The President of the Government, António Costa, and the Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Ana Catarina Mendes, went to dinner this Monday with the Portuguese women’s soccer team, which is preparing an unprecedented presence at a World Cup.
After a training session open to the media, which included the participation of the Estoril Praia U-16 men’s team, the players on the World Cup roster received the officials at a dinner, with António Costa speaking to Channel 11 .
“As we saw in the qualifying play-off [frente aos Camarões], everything is at stake and everything in football is possible until the last minute. We know that we have a very difficult group, but we also have an excellent team and I think that everyone will do their best to represent us very well and be a great source of pride”, stated Costa.
After emphasizing that the women’s team “has already achieved the most important thing, having qualified for the final phase of the World Cup”, the President of the Government has highlighted the importance of the projection of women in football for society and to break “a inequality barrier.
“This projection that they have won helps a lot to motivate more girls to come to soccer. It is a great stimulus for the clubs, which organize their teams and train these players. It is undoubtedly a process that will grow more and more. It is a barrier of inequality that is being overcome. The more these barriers are diluted, we will have a more cohesive society and each one will be able to develop its full potential. A few years ago it would have been unimaginable to have the clubs we have, let alone be in the World Cup. The truth is that we are here and hopefully it will be to stay, ”she said.
António Costa will be present at the debut of the “quinas” in the World Cups, on July 23, against the Dutch team, and pointed out that the Government intends to accompany the women’s team as it has done in other teams.
“It is very important that the whole team feels that the country is with them and that we are going to the World Cup with the women’s team, as we have always been with all the teams in any sport, especially in soccer,” said António Costa. .
The women’s team met last Monday at the Cidade do Futebol, in Oeiras, where it will remain until July 10, the day it will travel to New Zealand -which organizes the World Cup together with Australia-, after two peculiarities.
The team will have tests against England, on Saturday, and Ukraine, on July 7, in preparation for the three matches in Group E of the World Cup, against the Netherlands, on July 23, Vietnam, on July 27, and the United States. United on August 1.
Source: TSF
