Daniel Chaves: “Women’s football needed FC Porto in the top flight” | OneFootball

The women’s team made history on April 25, 2026 by winning the National Second Division title and securing promotion to Liga BPI, the top tier in Portugal. After a match in which the Porto players showed “some anxiety” in the first half, Daniel Chaves highlighted the collective display after the break and believes the emphatic scoreline could have been even bigger, although the essential thing was achieving the two goals that had been set. “We know we still have a lot to build and a lot of hard work ahead of us to get where we want to be as a Club, but we were missing from the top flight of Portuguese women’s football,” the coach added.

Two very different halves“The main thing we noticed in the first half was some anxiety from the team, who wanted to do everything too quickly. It’s true that we had the ball most of the time, but whenever we found some space, we wanted to do everything too fast. We felt some anxiety about getting the goal and putting the result to bed so that we could feel we were champions and promoted, but it was a second half in which we grew and it ended 4-0, though it could even have been more. We had some very good team moves, and one of the goals is an example of that. It was the perfect crowning moment for promotion.”

There are still two trophies to win“Considering the way we want to keep growing in women’s football, it ends up being a season beyond everyone’s expectations, both for those on the inside and those on the outside. Above all, I’m very proud of the players. They are the ones who put us at this level, they are the ones who work every day to achieve these results in every competition. It has been an evolving process throughout the season that allows us to compete against any team at national level.”

A family in the dressing room“I think the name FC Porto ends up taking away from what we have done this season. The start was not easy and pre-season was not easy, we changed half the squad and it takes adaptation to a playing idea, besides having to instill in the players the Club’s principles. That’s what we did and we gained a lot from the group we built. When we talk about being a family, that’s what we showed ourselves to be this season.”

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