As the Spanish coach inflicted a 5-0 result in 45 minutes in Zenica, “the first half of the away game with Bosnia was our best,” he stated.

In addition to saying that he has seen over 150 games in stadiums this year and that he will never forget the 100% triumph, the 50-year-old coach makes these remarks in a video that was posted on the official website of the Portuguese Football Federation.

He underlined that “all (36) goals were important,” without naming any particular ones. Portugal finished the qualification round with the greatest offensive and defence, scoring 36 goals and giving up just two.

Portugal faced Slovakia, Luxembourg, Iceland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Liechtenstein to qualify for the European Championship, the only tournament the national team has participated in thus far. The squad captained by Roberto Martínez defeated Luxembourg 9-0, marking the worst loss in the nation's history.

It was under the former Belgian coach that Gonçalo Inácio, João Neves, José Sá and Toti Gomes made their debuts for Portugal's senior team.

With Martinez in charge, Cristiano Ronaldo also reached a milestone of 200 international caps in June in Reykjavik against Iceland (1-0), eventually scoring the solitary goal that gave the Portuguese victory, close to the final whistle.

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A passionate Irish journalist with a love for cycling, politics and of course Portugal especially their sausage rolls.

Rory Mc Ginn