Jota stars as Portugal ease past Sweden without Ronaldo

SHOWS: LISBON, PORTUGAL (OCTOBER 14, 2020) (RTP - ACCESS ALL)

1. PORTUGAL COACH FERNANDO SANTOS ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM

2. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PORTUGAL COACH, FERNANDO SANTOS, SAYING:

"Jota did not arrive today nor a month ago, Jota has been named several times before probably when he was not even thinking of move to Liverpool, he was already here. He was decisive for us in the match against Luxembourg. He is a player that is here for a long time and if he is named often to take part in the national team and if he plays, it's because he has quality because I don't call anyone without quality."

3. WHITE FLASH

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PORTUGAL COACH, FERNANDO SANTOS, SAYING:

"The option has to be in accordance with the team strategy. I played with three mobile players that is how we used to play lately. Play with three mobile forwards instead of a more fixed forward, without Ronaldo that is one of the players who can do that too. Today we could have played Ronaldo and Jota because that keeps the team characteristics."

5. WHITE FLASH

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PORTUGAL AND LIVERPOOL FORWARD, DIOGO JOTA, SAYING:

"Obviously, I'm happy for what I did individually, but I know that the most important was the collective performance. I think we had really good periods and others where we knew how to suffer and at the end I think we got a result that is very difficult to achieve against this Swedish team, a victory by three goals. At the end I think it's a happy night not only for me, but also for the national team."

7. WHITE FLASH

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PORTUGAL AND LIVERPOOL FORWARD, DIOGO JOTA, SAYING:

"What happened, it's an atypical situation, then I did not have the opportunity to speak again with Cristiano. Obviously, I know that if he was available things could have be different, but we have to play with what we have and the eleven that entered the pitch played an excellent match and got a convincing result. That was the most important."

STORY: Goals from Bernardo Silva and a brace from Diogo Jota gave Portugal a comfortable 3-0 win over Sweden in the Nations League on Wednesday (October 14) as the hosts made light of the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo due to a positive COVID-19 test.

Ronaldo's only contribution to the game was a post on Instagram around kickoff time urging on his team mates as he remained in quarantine, and they proved more than equal to the task.

William Carvalho could have given the home side the lead in the opening minutes, but his header came back of the post and bounced away to safety, and Sweden's defence struggled to deal with Portugal's pace and precision.

Silva opened the scoring in the 21st minute as Portugal won the ball back in the middle of the field and quickly countered, with Jota firing a pinpoint pass to Silva in the penalty area for a perfect first-time finish.

Marcus Berg went close to equalising for Sweden with a powerful shot which hit the post, but the more the Swedes attacked the more vulnerable they were to Portugal's lightning-quick counters.

Jota got on the scoresheet just before halftime, lashing home Joao Cancelo's cross from deep on the right to make it 2-0, and he added a superb third with a solo run and thumping shot in the 71st minute.

With 10 points from four games, Portugal top Group 2 in League A on goal difference ahead of France, who beat Croatia 2-1 in Zagreb, with the Swedes bottom after a fourth straight round robin loss.

(Production: Miguel Fermino Pereira)