“I thought it was a game which was in its own way, historic. [Portugal] is a team mainly of amateurs, with some Portuguese-French professionals. They played against one of the five best professionals in the world”, said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

The President who attended the game in France was “very proud” of the ‘Wolves’ performance, congratulating the sport’s federation, the Secretary of State for Youth and Sports, as well as the entire team and coach.

This sport, he recalled, was from a “very limited” social sector, but “has expanded and become more popular”, with “Portuguese teams already becoming strong” and having a base of players “with a bright future”.

Highlighting the difference in resources between Portugal and other countries, these results are worthy of note for Rebelo de Sousa, hoping to see the sport evolve even further in the country.

After the defeat against Wales and the historic draw with Georgia, Portugal lost today to Australia, in the third game of group C.