Besiktas forward Hugo Almeida has backed Portugal coach Paulo Bento and feels the 42-year-old is doing a great job with the national side.
Bento has recently come under scrutiny after high-profile spats with Ricardo Carvalho and Jose Bosingwa, but Almeida feels the former Sporting Lisbon coach is still the right man for the job.
Paulo Bento is doing a great job with the national team, Almeida said.
The players understand where he’s coming from and everything is going nicely.
The striker believes Portugal have what it takes to progress to Euro 2012 in a play-off with Bosnia and Herzegovina, the same team they defeated in a play-off to progress to the 2010 World Cup.
Bosnia are a very strong side with some excellent players and they know more about us now, he said.
There’s no doubt it’s going to be more nerve-wracking than in 2009, and they’ll be out for revenge.
The team’s done some really good things lately. I think we’ve got enough quality and experience not just to get through, but to kick on and go a long, long way at the European finals.
I’ve got a lot of faith in this generation of Portugal players.
