Goals will appear in Vizela if Portugal’s under-21s “focus”
Midfielder Afonso Sousa stressed today that the goals against Liechtenstein, for a qualifying round for Euro2023 football in the under-21 category, will come by “addition” if Portugal “focuses” on presenting their football.
The ‘quinas’ team receives the Alpes team at 20:15 on Thursday, at the Estádio do Futebol Clube de Vizela, in a match referring to Group 4, and the 21-year-old player said that the 23 players were under the coach’s orders. Rui Jorge needs to focus on his “ideas” to confirm the status of the “favorites”.
“We are not going to be lying here. With the utmost respect for the opponent, we are favourites. Liechtenstein can create their difficulties, but let’s focus more on ourselves (…) The most important thing is to present our football. If that’s the case, the goals will come by an increase”, he said, at the press conference that preceded today’s afternoon training, at the hotel unit in Guimarães, where the group is concentrated.
Convinced that Portugal will add the three points if it doesn’t “make it easy at any time” and is at “the best of its needs”, Afonso Sousa stressed that the current internship is “important” to “create new routines and for players to “ Get to know a little better on and off the pitch”.
With 39 games in the I Portuguese Football League since last season, playing for Belenenses SAD, the attacking midfielder admitted that a call to the national team is another opportunity to “work as hard as possible and help the team”, despite not having left the bench of substitutes in the group’s first ‘commitment’, against Belarus, on September 6, in Amadora – Portuguese triumph 1-0.
The player trained at Beira-Mar, Gafanha and FC Porto also stressed that the presence of some elements of Euro2021, in which Portugal reached a final – lost 1-0 to Germany – shoes of less experienced athletes and feel “every time more ”with“ what the coach wants ”and“ with experience playing the qualification ”.
Portugal, European under-21 runner-up and fourth in Group 4 with three points in a game, host Liechtenstein at 20:15 on Thursday in Vizela and face Iceland on 12 October in Reykjavik , capital of the Nordic country.