"We want more. When you reach a final, the only thought a team can have is to want to win, knowing the difficulties that a game like this entails, with a very difficult opponent, very well organised, very well trained, and who will create many difficulties for us. I expect a great football match and we hope to be happy in the end," observed the coach.

In a press conference held in Doha, where the final phase of the 2025 Under-17 World Cup is being held, the Portuguese coach highlighted the merit of the Austrian team, which, like Portugal, had never reached the final of the tournament at this level.

“We will face an excellent team, which, through its own merit, is also in a final. A team like Austria, which eliminated teams like England, Japan, and Italy along the way, will necessarily have to be a very good team, which will create many problems for us,” he argued.

Bino Maçães, 52, reinforced that the last opponent in the U-17 World Cup is a team “very complete in its game plan,” which will require maximum concentration from the Portuguese players “from the first minute to the last,” despite the accumulated fatigue throughout the competition.

“Both sides would like to have another day of rest, to have a final of higher quality, because over time there will be accumulated fatigue, but we want to represent Portugal well, to have a great final, so we can take the trophy home,” he stressed.

“Once in a lifetime”

The coach recalled that “these opportunities only come once in a lifetime and we need to take advantage of them,” highlighting the support of the Portuguese community in Qatar.

“They have been our allies, the 12th player on the team, because this support brings us positive energy, and that is fundamental when there is already some wear and tear from a major competition,” he pointed out.

For midfielder Rafael Quintas, captain of the Portuguese team, the “feeling is very similar” to what he experienced in the final of the Under-17 European Championship, played less than six months ago, in which Portugal became champion, beating France 3-0 in Tirana.

“We have a very similar group, a few players have changed, and I think we have a very confident team, which knows what it is capable of, knows how to respect the opponent, maintains the humility it had in the European Championship. The team is ready for this final,” he assured, noting that Austria has also demonstrated “its value on the field.”

Portugal, whose best result in the Under-17 World Cup was third place in 1989 in Scotland, will face Austria in the final of the 2025 edition in Doha, in a match starting at 4 pm, officiated by Peruvian referee Roberto Pérez.