Falling Against France, Martinez: Portugal Knocked Out Of Euro 2024 Proudly

Martinez (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said his team lost with a proud' against France in the 2024 European Cup quarter-finals on Friday, and promised his team would come back stronger.

Martinez said his team performed their best game in the 2024 European Cup in the match, as France took revenge for their defeat in the 2016 final with a 5-3 penalty shootout win after a goalless draw after extra time.

"(We show that we) are a team that can suffer, but want to win for the fans," Martinez quoted Antara as saying.

"We lost, but with pride, by giving everything in the style of Portugal," he added.

The Spaniard said the young players in his team would thrive as a result of a tough match at Volksparks Stadium.

Our players will learn a lot from this experience. Personal, opportunity, how we created the danger in the final third. It was a performance that made us look to the future with pride," Martinez said.

Martinez praised Pepe, who is now 41 years old, as well as the oldest player in European Cup history.

"He is a fighter... what Pepe did today and in this tournament was extraordinary," Martinez said.

Pepe said he would talk about his future in the national team at the right time.

"I will have time to talk about my future, we have to overcome this pain, we have the ability to win the competition, and now we have to lift our heads," Pepe said.

Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, now 39, has failed to score in five appearances in the European Cup. He has now had nine major tournament games without a single goal.

When asked if the match against France would be Ronaldo's last game for Portugal, Martinez said it was too early to think about it. "We just finished the game, everything is still too raw. We suffered defeat as a team, there were no individual decisions at this point," Martinez said.