Scots’ passion is sure to make things difficult
Portugal head coach Fernando Santos has warned his players that Scottish passion can pose them a problem at Hampden. Santos has twice suffered defeats on Scottish soil and is expecting a difficult encounter in today’s friendly. The 54-year-old managed AEK Athens when they squandered a 2-0 first-leg lead at Easter Road in a 2001 UEFA Cup match before edging through after extra-time despite a 3-2 defeat by Hibernian. And his Benfica team were on the end of a 3-0 Champions League defeat by Celtic in 2006 when Kenny Miller netted twice at Parkhead. Portugal moved five points clear in their Nations League group (A3) on Thursday when they won 3-2 in Poland without star player Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been rested as he fights to clear his name following allegations that he raped a woman in Las Vegas in 2009, claims he strongly denies. Scotland lost 2-1 in Israel on the same night to leave group C1 wide open, while Hampden is expected to be less than half full, but Santos is wary of Alex McLeish’s men and the home support. “It’s a very tough game, Scotland are a strong opponent,” he said. “We have seen them playing 4-3-3 and 3-5-2 and set-ups we don’t usually play ourselves. “They break away very well so we have to prepare for that. “They have a really strong support, which is important for them. “I know very well the passion of the Scottish game. I was here playing against Celtic in 2006 and Hibernian in 2001 and the passion around these games led the players to bring the best out of themselves. Scots are very passionate about football, I’m very well aware of that.” Santos allowed Besiktas defender Pepe and Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva to leave the squad following the victory in Chorzow, but he insists he is not taking the game lightly. “There are no friendly games, just games that score points and games that score no points,” he said. “We want to win.”