Miguel Queiroz: Proud to captain the national team | OneFootball

Miguel Queiroz, a natural post from Algarve and with over ten years serving FC Porto, stated that leading the Portuguese basketball team – which will be present at Eurobasket 2025 – is one of the greatest reasons for pride in his life.

"What do I feel about being the captain of this team? First and foremost, a lot of pride, I'm really proud to be the captain of the selection," he told the Lusa agency, the Portuguese number 11, who reaches the final phase of the European with 121 games for the main team.

The responsibility does not overwhelm him: "It ends up being something natural and at the same time easy for me, derived from the colleagues I have. It's a group where we already know each other very well, where I know perfectly when I have to speak, when I don't have to speak".

"So, it's a huge pride, it's one of the things I'm most proud of in my life," emphasized the 34-year-old player, who debuted in the selection of quinas on July 13, 2013, shortly after the previous Portuguese participations in Europeans (2007 and 2011).

It took a long way to put Portugal in a fourth final phase, with the Portuguese team also participating by invitation in the 1951 edition.

"We went through a lot to get here. There was a time when we didn't have 12 players to play a last qualifying game for a European," he recalled, adding that many things have changed, as "this new generation showed great ambition from the first moment to return to the Eurobasket, to raise the level of Portugal".

The process was demanding: "It was a lot of work, many defeats, many frustrating trips, long trips, with heavy defeats, which always cost us. They were difficult moments that gave me baggage, that gave us baggage, to be able to win many games now in this phase".

"I don't like to compare, but this generation really has a huge pride in playing for Portugal, has a great ambition, are young and want to do something for Portuguese basketball, and for themselves. So that the team can improve, it always helps when you want to be a better player, it always helps if everyone does that," he highlighted.

The construction of this group did not happen overnight: "the first years were difficult", but "from stage to stage", it started to "grow" and "the level rose a lot", and it was also fundamental to have a defined goal.

"I think the most important fact is that we had a very clear objective and everyone, from the beginning, assumed it as a great objective. This focus was decisive to achieve this qualification," he reinforced to Lusa.

Portugal guaranteed its presence in the final phase and will face some of the best European teams: in Group A, in Riga, it measures forces with Serbia, Turkey, host Latvia, the Czech Republic, and Estonia, needing to finish among the top four to move forward, a goal they clearly define.

"Our goal is to pass the group stage," he said, without hesitation, adding: "We have to focus game by game, first on the Czech Republic. If I start thinking that I'm going to win three games... I think that's not the way we have to go, I think we have to go for the first game. And that's what we're going to do".

And about the importance of the first encounter in a short competition, he emphasized: "It's extremely important, of course, starting well is always very good, it gives us another confidence, an even greater confidence, to face the next games. But it's not decisive".

"We have to play, thinking that it's just another basketball game, on a very big stage, and we have to have that box, we have to have that chest to understand, without being too nervous, but also to understand that we have to take steps forward, and I think the team will be able to do that," the captain guaranteed to Lusa.

To do so, it's not necessary to have a supernatural performance, but rather to reach the maximum performance: "When the stage began, I told my colleagues that our best, then, was not enough, but I had the absolute certainty that when the European arrived, our best at the moment would arrive. And that's what I believe".

"We have to be better every day, we have to give our best every day. Here there's no 110%, there's 100%. Give 100% every day, to gradually grow. We don't need to grow a lot, it's one step at a time. We'll be prepared and I'm sure that our best on August 27 will be enough," concluded Miguel Queiroz.

The final phase of the 2025 European, which will be the 42nd edition of the tournament, takes place in Latvia, Cyprus, Finland, and Poland, between August 27 and September 14.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.