Martinez talks about Club World Cup: Paris is a role model, and the four Portuguese players in the team have made great progress

. Obviously, they are a team full of confidence and faith, and once they advance from the Champions League group stage – it was a difficult time in their season – they reached a new level and became almost unstoppable.

In Louis Enrique and several other coaches, have you seen like-minded people who have similar views on how they view and play football?

This is normal. Coaches’ work is sometimes lonely, but each coach has a different background and story behind it, and these ideas allow players to be used in different ways. Ultimately, it boils down to one thing: Coaches should give players the ability to do their best, let them grow and enjoy the game on the court. There are many ways to do this, as we saw in this competition. But I do think we're going to see the best games led by those coaches you mentioned in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

What elements do you like to bring to teams from outside Europe?

I like elements that are very unique to these teams or come from other ones. For example, the average age of goalkeepers for South American teams is over 35 years old. I think this is a cultural factor, and I believe the goalkeepers should be experienced players to help their teammates through their performance. Then there are some European teams, like Salzburg, whose goalkeeper is only 18 years old.

Brazilian team is very interesting. You see Palmeiras and Botafogo play against: both teams are four defenders plus two No. 6 players, very organized and very defensive. This is less common in European teams and is a different way of defense. I think it's interesting because in games like this, the team and the coach will stimulate each other. This is why this Club World Cup is so rich: sharing different philosophies, different cultures, and teams competing in different ways.

7M Sport