Roberto Martínez praises Paulinho, hints at call-up for former Sporting man | OneFootball

Roberto Martínez, the national coach, was present this Tuesday, November 18th, at the International Club of Portugal's lunch, where he spoke about leadership, honesty, and clarity. Along the way, among various topics, he addressed the 'vacancy' left in the usual squad by Diogo Jota and spoke about three players who are competing for that spot, with Paulinho - who has been performing exceptionally well - being one of the names.

"In the striker position, we work with Gonçalo Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Diogo Jota, who is a reference, is with us, and we will try to do everything to achieve his dream, which was to win the World Cup. Now, we need a forward," he began, before mentioning the former Sporting striker.

"We have three options and one is Paulinho, because he has been very consistent and is playing very well. We have André Silva, who is having a very good season at Elche, and Fábio Silva, who is at Dortmund and has already been with the National Team. There are three forwards who are options to come in today," he stated.

The coach does not rule out calling up the former Sporting player in the future: "But the most important thing is to maintain the same level, and the decision day will be March 20th. You also need to be lucky, to reach the 20th without injuries, so they can be available. That's part of it. But I can say that Paulinho is one of the players we are following and we really like what he is doing. And if the World Cup has 26 players, as we expect, although it is not confirmed, it is a position that opens up for March," he added.

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