Portugal will draw strength from the memory of Diogo Jota when they play at the World Cup this summer.
Jota, a star at Liverpool, died last year in a car accident on July 3 in Spain, shortly after helping the Portuguese win the UEFA Nations League trophy.
Rúben Neves, who was a close friend of the late Liverpool forward after playing with him in the national team, and at both FC Porto and Wolverhampton, was asked on Monday about Jota.
“We’ve talked about it a lot and we always say the same thing,” the Al Hilal midfielder said.
“Sometimes you need to hold on to something to give you that extra bit of strength. That will be one of the things that can give us that extra strength at certain moments and help us get where we want to go.”
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Neves, 29, scored the decisive spot-kick in a penalty shoot out against Spain that gave Portugal the Nations League title almost a year ago.
“After that match, I said it had been one of the most important goals of my career — if not the most important,” he said.
“So if it happens again in this World Cup, and it helps the team progress to the next round or even win the tournament, that would be great. But I’d prefer to win within 90 minutes and not have to go to penalties. We’re focused on what we can achieve as a team.”
Portugal, captained by five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, are among the favourite sides heading into the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
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“All the players in the national team are more than used to this kind of pressure,” Neves said. “We recently had four players [Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, João Neves, and Gonçalo Ramos] win the Champions League for the second time [with Paris Saint-Germain]. We are a young but experienced squad.
“We take this in our stride because we know we have the quality and that we can achieve great things for Portugal.”
Portugal have never won the World Cup and the closest they came was in 1966 when they finished third.
“Our aim is to reach the final, win and return with the World Cup in our hands,” Neves said.
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“It’s hard to pick a personal goal because we’re focused on what we can achieve as a team.”
Portugal, Euro 2016 champions begin the World Cup against DR Congo on June 17 before taking on Uzbekistan on June 23.
Their last Group K game is against Colombia on June 27.
