Scotland fired Portugal warning as boss tips 'essential' EPL ace to make Hampden impact

The 51-year-old Portugal head coach saw his side dispose of Poland at the weekend, as goals from Bernardo Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo and a late Jan Bednarek own goal handed them a comfortable 3-1 win at the Kazimierz Górski National Stadium in Warsaw on Saturday.

Three points clear at the top of Nations League group A1, Martinez has hailed his squad’s reaction to their disappointing quarter-final exit at Euro 2024. Yet to drop points in the Nations League, the head coach revealed the key reasons he feels they have had such a strong response to their summer disappointment.

“One of our options is to have a left-footed winger on the right-hand side,” explained Martinez. “It gives you a completely different width. We wanted a right-footed winger of the left with Rafael Leão and a left-footer on the right with Pedro Neto. Bernardo (Silva) can play anywhere – that’s no different – at the Euros I think he played two games on the inside and two games on the outside. Bernardo is a player who’s got no position. He finds the space on the ball.

“Since Neto moved to Chelsea he is a player that is ready for the highest level, but he hasn’t played the full 90 minutes yet. I needed to introduce him slowly so I was delighted that he could handle the 70 minutes or so that he played today and the way that he did. He’s an incredible player. Pedro has pause and pace that gives us a great opportunity to open up spaces and that understanding is essential in what we tried to do in the attacking sense.

“Sometimes I feel we speak a lot about the squad lists and the players that get left out, and I think because of that we are missing out on enjoying players like Bernardo Silva, like Bruno Fernandes, who are incredible in the way they play for the national team with that heart and that composure and these are moments to treasure.”

The ex-Belgium boss was able to introduce a number of new faces during the weekend win, including 21-year-old Chelsea defender Renato Veiga, and Martinez praised the impact of the debutants as he backed them to contribute further in the games to come.

“We now have more players available and we are more competitive and working hard to grow,” said Martinez. “Renato Veiga is very mature, aggressive, and his partnership with Rúben Dias was very good. It was a game against one of the best footballers in box, one of the best goal-scorers of contemporary football (Robert Lewandowski), and Renato Veiga was very important. I’m also happy for Samu (Costa) and for (Francisco) Trincão.

“I’m happy with all the new players who have worked very well and showed they are part of this squad and they know what they have to do. We are an even better prepared team after the experience of the European Championship. We are playing the Nations League, but the overriding goal is the World Cup.”