Portugal midfielder Bernardo Silva accepts the criticism aimed at Portugal for their World Cup performances so far yet believes the team can still lift the trophy as they prepare to take on Croatia in Thursday’s round of 32 in Toronto.
Among the pre-tournament favourites, Portugal failed to top Group K and progressed in second place following Saturday’s goalless draw with Colombia.
After a 1-1 draw with Congo DR in their opener, Portugal thrashed Uzbekistan, 5-0, yet did not build on that performance against the Colombians.
“Criticism is part of the process,” Silva said on Tuesday. “We are all doing our best. We wanted to finish first in our group and we didn’t get it done.
“We wanted to do better but it’s not the end of the world. We feel ready. The game against Colombia was a big test for us to know that it’s hard to play against these teams.”
Portugal, he insists, has what it takes to win the World Cup.
“Without a doubt. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here,” he said.
“We arrived in the U.S. with great ambition, knowing that there are others with the same ambition. We’re still a long way from thinking about that, but I have a lot of faith in this team.
“We’re in a good position to move forward. We know we need to improve but we are also very confident that things will go well.”
Portugal are hoping to avoid becoming the latest heavyweight to exit the tournament.
Germany and the Netherlands lost on penalties to Paraguay and Morocco, respectively, in the knockout round on Monday.
“What we saw yesterday didn’t surprise me,” Silva said. “At the World Cup, this is no longer a surprise; there’s been a major shift over the past 10 years, and football has become much more closely analyzed.”
Silva, who joined Real Madrid this summer after nine years at Manchester City, is looking forward to facing Croatia’s Luka Modric.
“Luka is an idol for me,” he said.
“It’s not only because he has stayed at the highest level but it’s also the way he has behaved throughout his career. He’s a big inspiration for me and I can imagine he is for every football player.
“I’m really happy to see that at his age [40] he is performing at the level that he is.”
