© EuroFootball.com
After a dramatically ended quarterfinal between England and Portugal, the Swedish coach ending his career with the English national team Sven Goran Eriksson apologized to the team's fans for the regular failure in the penalty shootout series, while Portuguese coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was impressed by the opponent's efforts playing with ten men.
"We practiced a lot of penalty kicks, I just don't know what more we could have done. I was convinced that these players could reach the final, and we should have done it. We played well, but we dropped out, and it hurts a lot. I'm sorry for the fans, who were fantastic - unfortunately, we couldn't give them the final," said S.G. Eriksson.
After watching the video of the incident, the coach did not complain about the removal of Wayne Rooney from the field for stepping on an opponent and regretted the missed opportunity to reach the final: "From what I saw on TV, I think we can't complain about the red card. Maybe we should have gotten a penalty kick for the altercation, but it lasted long and the referee was there. I don't feel relieved, I feel disappointed and a little bit angry because we should have stayed in the tournament, but we dropped out and I can't blame the referee or anyone else. I apologize to the team and the fans, they were fantastic and deserved to have the team in the semifinal and final. Quarterfinals four and two years ago were not bad, but this time it was not enough. These players should have at least reached the final. It's more our fault than the strength of Portugal."
The Swede also lamented England's tragic history of missing penalty kicks: "Again, we lost on penalty kicks, it's not good to miss three penalties. We practiced so much - almost every day - but we can't handle the pressure. They showed character and everything went according to plan. In the second half, we took control of the game and created chances. We planned to release Peter Crouch in the last 25 minutes and try to win the match, and that would have been justified with 11 players. Unfortunately, that plan didn't work out."
Ending, S.G. Eriksson also praised his players who played almost an hour with ten: "I have to say, they fought incredibly with 10 against 11. We started the second half very well and controlled the game as we wanted, but then the ejection happened. We maintained the game well, and then we lost again on penalties, and I'm very sorry. I don't think we deserved to lose - I think the guys deserved more. However, we lost, dropped out of the tournament, and it's incredibly painful."
The ability of the English to recover was also praised by Portugal's national team coach, L.F. Scolari: "Congratulations to England, playing with ten they showed incredibly, and the match was intense. We didn't take advantage of the numerical advantage, we shot too much from the penalty box. The English defended well and fought the same way as 11."
"Once again, we proved that players as a group want to fight for each other. We are progressing because players have added a spirit of fighting to their mastery. It was important to reach the final in 2004 and the semifinal now, but now we will aim to go further. I have no opinion on the red card, the referee thought it was a card, and that's his opinion. Speaking of penalties, I didn't know if we would win or not, but in recent years, Ricardo worked hard to improve this aspect of the game, and although the English penalties were not bad, he found himself in the right place," said L.F. Scolari.
The hero of the match, as at the European Championship two years ago, was the Portuguese national team goalkeeper Ricardo, who blocked three out of four opponent's penalty shots and set a World Cup record: "It's amazing, I managed to block even three. I'm very pleased with that. Penalty kicks are a lottery, but I also practice a lot, but I won't reveal my secrets, then you'll know everything. It was not just luck - watch it on TV. I'm not a hero, the whole team is heroic, every player is great.".
"I have a lot of confidence in myself and I kicked strongly. I was tired in the second half, but since I didn't play for a week, it wasn't that bad. Now we have four days to recover, so I think everyone will be ready. Can we win the championship? In football, everything is possible,” said "Man Utd" star Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored the winning penalty from the 11-meter mark.
