Roberto Martínez: "It was a very difficult week, with unfair noise"

Following the 5-0 triumph over Uzbekistan, Roberto Martínez stated in his press conference that the national team performs better when they can "control their emotions."

- Portugal scored early but, this time, didn't relax and added four more goals. Is that the most important takeaway from this match?

- I believe so, yes, but controlling our emotions was the key. In the first game, we scored and then lost control of what we wanted to do, losing discipline in our positions. Today, on the contrary, we maintained clarity in what we needed to do right up until halftime. Furthermore, the five players who came on continued to show crucial tactical discipline, and that makes all the difference. But I emphasize that controlling emotions is even more important.

- How was such significant improvement possible in such a short time?

- It's the result of a lot of work over the last 41 games, not just the past few days. The recent days served to align concepts and focus precisely on what's important now. But the team's work, for example, on set pieces, has been ongoing. These were very important days, psychologically. The group became very responsible, shut out the outside noise, and I think that made the locker room stronger, more united, to be able to control emotions. Because this is a team with tactical flexibility and individual quality that allows us to perform as we did today. Scoring the second goal helped, and Uzbekistan's disallowed goal also played a part. In the other game, it wasn't disallowed, and that changed the match. Overall, I'm very satisfied because we quickly learned the lessons from what we did wrong in the first game.

- Cristiano Ronaldo was the man of the match. What are your thoughts on his performance, and do you view comparisons with Lionel Messi as natural?

- They are players who have changed and improved football, and who needed their rivalry to constantly keep growing. Regarding our captain, there's the aspect of him being an icon, playing in his sixth World Cup, but then there's also the captain of the national team. He's an example of what it means to play for the national team. Today, it wasn't just the two goals he scored; it was the number of opportunities created, his positioning, opening up space for teammates, and having incredible discipline to be a reference point in our attacking patterns. We have a game philosophy of ball control, taking risks, creating numerical superiority, but you need a goalscorer, you need the player in the box who can break down the defensive line, who finishes the play and the possession. I'm very happy for him, he deserves this, but I already know he's recovering and preparing for the next game. And it's that simplicity that makes him unique.

- All the players ran to Austin MacPhee after the third goal. The second one was also a rehearsed play. How important is he?

- I think the players really understand his work. Set pieces are an obsession for Austin, and he conveys that vision of being able to score goals from them. I thought it was beautiful to see the players' celebration and their recognition of Austin's work. It's a difficult job because it can be tedious. Players also need a lot of concentration, a lot of focus, and it was fantastic to see the danger we created. Not just the two goals we scored from set pieces, but the threat from all set pieces, because it's about synchronization, a collective idea, and it was very well executed.

- Cristiano Ronaldo spoke of a "dark week" after the match against DR Congo. How did you see the captain during this period?

- We didn't get the result we worked for, and it created a difficult situation because there was noise. Unfair noise, 'fake news,' ill-intentioned aspects. But then we also had a lot of support and strength. We're only talking about the negative noise, but we also had a lot of strength and unity from Portuguese people who love the national team, who understand that the national team is a life lesson, that not everything is easy and there are difficult moments. You need courage, you need personality, and you need to get back up, and that's what our players did. After a result like that, it's easy to make excuses, to look away, but our players focused and showed an incredible attitude. We showed anger, we were hurting, but the result was to grow as a team, to improve significantly in managing emotions during World Cup games, and to continue being ourselves for the full 90 minutes. Cristiano was an exemplary captain, focused on what he could control, and he also used his experience.

- How is Cristiano Ronaldo's management being handled?

- He's a player who plays every minute for his club. It was a season with many minutes, but he's fresh, and we manage him game by game, training by training, evaluating everything that happens. Today, his position on the field was a problem for Uzbekistan; their defensive line shifted positions... It was a real problem, and when that happens, we need to utilize him.