Figo had this to say about recent appointee Agostinho Oliveira, "He's a homegrown man with roots in youth system but the problem is that in Portugal, there are no long term projects. We cannot work on the short term, or in this case, for a period of two months, waiting for the FPF elections when we want to be European champions."
However he is satisfied with the appointment of the newest Oliveira, "Its for the best, he knows the national team well and the players and I hope he can bring with him something that will bring out more from us."
On the topic of retirement from the national side, he said this, "I never said I was retiring from the national team and that would be unthinkable for any professional. What I did state was this: if you think I was one of the causes for the World Cup disaster, I would live without problems. The players want the best for the national team and if that were for the best, I would have been free to do it."
About a foreign coach for the national side, "I'm here to serve, regardless for the coach. I will play my best football for anyone. It's a privilege and an honour to defend the colours of my nation."
Rui Caçador and Carlos Dinis, in the interim, will coach the first 2 Olympic qualifying matches for the Under 21 side. However, this arrangement is flexible and both Oliveira and António Violante could contribute to the side...
Portugal remained in 7th in the latest FIFA rankings but is now level on points with England. France fell to 4th while Spain overtook them for 3rd. Therefore the match on September 7th takes on some added incentive...
Agostinho Oliveira has recognized that there will be a necessary renovation of the side but he promises to take advantage of the excellent values we currently have. He will name 22 players to the side that will face England...
Gilberto Madail confirmed on Friday that António Oliveira's hasn't rescinded his contract yet but that only a couple of small formal things are left to negotiate and sign. The process is going well, still friendly, and talk of judicial action is unwarranted. He doesn't even want to think about the possibility considering António Oliveira is a respected man in the ranks of the FPF and is still on friendly terms. Oliveira hasn't shown up at the FPF to fulfill the responsibilities of the national team coach so the assumption is that he's accepted the fact that he's been dismissed...
Portugal has competition for Humberto Coelho. China is said to be very interested in the ex-Portugal and Morocco coach. Guus Hiddink and Phillipe Troussier are the other names being tossed around...
Carlos Queiroz believes that Portugal should stick with Agostinho Oliveira as the permanent national team coach for Euro 2004. It would be a positive move and one that would be applauded by myself.
Agostinho Oliveira said on Monday that he will have to be careful as to how he will go about injecting youth into the senior team. "Renovation" of the team, like some like to call it, has to be sustained at a logical pace. You cannot just drop a group of players and promote youngsters to the squad. The under 21 may be an excellent source of talent for the side and it could be a matter of time until some of them begin to integrate with the senior squad.
The Under 21 squad is currently training at the Jamor Complex in preparation for their first Olympic qualifier in Varzim against Macedonia Sept 6th.