Jose Sa says Portugal are “contenders” for the World Cup and have “tried to understand what was missing” at previous tournaments as the 2006 semi-finalists work towards their opener against DR Congo in Houston on June 17 (18:00 BST).
Portugal lost to Morocco in the 2022 quarter-finals, having suffered two last-16 exits and one in the group stage at the preceding three editions.
“This topic has been discussed a lot and I’ve been asked about it many times,” said Wolves goalkeeper Sa, via Portugal’s website, adding that warm-up matches against Chile in Oeiras on Saturday and Nigeria in Leiria on Wednesday are “very important”.
“Instead of calling up kids or goalkeepers from the United States [to train], we have [27-year-old Farense player] Ricardo Velho with us to help. He’s part of the group and it’s always good to have him with us.”
Chile finished bottom in South American qualifying and failed to score in their final six matches of the campaign, leading to Ricardo Gareca, who guided Peru to the 2019 Copa America final but won one of his 13 matches in charge of La Roja, being replaced with Technical Director Nicolas Cordova.
In matches in Auckland in March, they recovered from 2-1 behind at half-time to beat World Cup debutants Cape Verde 4-2 but lost 4-1 to New Zealand three days later.
“What I can say in general is that the results haven’t been what everyone expected in terms of matches,” Cordova told Chile’s website, placing an emphasis on giving experience to young players and looking years ahead.
“But believe me, the players are improving a lot and the time will come when we’ll be able to compete and at least be in the top six [in the CONMEBOL group phase], which is what qualifies you for a World Cup.”
Portugal v Chile team news
Portugal’s Matheus Nunes missed training with a stomach problem on Thursday. Forward Joao Felix, who scored 26 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions for Al-Nassr last season, worked individually in their gym.
Left-back Nuno Mendes, midfielders Vitinha and Joao Neves and forward Goncalo Ramos are resting following their roles in Paris Saint-Germain winning the Champions League last Saturday.
Much of the focus around Portugal is likely to centre on head coach Roberto Martinez’s use of five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, who is his team’s talisman but is 41 and desperate not to miss any more matches after sitting out two friendlies in March and April with a hamstring injury.
Right-back Francisco Salinas is out for Chile with an ankle sprain and has been replaced by Fabian Hormazabal.
