Portugal national team coach Jorge Jesus announced his first squad since taking office and held a press conference. This is the second part of the press conference.

João Palhinha has been selected this time. I remember, for example, when João Mário played for the Portuguese national team at Estádio José Alvalade, he was heavily booed. If Palhinha plays at Alvalade, what would you say to the Portuguese supporters there? Are you concerned he might also be booed like João Mário? Furthermore, previous reports indicated you had already tried to convince Rafa Silva to return to the national team. Can you confirm that?

I select players for the Portuguese national team. I don't care whether they play for Benfica, Sporting CP, or any other club. For my selection, what really determines whether they can be selected is the players' current form and their own abilities. As for which club they belong to, that doesn't matter to me.

But I'm asking about the potential reaction of the fans, that's the issue here.

No, I can't answer that question. All I can tell you is that they are there to represent the Portuguese national team. For me, that's how it is.

What about the question regarding Rafa Silva?

These 25 players are those I decided to call up after careful consideration. Except for those who participated in the last World Cup but are not on this list, I haven't spoken individually with other players. So I haven't had any conversation with Rafa.

First, good luck to you. We haven't met here before, so I wish you the best in your upcoming work. I want to ask a question about Ronaldo. According to your vision, what role do you want the captain of the Portuguese national team to play? How do you see him? Especially those of us who followed this World Cup closely know that whenever something goes wrong, responsibility often falls on Cristiano Ronaldo. How do you plan to prevent that from happening again?

What really matters is his performance. Doesn't his past count? Of course, his past exists, and all the achievements he has accomplished throughout his career are also there. But what really determines my choices during matches and training is his current performance.

That applies to him, and it applies to all the other players as well. And there are 13 players on this list who have already worked with me. Nobody has asked me about this yet, but I can tell you proactively.

That will help me. Because we are about to start playing, and we haven't established our foundation yet. So from that perspective, these players who have worked with me in the past are very important for my decisions and this selection.

Back to the Ronaldo question. Ronaldo is like all the other players. If he performs, he plays; if he doesn't perform, he doesn't play. I do that for all players, and it's no different just because it's Ronaldo.

Of course, is Ronaldo's status different from the other players'? Yes.

Is his career different from the others'? Yes, it is.

He has won five Ballon d'Or awards. But will these things affect my decision? Absolutely not.

However, to say that he is different from the other players, he certainly is.

I'd like to ask, when will we really see this Portuguese team play with your characteristics? Will we be able to see a Portuguese team closer to Jorge Jesus' playing philosophy by the last match of this international window? Additionally, I've also seen you watching many live matches in Portugal, visiting different stadiums to observe many players. What is your current assessment of Portuguese football?

First, to answer the first question. I now have a very clear understanding, and I am very confident about what I'm saying: I need to accelerate the entire process. I need to speed up this process so that the players can understand and adapt to what I want them to do faster and faster.

And accelerating this process involves many aspects, not just field training. I will say something more about myself, and I will continue to do so in the future.

I have "field training" and "classroom training." I won't give long speeches to players in the traditional sense. For me, it's classroom training and field training. Therefore, to accelerate the entire process, you have to do it through many aspects simultaneously.

Moreover, I also firmly believe in the wisdom and ability of the players. Because various situations will always arise during matches, and for some of these issues, the players must also rely on themselves to solve them. That's the concept of the game.

As for your second question about why I go watch certain players live, I think it's very important to observe players in person. The last time I watched a live match was in Madrid, where I went to see Bernardo Silva. Of course, we now have many ways to observe players, and it's not necessary to be physically present to see them.

And I can't personally watch all the matches. So our coaching staff has divided the work, assigning different members to observe specific matches at different venues. Therefore, our current ideas and choices are based on what we have seen, and then we consider how these players can adapt to my philosophy.

I've examined this list and got the impression it was very similar to the World Cup squad, with only four new faces. So one word can be extracted from it: "continuity." Rúben Neves is currently delivering exceptional performances at Roma, and Gonçalo Inácio has also played very well for Sporting CP at the start of the season. Additionally, there's Matheus Nunes, these are all very young talented players. Many national team managers are currently advocating for team renewal, but it seems you don't want to lead this renewal, but rather keep a team very similar to the past. How do you explain that?

No, I don't think this is a team so similar to the past. Of course, as we just discussed, there are indeed only four new faces this time compared to the previous list. But the vast majority of the players are still the same people, and this has nothing to do with the coach's playing philosophy.

The previous coach had his ideas, and I have a completely different set of ideas. It's different from how we perceive the individual characteristics of each player.

As for the players you just mentioned, they have also been under our observation. And I have communicated with the U21 national team coach, Luís Freire, several times. So at this stage, I believe the young players you just mentioned haven't had their chance yet.

I am focusing on the present, and also on the future. So I ultimately made this decision.

Related reading:

Jesus: I prefer two strikers to a third midfielder; Fábio is unique

Traduit par IA.

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