Mourinho: Spain still the team to beat
Reuters - Thursday 14 June 2012, 12:15
Holders Spain remain the team
to beat at Euro 2012 despite their sluggish start against Italy
but they will face competition for the title from Germany, Real
Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said on Thursday.
Spain came from a goal down to draw with Italy in their
Group C opener but were criticised for not starting with a
striker as Italy's five-man midfield stifled their creativity.
Confident predictions that Spain could become the first team
to win three successive major international titles have
quietened since, but Mourinho still believes in them.
"Spain is the world champion and no doubts about that,"
Mourinho told reporters in Singapore on Thursday.
"They are one of the best teams in the Euros, so normally,
if things go in the right direction, Spain has to qualify and
Spain has to go through and Spain has to compete maybe with
Germany and maybe a couple of other teams to be champion of
Europe."
The Portuguese did not hold such confidence in his
compatriots, who bounced back from an opening loss to Germany to
beat Denmark 3-2 on Wednesday.
However, the unpredictability of the 16-team tournament gave
him hope Portugal could spring a surprise and win the tournament
for the first time.
"Now they don't depend on other teams they depend only on
themselves so if they can do a job against Netherlands, Portugal
is in the quarter-finals," Mourinho said.
"I don't think Portugal is one of the two, three best teams
in the competition, but these short competitions with knockout
in 90 minutes and sometimes extra time and penalties so if
Portugal reach the quarter-final anything can happen."