Ricardo Quaresma targets Roberto Martínez: “Proud of what?” | OneFootball

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

Martínez said he was proud: “Proud of what? I still don’t understand this pride he has. With all that 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 going 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 a 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 do have huge talent and quality! There isn’t a single one 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. When he gets injured, Lamine starts showing up and Spain grow. We came away 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 show respect to the coach. A lot of the time 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 the standing to do that.”

What does the national team need?: “They need to sit down and understand what’s right or wrong. And bring in a coach 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 has gone wrong from the beginning until now. Everything has gone wrong. There wasn’t a single match 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, doing whatever they wanted, controlling the tempo, speeding up when they wanted to speed up, slowing it down when they wanted to slow it down. And we were just wandering around without desire, without 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 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 match. 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 everyone said was the best of all time… but best of all time in what way? 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 later regret.”

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