Vítor Baía on lingering pain from Portugal days: “I was dropped at my peak” | OneFootball

Vítor Baía told Expresso that he was surprised to no longer be part of the national team's options.

“I was at the best phase of my career when I was sidelined. I never understood why. There was a lot of misinformation, some said it was because I was a witness for António Oliveira in a case, and I was never his witness, others said I created a bad atmosphere, and I never had any stress in my life with any colleague. There was talk of meetings between Pinto da Costa, Mourinho, and Scolari. Only Scolari would know,” he stated in comments to Tribuna Expresso.

It should be remembered that Baía was part of the national team in the 2002 World Cup, an edition that left a bad memory in Portugal, with the team being eliminated in the group stage. “There was an excellent relationship among the players, but friction between the technical team and the management,” he recalled, in a competition where there was even talk of “garlic behind the goals and in the locker room.” True? “Unfortunately, yes. We were also surprised by these issues. They are beliefs. We lost to the United States 3-2 in the first game, and I only saw garlic flying through the air. I was incredulous watching that, all the guys upset and garlic flying around. It's a regret for us, we had everything to win a major competition.”

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