The under-21 national coach, Rui Jorge, guaranteed at the end of Thursday, already in Bucharest, where Portugal will face this Friday, the 24th of the current month, Romania, at Steaua Stadium (17 hours from mainland Portugal) in yet another preparation game, which found the greatest receptivity in the national players for the meeting in the Romanian capital, where the group led by him trained at the end of the day.
«These are the first days of work, after a long absence. [Os treinos] they have been going well, the players have been committed, receptive to our ideas», said Rui Jorge, speaking to Canal 11 before training, uncovering the veil about going to take advantage of this rehearsal to experiment with the usual options in the team .
«In private games, we can afford to try new things without running the risk of missing points. We have a larger margin to test. and that’s also what we’re going to do in this game», underlined the national coach, stressing the differences between Romania and Norway, the next rival of the team of quinas in this preparation stage.
′′ I think Norway has a game more like ours: shorter, with the ball at the foot. Romania is strong going out on the fast attack. That’s what I expect in this game, in an excellent stadium, with an excellent pitch. Let’s hope it also has a great atmosphere, so that it’s a good test», were the votes of the national coach, who in this call-up chose a mix of more experienced players and other potential new options.
“There is a group of players with more experience at the top level than others. It is in this mix of greater and lesser experience here, with us, that we develop what we want for our team. What we try is that on the field they manage to balance themselves in what is the idea of the game, everyone thinks the same way and plays the game with the quality that we normally put on the field», referred Rui Jorge in the meantime, aware that, above all, Portugal does not do without leaving a good image.
«Our concern is that the players always leave a good image, that they play good football and have a good posture. I can’t put the class we should have aside. I want them to play well, to demonstrate the quality that they have, and that the Portuguese player has, and to have the posture we should have! It’s been like this for these 11 years [no cargo]. People should be proud, and I want them to be proud, of the way they are on the field: respecting the opponent and putting all their quality on the field», he underlined the purpose.
Some possible changes in the defensive sector, in particular, were admitted by the national team for what he hopes will be “a good duel” with Romania.
“It is a reality, [a defesa] it will be the sector where more players with less time with us will have on the pitch. It is the reality of this U-21 National Team space. We try to prevent this situation: the work we do is always with a future perspective, and we’ve been working on this for four years in this generation», recognized Rui Jorge, given the limitations of football that he has to turn.
«We will continue, regardless of whether we lack the [Tiago] Djalo and João [Mário]. We will continue to work and give opportunities. I always say this: it is not the [Tiago] Djalo, is not the [Gonçalo] Ignatius, Antonio is not here [Silva]is the hypothesis of [André] Amaro, do [Tomás] Araújo and the [Alexandre] It penetrates to play», he recalled by the way.
After this Friday’s game against Romania, the national team returns to Portugal on Saturday, the 25th of this month. More specifically, to Póvoa de Varzim, stage of the second preparatory game for this internship, against Norway, on Tuesday, the 28th of this month, at Varzim Sport Clube Stadium (7 pm).
