Frustrated Joao Palhinha has labelled Scotland as ‘boring’ after they plundered Portugal for an opening first Nations League point.
The Bayern Munich midfielder and his nation of stars were left irked as they failed to break down Steve Clarke’s side in Tuesday’s 0-0 Hampden draw. Captain Cristiano Ronaldo stomped off the pitch in a huff after the game and was clearly not happy with the fact that the Portuguese were unable to break down the Scots. His teammates don’t agree that the referee was to blame with three of them pointing the finger inward, while crediting Scotland for a robust defensive display. But that didn’t stop Palhinha moaning that Clarke‘s team made it a ‘boring’ watch.
He said: “My honest opinion is that it wasn’t because of the refereeing that we didn’t win the game.It wasn’t a good performance from him, but it’s our fault that we left here with a draw. We were just missing goals and we deserved to win but it’s always been difficult to play here in Scotland.
“We controlled the game clearly and we have to highlight what we’ve been doing in the Nations League and we hope to confirm the qualification in November We’re still in first place in the group and now we have two games, one home and one away, and we have to keep up the good streak of results in the national team.
“Scotland were very low, withdrawn, we had possession. For the people at home it might have been a less than beautiful game, more boring.
“Man to man and with intensity the game is more beautiful. I think we deserved to get something more out of this game, even though it’s always difficult to play here in Scotland.
“We controlled the game clearly. I think we deserved more than a draw. But we have to highlight what we’ve done well in the national team, because we’re doing very well in the Nations League and we hope to get through next month.
“I would like to stress, however, that we are still in first place in the group and we want to keep this good streak going.”
Manchester City star Bernardo Silva reckons they didn’t play to their best in Glasgow after he came on as a second half sub. He said: “I think the team lacked a lot of things. I think we didn’t attack at the right moments, we didn’t show intensity when we should have.
“Whether it’s a friendly or a competitive game, this team always must have responsibility and ambition. And we take on that pressure to always play the same way and always go out there to win. We knew that with the draw we would still remain in first place in the group and we remain in a good position to qualify in first place, which is what we want. But of course we leave here with some frustration.”
And AC Milan winger Rafael Leao credited the atmosphere created by the Tartan Army. He said: “It was a difficult game and we couldn’t impose ourselves. And Scotland were playing at home with their fans behind them and they are a tough team.
“Our game wasn’t perfect. We tried to win. We created a lot of clear goal chances, but we weren’t effective enough.”