Miguel Queiroz: “I wanted to bring the title home, here at FC Porto” | OneFootball

Miguel Queiroz, a native of Portimão, in the Algarve, is one of the athletes with the longest ties to the entire FC Porto universe: he has 13 seasons to his name, only two fewer than the record-holders, the football team’s goalkeeper, Diogo Costa, and the handball pivot, Daymaro Salina. All captains.

“My challenge, my personal mission was, with every year that I didn’t win, to understand where I could improve in order to help the team. I kept putting stones in my bag and now I’ve taken them off my back. It’s a huge weight lifted off me; it’s the first championship trophy I’ve lifted as captain,” said an emotional Queiroz. “But the stones I took out of the backpack will stay on the shelf, to remind me of all the years when I pushed myself to be better to help the team. That is my mission. And I managed to bring the title back to FC Porto, which means everything to me. I wanted to bring the title back home, which is here, at FC Porto, for myself and for all Porto supporters,” he continued, adding: “I will die a Porto supporter. It’s been many years, but it was right in my first season. I don’t even really know how, but the values my parents passed on to me, I felt them at FC Porto as soon as I arrived. Here, from the very first moment, I felt at home; I felt that my personal values were exactly the same as those of the city and of FC Porto.”

The promise to his mother he could not keep

In a visibly emotional speech, the blue-and-whites’ center, who still has one more year left on his contract with FC Porto, made sure to dedicate a few words. “The last time my mother [Maria Elisabete] saw me play in a final, we lost here. I hugged her, we both cried, and I told her she would see me become champion live again. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible, but I’m sure she had some Algarve-style squid, made by my grandfather, her father, and that they were watching the match with a sangria and very proud of me,” he said. “I also wanted to talk about my wife [Elodie, of French origin]. Even when I doubted myself, when I thought that maybe I was the one in the wrong, my wife was always there for me and showed me what a great person I am. So, and I’m grateful for this opportunity, I want to send her a big kiss and let her know that without her, I was nothing,” he said.

“For five/six seasons they’ve been telling me it’s my best one”

Having made his personal commitment to helping the team very clear, O JOGO asked Queiroz about collective responsibility. “Human beings always tend to look to the side,” he said immediately. “But before looking to the side, although I do that too, I have always looked at myself, thinking about what I could improve. And there is something that makes me proud, which is the fact that in the last five/six seasons everyone has always told me it was my best season. I take great pride in that,” he reflected. “I try to look for my flaws in the game, see how I can grow and improve to help the team, and I honestly think I’ve been doing that job well,” he pointed out.

“I still have a lot to give”

And what if Miguel Queiroz’s best season is still yet to come? “I believe so, I do,” he smiled, excited. “There’s a lot still to do, I’m turning 35, but I believe I still have a lot to give,” he replied. “I’m going to celebrate, but I don’t have much time, because in a week, even less, the national team starts. I needed a little more rest, but I’ll definitely find a way to be ready to help Portugal,” he said.

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