Sporting’s big signing named Portugal captain, says he’s grateful | OneFootball

Mateus Fernandes was named 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 revamp in the squad, and the former Sporting player is one of the most experienced in the team.

"The team is completely different from two years ago. The guys who have been here longer need to help the younger ones, who are coming in to add quality to the team," said the West Ham midfielder, in the preview of the match against Azerbaijan.

Promoted to captain, the former Sporting player did not hide: "It is a responsibility that I accepted. I am very grateful. It is something I have been working on. It is important for the locker room to have leaders. In every locker room I have been in, I 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 this in the last qualification, Belarus and Croatia, which, at first, seem to have less quality, but were difficult to beat 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.