The plane that transported the Portuguese entourage from Doha, Qatar, after the elimination of the selection in the World Cup, landed in Lisbon, this Sunday, around 5:39 p.m., after a journey of eight and a half hours.
Upon arrival, hundreds of fans awaited the athletes and technical team. The first to appear among the fans was Pepe, received by the fans, even stopping to give a few autographs.
“It’s always good,” the player celebrated with the fans, many of them young, thanking them for the “love.”
“Unfortunately we couldn’t reach the goal we wanted,” he also lamented, without forgetting to clarify, in front of the journalists, that the support during the World Cup was “very gratifying”, especially since the players “gave everything”. .
Without wanting to say if this is the last World Cup, Pepe thanked “all the Portuguese” and the media, summing up his speech in one word: “Thank you.”
The center-back refused, however, to “get in the middle” to comment on whether or not it is time for Fernando Santos to leave. Cristiano Ronaldo, the player guarantees, was “fine” and we must “thank him” for the contribution “that he gave when they called him”.
He was followed by Diogo Costa, João Félix and Rúben Dias, all of whom approached the fans, unlike Fernando Santos, who entered the team bus directly.
After a few minutes, the coach ended up going out to sign autographs and limited himself to saying that the feeling of being with the fans is “very pleasant” and that this was “a sign of recognition by the Portuguese”.
Palhinha, one of the last to leave the arrivals area of the Lisbon airport, spoke of a “great” reception and a “very beautiful and happy” moment, despite the “bitter” feeling for the elimination.
Only 14 players traveled to Lisbon because, between the coaching staff and the players, ten footballers were able to meet their families in Qatar this Saturday: Rui Patrício, Raphaël Guerreiro, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Leão, Bruno Fernandes, Matheus Nunes, Rúben Neves, Bernardo Silva, João Cancelo and Diogo Dalot.
Danilo and Nuno Mendes, injured and called up by PSG to recover in Paris even before the Portuguese elimination, did not travel this morning either.
The Portuguese group traveled aboard an Airbus A340-312 operated by AirX Charter, a private company from Malta.
Source: TSF
