Portuguese football gathered on Monday evening at the Centro Cultural de Belém, in Lisbon, where the Gala das Quinas de Ouro 2024 took place, where awards were presented to reward “Portuguese excellence”, under the motto “I am Portuguese”. ».
Taking advantage of the professional break and the concentration of the national teams in the City of Football, the Portuguese Football Federation, in cooperation with the Players’ Federation and the Coaches’ Association, tried to bring together the “cream” of Portuguese football, but also futsal, beach soccer and other sports that have raised Portugal’s profile in the past year.
A ceremony attended by the main figures of Portuguese football, starting with the international players called up by Roberto Martínez for the next League of Nations commitments, with the careers of players such as Rúben Dias, Diogo Costa, Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva celebrated.
Also paying tribute to the coaches in the spotlight, starting with Ruben Amorim, who traveled to Manchester this Monday to begin a new phase in his career, but sent a video message in which he predicted: “I really miss Portuguese football”.
Quinas de Ouro also paid tribute to the Portuguese clubs, with the presidents of Benfica (Rui Costa), Sporting (Frederico Varandas), Vitória (António Miguel Cardoso) and André Villas-Boas’ Sp., with FC Porto represented by CEO Henrique Monteiro.
In addition to Ruben Amorim, Jorge Jesus, coach of Al Hilal, was also honored, in a year in which he broke the record for the number of consecutive wins in charge of a club (34), as was Rui Jorge, for his already long career. to serve the Sub 21.
Closing the ceremony, Fernando Gomes, president of the FPF, called Cristiano Ronaldo up on stage to present the Quinas de Platinum international award, “excellent ambassador for our country”.
The Portuguese international received the award from children who played for Andorinha, Cristiano Ronaldo’s first club in Madeira. «Let’s see if it’s okay, it’s one o’clock in the morning in Arabia and I’m already asleep. Let’s see what happens, besides, today is my daughter’s birthday. It’s a great pride to receive this trophy, I don’t see it as an end but a beginning», he began by emphasizing.
“When I came to the national team, my first goal was to play for my first international team, then 10, 25, 50, then you start thinking, why not 150 or 200. After winning the Ballon d’Or and so many awards, I can say that there is nothing better than representing the choice. I am disappointed with some players who do not want to represent the national team. I hear many people say Portugal is a small country but Portugal is a big country, it has everything,” CR7 also emphasized to close the ceremony.