After his Portugal team failed to get a win that could have sent the United States out of the FIFA Women’s World Cup on Tuesday, coach Francisco Neto lamented a “huge opportunity” lost.
The pre-tournament favourite, the USA, hung on for a scoreless draw in Auckland to advance to the round of 16, ending Portugal’s aspirations in their World Cup debut.
The 21st-ranked team in the world, Portugal, came close to stealing a thrilling victory in stoppage time when Ana Capeta hit the post.
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Portugal would have advanced from Group E at the expense of the hosts and top-ranked United States with a victory.
“I think it was our best game in the World Cup,” said Neto, who has been in charge since 2014.
“I will be honest with you, when Ana hit the ball I was thinking it would be a goal and about what Vlatko would do and what I would have to do to stop him.
“I swear, I truly believed it was going to be a goal.”
He added: “I told the girls I was very proud. Of course, they are very sad because we have huge expectation on ourselves.
“They felt that we were probably going to be the first team in the world that would eliminate the US in this stage.
“It was a huge opportunity for us but unfortunately we go home tomorrow.”
Portugal only qualified for their first Women’s World Cup after defeating Cameroon in a play-off.
They opened the tournament by falling to the Netherlands 1-0, and then they defeated Vietnam 2-0.
They leave the competition with four points and one goal allowed in three games.
Their performance at the European Championship in England last year, where they came last in their group with just one point and scored just one goal, has significantly improved.
In the run-up to the World Cup, they had previously demonstrated some of their potential by holding England to a scoreless tie on the road in a friendly.
“I don’t think that the US played poorly,” Neto added.
“The US is an amazing team with an amazing coach.
“The pressure is big, I understand that, but today we had a big Portugal.
“What this World Cup shows now is that the women’s game is growing a lot and because of that you have these kind of results that nobody believed would happen before the tournament.”