They are the reigning European champions and are a force to reckon with, but Portugal head coach, Fernando Santos said the European champions have plenty of room for improvement heading into the FIFA World Cup 2018.
That Santos wants his team to be at its devastating best is pretty much clear, as his comments came following their dominant 3-0 win over Algeria.
The game witnessed the return of Cristiano Ronaldo, as Portugal stepped up their preparation for the showpiece event in Russia. But Ronaldo’s return was overshadowed by Paris Saint-Germain winger Goncalo Guedes.
Guedes broke the deadlock after 17 minutes with a superb first-time finish following an assist from Andre Silva. Portugal doubled their tally before half-time after a moment of magic from Ronaldo. Fresh off the win in the Champions League, the Real Madrid ace charged down the left-hand side and then delivered an imposing first-time cross into the box.
Bruno Fernandes connected well with the header to score his first Portugal goal.
Just ten minutes into the second half, Guedes doubled his tally from close range and put the game to the bed.
But despite the eye-catching performance, Santos insisted there is still a lot of room for improvement.
“We are still far from ideal, it is with the championship that we will grow,” Santos said in the post-match conference.
“There are some things to fine-tune, there are players who are playing for the first time together in this selection,” he added.
Santos further gave his views on the game, reiterating the team needs to work in a lot of departments.
“There were good things, but there are things to improve,” Santos added. “In the first 20 or 25 minutes, the team were good, compact and quick to react to the ball.
“If their strikers did not shine, it’s a lot of merit for my team. We made a goal in that period, and we could have done more.
“Thereafter we slowed down, but then we got back to normal, there were spaces to make goals, and we did.”
He further warned against drawing any conclusion from the win, stating,
“You cannot draw any conclusions from this game. Obviously, we are getting closer to the starting XI, but the most important thing is to feel that I have 23 players prepared to compete.”