The news emerged on Tuesday that one of the players called up to the latest Portugal U21 squad, Fábio Carvalho, would not be reporting for duty. The FPF released a short statement that Carvalho had sent the FPF an ‘SMS message’ informing them that he no longer wanted to represent Portugal at U21 level.
Portugal U21 manager Rui Jorge spoke on this topic for the first time yesterday, stating that Carvalho had told the federation that “being in the Portugal U21 setup no longer brings him any benefit”.
It wasn’t solely the decision that surprised Jorge though, but also the means of communicating his decision through text message, with the Portugal U21 manager claiming he was “surprised” before going on to say, “we are from different generations, I know, but I thought that he would call and that we could talk”.
The decision has shocked many, given he only recently switched his allegiance from England to Portugal. He played four times for the U21’s scoring twice.
Rui Jorge finished by wishing Carvalho “all the luck with his career”.
Portugal U21 face the Czech Republic on November 18th and Japan on November 22nd. Both games will be played at Estádio Municipal de Portimão
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