Sub-21 – 24-03-2023 20:59
By Eduardo Pedrosa Marques
The victory over Romania (2-0), and, above all, the display of the young Portuguese hopes, left Rui Jorge quite satisfied. This is because, in addition to the fantastic goals scored by Afonso Sousa and Pedro Neto, the under-21 team once again spread all its perfume, with several bids painted by true artists.
Rui Jorge valued what was very good in the first 45 minutes, noting that in the second half, despite some nuances caused by the opponent’s strategy, the team also gave a good response.
«We had brilliant moments in the first half that translate everything we want for the game. There was tremendous quality in ball circulation, the search for depth and the opponent’s goal at the right times, that’s very much what we want. In the second half our opponent wanted to break the game and it was not easy to keep it balanced. We could have done anything else to keep the balance we wanted. Even so, we did not fail to have very good moments and I am quite satisfied with the attitude of all the players», he analysed.
In a match that was also marked by the debuts of Tomás Araújo (central defender representing Gil Vicente, on loan from Benfica) and Dani Silva (midfielder who plays for V. Guimarães), Rui Jorge made a point of analyzing the performance of both . And, also in this regard, praise abounded: «Tomás [Araújo] hey Dani [Silva] they are excellent players and they did very well. We already knew Tomás and he is another player with great characteristics. Dani is very good technically and tried to be safe. He’s a player with a lot of potential, a fantastic kid who works a lot. Both played an excellent game.”
Next Tuesday there is a new test, against Norway, in a match that will be played in Póvoa de Varzim and which is scheduled to start at 19:00. Rui Jorge foresees a more complicated duel, since, in his opinion, the Norwegians will offer more difficulties to the corner team. «Norway is a team with a very good level of play, very similar to ours, and that has excellent technical performers. It will be a team that will create another type of difficulty for us and I expect a stadium with a lot of people to see a great show», concluded the leader of the Portuguese under-21s.
It should be noted that Portugal is in the preparation phase for the European Championship of the category, which will take place between the 21st of June and the 8th of July, in Romania and Georgia.