Bernardo Silva: "We got too drawn into what the Croatians wanted"

Bernardo Silva, the Portugal national team midfielder, offered a critical assessment of Portugal's 2-1 victory over Croatia. While acknowledging that securing qualification for the 2026 World Cup Round of 16 was the most important outcome, the midfielder emphasized the team's need for greater "emotional control."

"It was a tough game where, in my opinion, we lost a bit of emotional control when we shouldn't have. I felt like we started well, had a good 15-20 minutes. Then we played exactly the game they wanted. It ended up being a good win because the most important thing is done – qualification for the Round of 16 – but I was left with the feeling that we broke up the game too much," the Real Madrid midfielder began his analysis.

"We got too drawn into what the Croatians wanted. We lost our balance a bit and ended up paying for it. Then, in a part of the game where we had to take more risks, we did so very well. But then we dropped our lines too deep again when we shouldn't have, which allowed Croatia to deliver crosses and win second balls. It was a very emotional game, of course," he continued.

Bernardo Silva noted that, similar to the match against Colombia, the team lost control of their emotions. "It's a difficult competition; we're representing a nation, our friends, our family. Football is a game with a lot of emotion and passion. We lost a bit of our reason, that rational part which is very important. It happened against Colombia, it happened again today, and it could have cost us dearly. We didn't respect our positions enough, especially at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second. When that happens, the game becomes more 50-50, when we should have had much more control and dominance. Fortunately, we secured qualification, but we need to improve on this because we face a very strong opponent in the Round of 16," said the number 10, already looking ahead to the clash with Spain.

Will the game against the Spanish national team be more complicated? "It will be equally difficult, against one of the favorites. It's a team that, as we all know, has very well-drilled concepts, and it's hard to take the ball and control away from them. We have to try to do that to have a strong chance of progressing," he concluded, speaking to SIC.

Later, speaking to Sport TV, he revealed that Gonçalo Ramos, who scored the winning goal, had predicted he would get on the scoresheet before coming on: "I was sitting next to him on the bench. Gonçalo always has great faith in what he can do if he comes on. Today he said: 'Don't worry, I'm going to come on and score.' And he did."