This Sunday, Pepe said it was important to “learn” for a “much better future” for the Portuguese football team following the arrival of the Portuguese delegation in Lisbon, one day after being knocked out in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup.
About half a thousand fans were waiting for the arrival of the team in Lisbon, although only 14 players returned with a retinue – Rui Patricio, Rafael Guerreiro, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Leao, Bruno Fernandes, Matheus Nunez, Ruben Neves, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo and Diogo Dalot. stayed in Qatar.
“We’re sad that we can’t give more to these people because maybe we didn’t deserve to leave the way we did, but that’s football. There are things in football, you have to learn from yesterday’s game. [sábado] so the future could be much better for us,” said the Portuguese centre-back.
The only one of the 14 players who issued statements to the media present at the airport, Pepe also commented on the situation with Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Cristiano Ronaldo did well, he is our Portuguese flag, he reaches all corners of the world. He did his part when he was called up and we have to thank him, him and all his teammates who also tried to do their best, give their best. and work to the maximum to be available to the coach. In this case, everything is much simpler,” he added.
The 39-year-old defender did not want to talk much about the succession of Fernando Santos as coach.
“I’m a player, I have nothing to say about it [eventual saída de Fernando Santos]I won’t go down this path. That’s what I’ve been talking about before: through people and affection, we feel it,” he said.
The Portuguese entourage landed at Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado airport at 5:40 pm and passed the airport’s VIP exit about twenty minutes later, where several hundred fans were waiting for them, including elements such as national coach Fernando Santos. , as well as players such as William Carvalho, Ruben Diaz, Diogo Costa, Gonzalo Ramos and Pepe for photos and autographs.
Portugal were eliminated from the 2022 World Cup on Saturday after losing 1-0 to Morocco in the quarter-finals thanks to a goal from Youssef El-Nesiri.
In the semi-finals on Wednesday, Morocco will play defending world champions France, who also eliminated England on Saturday, and Croatia will play Argentina on Tuesday.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.