André Silva eyes Portugal return under Jesus: “Why not?” | OneFootball

André Silva is one of FC Porto’s new signings for 2026/27, after completing his return to the blue-and-white club nine years later. At 30, the striker still nurtures the desire to be called up again to the national team, now that Jorge Jesus has replaced Roberto Martínez as head coach.

“At first it felt a bit strange to me [being away from the call-ups for so long], but it’s normal because in recent seasons I haven’t been at my best level, or the context didn’t allow it either in terms of the numbers. I respect the coaches, who are our leaders, the captains of the ships, and each one has their own ideas to bring out the best in the club or the national teams,” stressed the 30-year-old centre-forward in an interview with Sport TV.

“With coach Martínez there was only one moment when we were together, when he arrived. From then on there were no more conversations. There was always an expectation and I was always ready to try to give my best for it to happen, but it was an expectation I knew I had no control over at all, so I stayed calm, waiting only for the moment and being respectful,” added the attacker, who has 19 goals in 53 senior international appearances and has not worn Portugal’s shirt since the 1-2 defeat to South Korea in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Asked about the possibility of a call-up from Jorge Jesus, André Silva replied without hesitation: “Yes, why not? It is still a dream for me to represent the national team. I feel like I stopped going yesterday, meaning I have the feeling that I am part of that space, and I have the same desire and the same dream to represent Portugal now and in the coming competitions. It has always been a mission of mine and it will continue to be as long as I am at my best.”

Confidence boosted by Ronaldo’s praise

“That fills us with confidence. At that moment I was coming from a path where I went from being a kid to playing with Cristiano, who was my idol. Playing alongside him gave me above-average emotion and energy. I ran for the team, helped him, and I also felt that by doing that I created plenty of chances for him to score. At the same time, I felt that he also wanted me to start scoring for the national team and was happy about it.”

The connection with CR7 and the first goal for Portugal

“It wasn’t words or expressions, it was attitudes or looks. In football, in a match, we can read, look, and see expressions. And I remember an important moment in my first goal, when I saw in Cristiano’s expression the feeling that he wanted me to score or that he was expecting me to score. I don’t know if that was just my interpretation, but that is something you end up feeling. Yes, the empathy existed and it was also made public by Cristiano himself.”

Portugal’s ambitions for the 2026 World Cup

“Of course I always had a lot of confidence because of the quality we have, but it’s much easier to talk about past expectations after the results. The quality we have is undeniable. Looking at the champions or the four semi-finalists, I think that as a group we could have done a bit more, from an outside perspective. It’s easier to talk from the outside, but comparing our quality with those four semi-finalists, we are on equal footing. The most important thing is to have unity and to push for everyone.”

Contact with several Spanish world champions

“I remember some of them, like Dani Olmo, Zubimendi, Merino and Oyarzabal. They are players of enormous quality. One of the things that stands out is the energy they put into training every day and their conviction, their character to win. That is what gets us onto the big stages and competing as if we were competing in our own garden with our teammates. That helps create that unity and confidence. The collective logic of competitiveness.

Jorge Jesus has not yet been André Silva’s coach

“I haven’t had the opportunity to work with the coach, but wherever he has been, he has always won titles. I think he is a coach with charisma and the ability to bring that out, at least from the work seen from the outside in the teams he has managed.”

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