Euro 2016 Qualifiers – Denmark 0-1 Portugal (Cristiano Ronaldo 90+4)
Post game talks:
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal forward
You need a bit of intelligence in your movements, and I know Quaresma and knew more or less where he would put the ball, so I moved towards the near post. Because they’re all very tall players – and when it’s a hard cross it’s very difficult to win it in the air – I guessed the near post and I did what I had to do, which was trying to put the ball in the net. I’m very happy for the work the team put in during the 90 minutes. We were deserved winners because we created more chances. The team is to be congratulated.
We must always believe. I always believe until the last minute because I know that some time or other the ball will come, and I need to be there and try to do my best, which is score goals if they give me the chance. Obviously the coach has been doing a great job – he’s a great man, a great coach and he passed on that confidence to us at half-time so we are very happy with him.
We’re not thinking about the past in our national team any more. That’s a page we’re already finished with. We need to think about the present, and the present is good. The team did well, there were a lot of changes and a different system, so it’s a question of time until we can adapt. I think we gave a good answer today after the match against France [a 2-1 friendly defeat on 11 October]. I think we were deserved winners.
Ricardo Carvalho, Portugal defender
You always expect Cristiano to score goals. He had one earlier chance, then with his second chance he gets a goal. He is an unbelievable player for us. We are so happy because this win is so important for Portugal. Cristiano is always there waiting for a cross and he scored a great goal. We now have more confidence and we have to improve our game and try to win the next match.
Fernando Santos, Portugal coach
We know Denmark are a very strong team. They probably saw us against France and changed their formation to 4-4-2 instead of their usual 4-3-3 because of this. The first half was even, but after the break we altered the position of our full-backs to push them further forward and press higher which worked well. We were the better team in the second half and created the biggest chances. Cristiano Ronaldo is Cristiano Ronaldo. He is a winner.
