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Portugal's senior coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, whose team lost to France in the World Cup semi-final with a minimal margin, stated that the main reason for the team's failure is the inability to score goals.
"We did everything we could, but if you don't score a goal, you won't win the game. There are difficult situations. We did everything we could, what we were capable of. Without a doubt, France deserved the victory. We have to accept that. We knew it would be a tough match and there wouldn't be many chances, but unfortunately we didn't take advantage of them and lost," said the Brazilian L.F. Scolari, whose record-breaking streak of 12 consecutive wins at the World Cup was now broken.
After the match, the coach was seen arguing with referee Jorge Larrionda from Uruguay, but at the press conference, he refused to talk about the referee. Furthermore, the strategist did not say whether he would remain in his position after the end of the tournament: "I have a contract until the end of July, and then we'll see."
Portugal's team captain Luis Figo said that his team deserved more: "We are very disappointed. I believe we deserved a better result than this. We had more control over the game, but we couldn't take advantage of the opportunities we created. We are sorry because we wanted a place in the final. I am proud of the team, and now we want to finish the championship with a victory against Germany," Figo looked ahead to Saturday's match in Stuttgart.
Meanwhile, Portuguese legend Eusebio, who was in the team that lost to England in the 1966 World Cup semi-final, stated that his country's team lost simply because luck was not on their side.
"Luck was not on Portugal's side today. The players deserve to be congratulated. But this is not the end - it's sad that we didn't make it to the final, but we still have matches ahead of us, and those matches also have value, which is the bronze medals," Eusebio spoke to one of Portugal's television channels.
