Roberto Martinez Addresses Antonio Silva's Euro 2024 Incident

Roberto Martinez has moved to shut down any suggestion that disciplinary issues from Euro 2024 are still hanging over Antonio Silva, insisting the incident in Germany was an accident and has no bearing on his current decisions.

Speaking to Portuguese newspaper Record, the Spain-born Portugal coach cut a firm figure as he revisited the episode that sparked headlines during the tournament.

"When there's a tournament and information leaks out, it's a very serious situation. At that time, we investigated and it was an accident. It wasn't a lack of discipline," Martinez said, underlining that the internal review had cleared the defender of any deliberate wrongdoing.

The issue, which surfaced during Portugal’s Euro 2024 campaign, has lingered in the background as speculation swirled around Silva’s status. Martinez, though, drew a hard line between past noise and present choices.

"It happened at Euro 2024 and that's not part of the decision now. Two years have passed," he stressed. "It happens in group dynamics and it's important to remember the most important thing: it was an accident and not an act of indiscipline. Antonio learned from it, but that's not part of the decision now."

The message was unmistakable: the coach wants the conversation to move on. Whatever decisions he makes around his squad, they will not be framed by an old dressing-room incident from Germany, but by what his players offer him now.