Sporting’s big-money signing named Portugal captain, feels grateful | OneFootball

Mateus Fernandes was appointed as one of the captains of the Under-21 National Team. In a new era with Luís Freire as coach, the young players are undergoing a reshuffle in the squad, and the former Sporting player is one of the most experienced on the team.

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"The team is completely different from two years ago. The guys who have been here longer need to help the newcomers, who come to add quality to the National Team," began the West Ham midfielder, in the preview of the match against Azerbaijan.

Promoted to captain, the former Sporting player did not hide: "It's a responsibility I accepted. I am very grateful. It's something I've been working on. It's important for the locker room to have leaders. In every locker room I've been in, I've tried to be close to the captains. They are people who end up stabilizing the group's fluctuations, both emotionally and on the field."

"We had teams like these in the last qualification, Belarus and Croatia, which, at first glance, have less quality, and it was difficult to win against them because we lacked patience. We studied the opponent very well. We know the moments when we can be more intense. We have the quality to find the spaces. The team is very confident and very 'hungry' to win," admitted Mateus Fernandes.

Portugal has a match scheduled for this Friday, September 5th, against Azerbaijan. With three Sporting players called up, the match will take place at the Estádio Cidade de Barcelos. Luís Freire's team will take the field at 7:30 PM.

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