The prime minister canceled his trip to Qatar to watch Portugal play against South Korea at the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Friday due to health reasons, an official source in his office told Lusa on Wednesday.

António Costa will be replaced by Ana Catarina Mendez, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, who is in charge of sports, the same source added.

After defeating Ghana (3:2) in the first round, Portugal beat Lusail Uruguay (2:0) on Monday thanks to a brace from Bruno Fernandez (54 and 90+3 minutes, second penalty). ensuring their presence in the 1/8 finals of the competition.

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, attended the first match of the Portuguese team, and the President of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, who is the second figure in the state, attended the match on Monday.

The presence of top government officials in Qatar has been controversial due to the criticism that Marcelo and Costa have expressed about human rights violations in that country, however, maintaining planned trips, which, in the case of the head of government, are currently canceled, but as of health.

Wales manager Rob Page underlined his “pride in the players” after losing 3-0 to England this Monday in the Qatar World Cup Group B match in Doha. dictated the elimination of the Dragons in the group stage, expressing concerns about the injury of Gareth Bale, the team’s star substituted at halftime, due to the injury he showed at the end.

“Five minutes before break Gareth [Bale] he felt pain in his hamstring. But also Joe Allen and Ben Davis had to be replaced due to injuries. As you can see, it was a huge effort for everyone in the group: I am very proud of this group of players.”

The Dragons said goodbye to Qatar with a 1-1 draw against the United States as the best result and two defeats against Iran (0-2) and now England (0-3), but for the Welsh coach, qualification for the World Cup final was a real achievement.

“The task now is to show that this has never happened without an example, before it became customary. [a qualificação para fases finais de grandes provas]🇧🇷 But it’s still very hard to digest this liquidation. I think we were exceptional in the first half. [0-0 ao intervalo]thanks to tremendous efforts even without the ball, ”said Page.

“We could and should have had more and better possession of the ball, but, I repeat, not a single derogatory word about these “boys” will come out of my mouth: they gave everything in this game! I was a little disappointed with the second goal, but today is not the day to talk about negative things,” said the Welsh coach, who had a lot of fans in Qatar.

“My message to everyone: don’t be disappointed! Now we will try to build the future of this team and work in this direction. Reaching the final round of the World Championship was an extraordinary feat. [não o lograva há 64 anos, desde o Mundial da Suécia-1958] this group of players,” concluded the technician who surrendered to his team.

Wales manager Rob Page underlined his “pride in the players” after losing 3-0 to England this Monday in the Qatar World Cup Group B match in Doha. dictated the elimination of the Dragons in the group stage, expressing concerns about the injury of Gareth Bale, the team’s star substituted at halftime, due to the injury he showed at the end.

“Five minutes before break Gareth [Bale] I felt pain in my hamstring. But also Joe Allen and Ben Davis had to be replaced due to injuries. As you can see, it was a huge effort for everyone in the group: I am very proud of this group of players.”

The Dragons said goodbye to Qatar with a 1-1 draw against the United States as the best result and two defeats against Iran (0-2) and now England (0-3), but for the Welsh coach, qualification for the World Cup final was a real achievement.

“The task now is to show that this has never happened without an example, before it became customary. [a qualificação para fases finais de grandes provas]🇧🇷 But it’s still very hard to digest this liquidation. I think we were exceptional in the first half. [0-0 ao intervalo]thanks to tremendous efforts even without the ball, ”said Page.

“We could and should have had more and better possession of the ball, but, I repeat, not a single derogatory word about these “boys” will come out of my mouth: they gave everything in this game! I was a little disappointed with the second goal, but today is not the day to talk about negative things,” said the Welsh coach, who had a lot of fans in Qatar.

“My message to everyone: don’t be disappointed! Now we will try to build the future of this team and work in this direction. Reaching the final round of the World Championship was an extraordinary feat. [não o lograva há 64 anos, desde o Mundial da Suécia-1958] this group of players,” concluded the technician who surrendered to his team.