The women’s football team made history by qualifying for the World Cup for the first time, a remarkable achievement considering that the sport is still an amateur sport but already has many professional athletes. A win over Cameroon (2-1), with a goal from Carole Costa in the 90+4 minute, with a penalty kick, put the Portuguese in the final stage that takes place in Australia and New Zealand, between July and August.
The mission will not be easy. The draw had already dictated that if qualified, the team led by Francisco Neto would be part of Group E of the vice-champions of the Netherlands (match on July 23), Vietnam (July 27) and the two-time champions in United State Title ( 1 August). But for now, and after 13 qualifiers, the big goal has been achieved.
Present in all qualifying stages for World Cups, the squad achieved two third places in the respective World Cup qualifying groups (2011 and 2019) as best performances. Performance now surpassed by qualifying for the 2023 World Cup, after finishing second in the qualifying group and two wins playoffs.
Gone are the days when a group of players came together to play with a French team in 1981 (0-0), before Portugal was invited to participate in the qualification for the first European Women’s Championship in history in 1984. The qualification ended without glory (two draws and four defeats) and the team was on the back burner for over a decade, returning to qualify for Euro 1995.
Then Portugal had to wait another decade to qualify and play a final stage of a major competition for the first time – Euro 2017. Repeated presence at Euro 2022 and now for the first time in history for a World Cup.
“It fulfilled a dream of more than three decades and put Portugal in the only final phase that it could not contest in 108 years of history,” praised the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, Fernando Gomes, recalling that “it will be the beginning of a path that is still the most ambitious for Portuguese football and for all girls and women who want to play top-class football in Portugal”.
Historic goal after 90+4 minutes
Against Cameroon, Diana Gomes opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, completing a good collective move, but the lack of Portuguese effectiveness (Kika Nazareth’s header on the crossbar is one example) kept the Cameroonians’ dream alive, which , despite almost never creating any danger, they finally reached a draw from Ajara Nchout, at 89″. Moment of all or nothing, she felt the weight of the story and did not hesitate.
Benfica’s central defense is one of the most experienced in the national team. It is international since 2006 and the second with more competitions ever, after Ana Borges. He has represented Portugal 151 times and holds the title of defender with the most goals from corners (18 since 2006, the year he was first called up to the national team). The first kicks on the ball were given on the street, with his cousins and friends, before he joined the futsal team Os Marretinhas (Braga, where he was born on May 3, 1990).
Then he switched to football. He played for Casa do Povo de Martim, Leixões, SGS Essen, FCR Duisburg, MSV Duisburg, BV Cloppenburg and Sporting. She made history when she moved from Alvalade to Luz, where she won the national championship twice for Benfica and with that very relevant data that she was voted best player last year (2021-22). “It’s the happiest day of our lives. I haven’t even cried yet, it hasn’t sunk in yet. We’re so happy we just want to celebrate now with this huge group, who fought so hard to be on the World Cup. And that’s what we want most. what we want is to be there,” said the player after scoring the most important goal in her life and in Portuguese women’s football.
Large FPF investment since 2015
The betting on women’s football continues. Since the start of this FPF department, more than 50 million euros have been invested in the sport (including futsal and beach football), while the current budget for the women’s teams is 6.5 million euros.
After a few years of laying the foundations for the project, in 2015 the sport’s development strategy came into play, with the creation of Liga BPI, as a result of a restructuring of the competitive frameworks and the entry into the scene of clubs such as Sporting, Sp. Braga and later Benfica, which allowed some of the best players to return to the Portuguese league, which now has more professional athletes.
The undeniable evolution took place not only in the level of football practiced and in the increase in the number of federated players – the year 2022 broke records with 9200 athletes participating in the various championships, from under-7 to seniors -, but also in the qualification of coaches and the structures and establishment of training centers at regional level, financial support to clubs and district associations, the establishment of under-15 squads and new competitions at senior level (first the Super Cup, then the League Cup). And this was reflected in the performance of the main team.
Nowadays Portugal has a large group of high quality players – 28 players were used in qualifying – where the experience of captains Dolores Silva and Ana Borges (the most capped player ever with 153 appearances) is mixed with the solidity of Ana Capeta, Carole Costa (who scored the goal that made the victory over Cameroon and their presence in the 2023 World Cup), Andreia Norton, Carolina Mendes, Diana Silva, and the talent and irreverence of young people like Kika Nazareth, one of the top ten players under 21.
There are also Jéssica Silva, Andreia Norton, Lúcia Alves, Ana Seiça, Rute Costa, Andreia Faria, Catarina Amado, Ana Seiça, Joana Marchão, Sílvia Rebelo, Ana Rute, Fátima Pinto, Diana Gomes (she scored the first goal against Cameroon) , Andreia Jacinto, Tatiana Pinto.
Portugal is currently the 22nd selection in the FIFA ranking (the 14th on the UEFA list). It’s the best position ever, the result of an almost flawless qualification for the 2023 World Cup. The team out of the corners was second in Group H, just behind European and World champions, Germany, and ahead of teams such as Serbia, Turkey, Israel and Bulgaria.
banished to the playoff, defeated Belgium (2-1) and Iceland (4-1). It took 13 games and ten wins to reach the playoff intercontinental final against Cameroon. Apart from a draw with Turkey to open qualifying and two losses against Germany, the Portuguese won all their matches.
Francisco Neto has been the leader for nine years
Francisco Neto has been national coach since 2014. He started as a goalkeeper coach, but eventually led the national team in three unprecedented qualifiers (Euro 2017, Euro 2022 and Mundial 2023).
He even played for the club in his hometown, Mortágua, and for Repesenses, but his calling was in training. In 2001 he started training with the youth teams of the Associação de Futebol de Viseu, where he gained his first experience of women’s football, when he coached a district team from Viseu in the Interassociations Tournament.
In 2007 he became technical coordinator of the Viseu football association. And it was from there that he entered the Federation and where he made history. He brought the team to 41st place and in over 120 games he rose to 22nd: “I’m out of words, they know I’m their first admirer.”
Source: DN
