” Hudson said of the 2-1 loss to Mexico.
”We will try to approach it (the game against Portugal) with the right attitude and organisation. We need a positive result. Yes, Portugal is a world class side but we will play for the result,” Hudson said.