Mário Gomes: “It's a disgrace, a shame. This was too much!”

At the end of the Linces' training session at the Casal Vistoso Pavilion in Lisbon, Mário Gomes appeared to be a satisfied coach, pleased with the work his team had put in before their Wednesday trip to Turkey. There, Portugal's squad will face Egypt tomorrow and Lebanon on Saturday in warm-up matches ahead of their crucial World Cup Qatar-2027 qualifiers against Spain (August 28) and Georgia (August 31), marking the start of Group I in the second qualification phase.

However, before discussing the national team, the players, or any technical details, Gomes requested to address another matter: “Before that, forgive me, but this has been bothering me for a long time, and I need to get it off my chest,” he declared. “Today's training, like the morning session, was planned for about two hours. After just 1 hour and 10 minutes, we had to stop because the conditions made it impossible to continue training,” he began to explain.

“This is a disgrace, it's shameful. [Portugal] is the only country in Europe without public sports halls equipped with air conditioning. I don't believe that ministerial offices or the offices of city mayors operate under the same conditions we are forced to work in. Given this, if you have the space, please publish this, because it needs to be said bluntly, as this is simply too much,” he emphasized.

“Just as the game we played in Matosinhos was too much. These are not suitable working conditions, especially since, on top of everything else, we risk player injuries and so on. When it comes to accountability for results, I'm here to take responsibility, just as I'm here now to say what needs to be said,” he concluded, before analyzing Neemias Queta's return to the national team and the necessary adjustments made due to the center's presence.