Portugal’s national roller hockey team had a tough start to the European Championship. They lost all three of their group stage matches. Despite these defeats, the team still moved on to the quarter-finals, set to face Andorra. Paulo Freitas, the national coach, admits he is not happy with the results. However, he downplays the importance of this losing streak, especially given the unique setup of the tournament.
Freitas believes the team’s current record is not a big deal. He pointed out that they could have won all three group games and still lost in the knockouts the next day. “This negative record doesn’t really matter,” he explained. “We could have won three times in this phase and still crashed out tomorrow.” He clarified that he doesn’t ignore the losses. “I’m not happy today because we lost,” he said. Yet, he also found many positives in the team’s performance.
Looking ahead, Freitas fully expects his team to be the favorite against Andorra. He said this without disrespecting their upcoming opponent. He acknowledged the players’ spirits might be low right now. However, he promised their mood would improve by Thursday and even more by Friday. He stressed the need for each player to gain more self-belief.
The coach emphasized that his team has a game plan to follow. Still, he warned against losing the individual flair of his athletes. “The players’ true nature must never disappear,” Freitas stated firmly. He assured everyone that the team would not give up. He finished by promising that they would “compete like animals” on both Thursday and Friday. His comments came after Portugal’s recent loss to Spain.