HAMBURG, Germany – France’s thrilling 5-3 shootout victory over Portugal in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, following a 0-0 draw after extra time, has elicited various reactions.
France manager Didier Deschamps remarked, “It was a very tense, tight game. It could have gone either way, even if we had a more difficult end to the game in extra time. Maybe we were a bit more tired. It comes down to details. I’m very happy for the squad, who played to the limit. We’re going to enjoy being in the last four. It’s becoming a habit but we mustn’t trivialise it. It’s to the credit of the whole group, those who play and those who can’t.”
Discussing the penalty shootout, Deschamps added, “I couldn’t bring Olivier Giroud on. The referee didn’t take our request into account. I had this last change to make, and Olivier was a candidate to take the kick. There was a kind of tranquility, even if it was in front of the Portugal kop.”
On Kylian Mbappe, Deschamps noted, “He’s tired, obviously. Muscularly, it’s not easy with everything he’s had. I saw him struggling during the first period of extra time. It was pointless to leave him on. Kylian has always been honest with me and the group, so it was only natural to bring in some new blood.”
France forward and man of the match Ousmane Dembele said, “We’re all happy to win this shootout against a team who are hard to shake up. We deserved to win this shootout.”
France goalkeeper Mike Maignan reflected, “We knew it was going to be a tough game but we were solid in defence and we had a lot of mental strength and kept our cool during the shootout — that’s what made the difference.”
France defender William Saliba commented, “It was not an easy game, we suffered a lot. We had chances but thanks to Mike who kept us in the game. We defended all together. We knew we had not to leave any crumb to Ronaldo. Since the beginning of the competition we’ve been very solid because everyone defends together. We know that if we get a clean sheet we’re 90% through.”
Portugal manager Roberto Martinez expressed pride in his players, saying, “We have to be proud of our players because they fought and performed very well. Football can be cruel. We wanted to give joy to the Portuguese people and the message is that the team gave everything and showed Portugal’s values. It was a good game and France is a good team. We had more ball, we created opportunities, but we lacked precision and we needed to score a goal. We had a lot of opportunities, but it was a game of high technical and tactical level.”
Portugal defender Pepe felt the sting of the loss, stating, “Football is cruel and sadness is part of it. We were aiming to win for our country and bring joy to our people. Five days ago we won on penalties and now we lost on penalties. It’s cruel. The most important thing is to congratulate my colleagues for their commitment to the game.”
Portugal midfielder Vitinha remarked, “We gave everything we had and when it ends like this it hurts. Today it was for France, it could have been for us.”
Portugal midfielder Bernardo Silva added, “This is football. These big competitions, these short competitions of 90 minutes, 120 minutes and penalties, the best teams don’t always win. In the same way that it was cruel for Slovenia in the round of 16, today was cruel for us. Now, we have to keep the group cohesive because we all — the players and the staff — work very hard.”