An interview with Michel Pont, Kuhn’s assistant

Provided by Le Matin Online and UEFA

The 19th of June is Michel Pont’s birthday but it’s also the day of a quarter-final.
The Assistant Coach would have liked to celebrate his 54th birthday during such an event. Yet this won’t be the case.

The staff and the players stated that they were aiming to win the tournament. Wasn’t this a bit too pretentious?
MP: Personally, I always said we were going to try to become European champions, and I saw this as something to work upon. However, we’ve realised we still miss a step to be at the level of the big football nations. The players were ready, every one did their best, but we have to admit that this “best” is not enough yet.

We’ve heard a lot about misfortune and woe…
MP: We won’t hide behind this excuse. However, it is true that nothing turned out right, whatever moment we take into consideration, during the friendlies or the competition. Nothing, nothing at all has been spared for us. We spoke about this with Kobi Kuhn: what did we do to deserve this? I believe the team hasn’t been paid back for its effort. But this is all “literature”. Only the resulsts matters. And we know which ones they are.

What are your feelings now?
MP: Wednesday, after the Turkey game, I felt a great sense of injustice. Now, only sadness. Especially for the players, but also for the exceptional staff members, and obviously our fans. We haven’t been able to keep up with what was asked of us. We’re sorry for the fans …

And Sunday the tournament will be over for you …
MP: We owe our fans something though. Whether it’s Portugal A or B it doesn’t matter: we have to play with pride. And I believe we have the means, based upon what we showed in the first two games, Ottmar Hitzfeld will have to admit that he’s got a good group to start off with.

from uefa.com:
“We felt a huge injustice at having to go out of the tournament after the Turkey match,” Pont told a news conference in Feusisberg today. “Turkey would have felt the same had they been the ones to go out after the match. There is great sadness here. We have not been rewarded for our efforts. The day after the game, we were all in a black hole. Now the focus is the Portugal match. We want to win a EURO finals tie for the first time in our history.”