Portugal’s U-17 national team coach, Bino Maçães, expressed cautious optimism for an upset against a formidable yet three-player-short Brazil in Monday’s World Cup semi-final.
Maçães acknowledged the inherent difficulties of facing a top opponent at this stage of the tournament. He believes his team can “make history” if his players recover well from previous matches.
The Portuguese coach plans to exploit the absence of three key Brazilian starters, who are suspended due to yellow card accumulation. He suggested that Brazil might field players who lack recent match rhythm, a factor Portugal aims to leverage.
“We know we’ll have extra fatigue, we’re ready for what comes,” said Portugal’s starting goalkeeper Romário Cunha.
Cunha also expects a challenging game but expressed confidence in his team’s ability to perform. He emphasized the need for a “very competent game” and promised the team would be strong and united.
Maçães praised his squad’s maturity and defensive intensity, particularly highlighted in their previous match against Switzerland. He stressed the importance of having all available players ready for the decisive encounter.
Portugal, the reigning European champions, advanced to the semi-finals with dominant victories over Belgium (2-1), Mexico (5-0), and Switzerland (2-0).
Brazil, by contrast, had a tougher path, overcoming two penalty shootouts against Paraguay (0-0, 5-4) and France (1-1, 4-3). They defeated Morocco 2-1 in the quarter-finals.
Cunha noted Brazil’s history of deciding games via penalties and confirmed Portugal is preparing for that possibility, though he hopes it will not be necessary.
The semi-final match is scheduled for Monday at 7:00 PM UTC+3 in Doha, Qatar.