Ricardo Quaresma takes aim 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 all this talent… He was with a Belgium side that had a fantastic generation and never achieved anything. He comes here to Portugal with an incredible generation and still hasn’t achieved anything. 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 outrage me. If we didn’t have talent and quality, then fine. But you have enormous 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 gets injured, Lamine comes into it and Spain grow. 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 defense all over the place. 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 talk about respect for the coach. A lot of the time I did what came into my head and there were coaches who took me off. I did what the game demanded. And these players have the standing to do that.”

What does the national team need?: “To sit down and figure out what’s right or 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 tactics to play.

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

Did Martínez get it wrong with his changes?: “Then there were substitutions 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 you 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 team everyone said was the best of all time… but best of all time in what? What have they done? What have they won? Are we going home disappointed and with our heads down? Honestly, it’s better if I don’t comment much more on this World Cup, otherwise I’ll start saying things I might regret later.”

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