Benfica president Rui Costa this Wednesday praised Portugal’s unprecedented qualification for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, stressing that Portuguese football should be proud of the evolution that has taken place.
“This is a moment for all of Portuguese football to be proud of the evolution it has achieved in women’s football, showing once again that we are a country that has great talent and a very strong passion for football,” the President stressed. Benfica, according to a statement published on the Lisbon club’s official website.
Rui Costa congratulated all the players on the “historical milestone” and especially the 10 players who represented Benfica and participated in the qualification, mentioning Silvia Rebelo, Carole Costa, Catarina Amado, Jessica Silva, Francisco Nazareth, Andrea Norton, Lucia Alves, Ana Seisa, Rute Costa and Andrei Faria.
“Five seasons ago, when Sport Lisbon and Benfica started participating in national competitions, we had a player called up to the national team. Today, as a result of the structural work done at the club and the commitment to talent with knowledge and infrastructure, there are at least 10 professional athletes from the club with great potential to become referents in the country,” he added.
In the note, Rui Costa also mentioned that this is a work that Benfica intends to “continue to promote with the same quality and with the same rigor”.
The Portugal women’s football team qualified for the 2023 World Cup this Wednesday by beating Cameroon 2-1 in the Group A final of the Intercontinental Play-off in Hamilton, New Zealand.
A penalty kick scored by Carole Costa in the 90+4th minute sealed an unprecedented qualification for the Portuguese after Cameroon’s Adjara Nchut annulled Portugal’s first goal in the 89th minute, scored by Diana Gomez in the 22nd minute.
Francisco Neto’s men join in Group E with runners-up the Netherlands (July 23), Vietnam (27) and US Trophy winners (August 1), from July 20 to September 20 in Australia and New Zealand.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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