Portugal coach Fernando Santos has called for his side to "respect" a North Macedonia side that beat Italy 1-0 in their World Cup qualifying playoff semi-final in Palermo, Italy.

Portugal Must ‘Respect’ North Macedonia, Says Coach Santos

Last updated Mar 25, 2022

Portugal coach Fernando Santos has called for his side to “respect” a North Macedonia side that beat Italy 1-0 in their World Cup qualifying playoff semi-final in Palermo, as he was proved right when he earlier said that North Macedonia could shock the European champions.

North Macedonia will play the Portugal in Porto on Tuesday after Portugal beat Turkey 3-1, with the winners advancing to this year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

“We need to show the same respect to North Macedonia that we would to Italy,” Santos told a news conference. “I told you before we could be playing them, those games are not a joke, it’s like a final and anything can happen.”

North Macedonia beat Italy 1-0, knocking them out of the Qatar 2022 World Cup playoffs.

“You have to face it with the focus and concentration that it deserves. A team that goes to Italy and beats the European champions doesn’t need introductions,” Santos added.

Read more: Japan, Saudi Arabia secure Qatar 2022 spots

Portugal survived a nervy finale to move closer to the World Cup, with Turkey’s Burak Yilmaz missing a late penalty that could have forced extra time in a game they dominated in front of sold-out Dragao Stadium.

Leading 2-0, Portugal let their opponents back into the match to the annoyance of their coach.

Turkey forward Burak Yilmaz retrieves the ball form the net after scoring against Portugal

“We can’t allow that to happen in a game we had under control, it’s a warning for next Tuesday,” Santos said.

“Today’s game is over and we have to focus on the next rival that will give us the game of their lives for sure. We’ll need extra focus playing at home in front of our crowd. The motivation has to be our main goal, going to the World Cup.”

After missing out on automatic qualification in November, Portugal would have expected to face Italy in a clash of the two last two European champions.

“We can’t think it will be easy against North Macedonia,” Matheus Nunes told reporters after scoring the third Portuguese goal against Turkey.

“Now we have to rest and work for the game plan. It’s a team that deserves all our respect. They went to Italy and won, you have to have quality to accomplish that.”

UEFA Qualification Playoff results

Italy 0-1 North Macedonia

Portugal 3-1 Turkey

Sweden 1-0 Czech Republic

Wales 2-1 Austria.

Chidi Nwoke/Reuters.