Gor Mahia head coach, Manuel Vaz Pinto has come out to say that Portugal might not retain their Euro trophy. He recently revealed that he believes this might be the case because the team is not as strong as they were in 2016.
According to him, even if it is true that Portugal has better talents now, the 2016 team had played for a long time so the understanding was there.
Pinto added that he only sees the nation retaining their title if the team grows during the tournament.
His words, “Portugal have a chance if only they grow as a team. We have talent, but I feel this national team is not as strong as the one in 2016,”
“We have more and better talents now because, in 2016, we did not have Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Felix and Diogo Jota.”
“But the 2016 team had played for a long time and, as I said about Gor Mahia, they had established a strong family connection.”
“Now they have started to renew the team, but game by game, I think they will grow as a team and if they do that, they could be champions again although we are a small country, but we have talents.”
“The secret of success has been with the clubs,”
“For example, if a club has a budget of $1 million, the club will ensure 30% of that budget goes to the academy for development.”
“The federation also created the U23 league, which is critical, in my opinion, and this is where you will find even the U17 or U18 players featured and, because of that, the kids grow meticulously.”
“Bernado, Jota, and Felix all came from there because the structures encouraged the development of such abilities.”
“The federation also ensured teams could not participate in the leagues if they did not have the facilities. You will not be able to grow if you do not have better facilities.”
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