Portugal Boss 'Not Happy' With 'Out of Control' Performance in Narrow Win Over Morocco

Fernando Santos has labelled Portugal's performance in their narrow 1-0 victory over Morocco as "inexplicable" after admitting his side had "lost control" in Moscow on Wednesday.  

The European champions took an early lead in their second World Cup game through Cristiano Ronaldo when he was allowed a clear path to power his header home in the fourth minute, before the Lions of Atlas took the reigns to dominate and dictate the remainder of the game. 

Dean Mouhtaropoulos/GettyImages

Despite Morocco having failed to capitalise on their ascendancy despite being the aggressor in the Group B match-up, the Portuguese manager admitted his side's performance spelt trouble. 

"We have to look at this and we have to talk about it," Santos told reporters following the narrow victory over Morocco, via ESPN.

"We lost control of the game, we misplaced a lot of passes, we lost confidence. It is true that I am not happy with the performance of my team.

"It was inexplicable. If in a match against players like they have, if you don't have the ball, they will wear you down and you get into trouble.

"There was no intensity in our game. We have players with a lot of skills and speed. We started well but then we were put under pressure and it was difficult.

"As with the game against Spain, after 10 to 15 minutes we lost control and possession. A lot of wrong passes, a lot of anxiety. We have to be able to deal with the pressure and play the ball. If you don't do that, then you get into trouble," he added.

The victory ensured Portugal moved to the top of their group ahead of Spain's meeting with Iran on Wednesday evening, and sealed the fate of Morocco who are the first team to be eliminated from the World Cup with one group game remaining.  

Santos said: "Nothing is finished yet. We have to play a very difficult game against Iran and we want to top the group."