Pepe delighted to score
ByReuters
Published 08/06/2008 at 07:14 GMT
Brazilian-born central defender Pepe, capped for the first time seven months ago, has expressed his joy over scoring his first goal for Portugal at Euro 2008.
FOOTBALL Pepe Portugal
Image credit: Scanpix
Pepe netted the crucial opening goal after an hour of Portugal's 2-0 victory over Turkey in the Group A match at Stade de Geneve.
"It was an incredible sensation, scoring my first goal for Portugal," the strong, the 25-year-old said after winning his fourth cap.
"I just went for it," he said of his run into attack where he exchanged passes with striker Nuno Gomes before racing into the area to score.
"I was very motivated," said the softly-spoken defender, who joined Real Madrid at the start of last season for £24 million.
He had shown his attacking prowess in the first half when he headed a cross home only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.
Portugal had taken their time to break down a resilient Turkish team who played as equals for the first 35 minutes before the Group A favourites imposed themselves on the game.
"Portugal have shown their quality, they have a great defence," said playmaker Deco, who praised the back four for their work in holding off a spirited Turkish attack.
He said Turkey's strength and organisation took time to break down.
"We came up against a good team, we expected them to be as good as they were. Now we know what we have to do be able to qualify," he added.
Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was relieved to win having seen his side make a losing start to Euro 2004 on home soil.
"Today we achieved 50 percent of our qualification," he said.
Scolari added that he was particularly pleased that his team kept their shape. "It was great the way we maintained our [team] structure," he said.
"Now we need another good job against the Czech Republic.
"But this [result] gives us the possibility of a slip up. We can breathe a bit [preparing] for our next match.
"We must maintain our rhythm but not let this success make us over-confident."
Coach Fatih Terim is confident Turkey will avoid a repeat of their opening-match errors when they meet Euro 2008 co-hosts Switzerland on Wednesday.
"The Swiss match in Basel is obviously very important for us now," Terim said after the Portugal match.
"We will correct our mistakes and play better. There were times when I liked the way we played tonight but other times when there was obvious room for improvement.
"We tried to attack and keep the match on an equal footing and I think we achieved that initially," Terim said. "But the first goal was the turning point."
Terim has worries over Servet Cetin, who hurt his leg blocking a Cristiano Ronaldo shot in the first half, and fellow central defender Gokhan Zan (foot injury).
"We'll get the [medical] reports later but they definitely have problems," said the coach.
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