National coach Francisco Neto promised on Tuesday a “competitive and organised” team for Portugal’s unprecedented participation in the Women’s World Cup, which will take place this year in Australia and New Zealand.
The Portuguese team has been integrated into Group E of the competition along with the United States, the current world title holder, the Netherlands, the last losing finalist, and Vietnam, who will make their debut in the competition, in the “poule”. which the coach acknowledged as “difficult” while demonstrating ambition.
“What we want, just like in the last European tournament, is to reach the last day of the group stage, which is up to us. We have to be very competitive and organized to get to the US game, not math. Our experience in the last Europeans makes us emotionally more prepared,” he shared.
In preparation for this tournament, Portugal will play two games in April against Wales and Japan, which, according to the coach, will serve as “an assessment of the state of the team and an understanding of how the preparations are going.”
“Playing against a team from another confederation [o Japão], which has ambitious goals for the World Cup, will help us adapt to the difficulties we will face. We’re going to try out new ideas and see where we’re at,” he predicted.
Despite strong opponents in this final stage of the 2023 World Cup, Francisco Neto reminded of the evolution of women’s football in Portugal, making sure that the national team now has more arguments to participate in these major tournaments.
“There is a good work of the federal structure, as well as our clubs. The players arrive more and more well prepared and in better conditions. It’s hard to make a choice with so many options and it’s a sign of the growth of women’s football,” she shared.
The national coach, who took part in the National Association of Football Coaches’ forum in Viana do Castelo on Tuesday, expressed his satisfaction that clubs have “more and more players with professional contracts”, noting that this has led to an increase in “competent athletes and athletes”.
“We can already look at opponents differently. In 2017 we had 14 players in a professional setting abroad, now we only have six abroad because the rest are already in Portugal and doing what they like best,” he said. .
Mundial2023 will take place from July 20 to August 20 in Australia and New Zealand.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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