Sporting target on rivalry with Trincão: Without doing anything silly... | OneFootball

After an injury kept him out of the World Cup in Qatar, Pedro Neto, a 26-year-old player, is now competing in the first World Cup of his career. Included in the starting line-up for both Portuguese matches on American soil and with an assist in the first game, the Portuguese player’s goal is to “break out”.

“Things have been going well, both for the team and for me individually. I’m here to help and I hope this is the moment. We need a big game to finish top of the group, and I want to take that opportunity to help the team, if I’m called upon to play, so that we can go through in first place,” he said, looking ahead to the match against Colombia.

Regarding Francisco Trincão - whose future at Sporting is still uncertain - a player Pedro Neto admitted he is close to, he spoke about the dynamic between them: “It’s healthy competition. Trincão and I already got on very well back at Braga; we shared the same van and a lot of good stories. Whenever I’m with him, I know it’s going to be laughs; I can’t be around him without messing about. That’s the healthy competition we have here in the national team. We both know we want to play and we work for that, but above all we’re here to help the national team, and that’s the most important thing".

On Cristiano Ronaldo getting back among the goals, Pedro Neto admitted that the whole team was happy for the captain: “It was obvious that the group was pleased for him. We know he lives for goals and is obsessed with that, so the group is happy. We always like to see the best doing what they love most.”

As for Roberto Martínez’s selections, Pedro Neto made it clear that the players know anyone can step onto the pitch to help the team: “That’s what everyone has in mind: nobody has a guaranteed starting place in the team, but everyone has an important role. It’s a strong characteristic of this group: everyone knows they can play and that they can help. That’s the mentality we have to carry through the tournament".

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