Ricardo Quaresma hits out at Roberto Martínez: “Proud of what?” | OneFootball

Ricardo Quaresma, former Portugal international, spoke to LiveModeTV after Portugal’s 0-1 defeat to Spain at the 2026 World Cup.

Martínez said he was proud: “Proud of what? I still don’t understand this pride he has. With the talent… He was with a Belgium side that had a fantastic generation and achieved nothing. He comes here to Portugal with an incredible generation and still has achieved nothing. We won a Nations League. Are we supposed to be happy with a Nations League? For me, that’s not enough. As a Portuguese and a football fan, for me it’s too little. With this generation, for me it’s far too little.

Martínez at the end of his cycle: “For the love of God… He should be already. There are things that revolt me. If we didn’t have talent and quality, then fine. But you have huge talent and quality! There isn’t a single player you could say is weak.”

What went wrong against Spain: “Our big problem during the game was Nuno Mendes getting injured. Lamine wasn’t doing anything. Once he got injured, Lamine showed up and Spain grew into the game. We left with our heads down.”

Players also to blame: “There are things I don’t understand. Our midfield, great players, but very weak. A lost defense. I don’t know what to say. I can’t just blame Martínez. The players didn’t give what they had to give. No one has to speak out of turn to the coach. Many times I did whatever came into my head and there were coaches who took me off. I did what the game required. And these players have every right to do that.”

What does the national team need?: “To sit down and understand what is right and what is wrong. And for a coach to come in who understands this.”

Lack of identity?: “Whose fault is the identity? The coach’s. I still haven’t figured out the right tactic to play.

What went wrong?: “For me, it’s gone wrong from the start until now. Everything has gone wrong. There wasn’t a single game where you could say we played well or attacked a lot and were unlucky. Even today, you handed the game over to Spain from start to finish. Spain controlling the whole game, doing whatever they wanted, controlling the tempo, when they wanted to speed up they sped up, when they wanted to slow things down they slowed things down. And we were just there with no desire, no joy, very slow.”

Did Martínez get it wrong with his changes?: “Then substitutions that I don’t understand… I’m tired of saying this, but Martínez has never impressed me. Like it or not, I don’t care if people get upset or not, but we need to have much more joy in this. Since Martínez arrived, I’ve never seen the national team play a great game. That’s the reality. He tried 50 tactics, none of them worked. And there’s the proof. We’re going out with the national team that everyone said was the best of all time… but best of all time in what sense? What have they done? What have they won? Are we going home disappointed and with our heads down? Honestly, it’s best if I don’t comment much more on this World Cup, otherwise I’ll start saying things I may end up regretting later.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.