Wolves star Ruben Neves has posted on Instagram following Portugal’s shock exit from the World Cup at the hands of Morocco.
Fernando Santos’ side lost 1-0 in their quarter-final, with Youssef En-Nesyri heading the game’s only goal just before half-time.
It was a brilliant performance from Morocco which combined, skill, hard work and team spirit.
The north African nation have still yet to concede a goal from an opposition player in Qatar, and are proving very difficult to beat.
They now face France in the semi-final, which will be their toughest test to date.
For Portugal, the dream of a first World Cup goes on.
And Wolves ace Neves will hope to be back in the squad in four years’ time ready to try again.
Neves was the Wolves player that featured the most for Portugal at the tournament, with Jose Sa not getting any minutes and Matheus Nunes only making a couple of cameo appearances against Uruguay and South Korea.
Neves started all but one game in Qatar.
It was a fairly average showing from the Wolves captain at the tournament in the end. But it was still brilliant to see him playing on the biggest stage.
The star made a reflective post on Instagram last night following Portugal’s exit.
He said: “It’s over. Ended early this walk of ours. And what a beautiful walk it was. Undoubtedly the biggest, most beautiful and most difficult competition in world football.
“Disappointed, sad, even a little angry, we know we could have gone further, but we also know that we gave everything for our country and believed a lot until the last second. Small country, but filled with quality and with a lot of will to win. This will lead us to more achievements, for sure. Thank you all. It was amazing.”
Many people left comments of support, with former Wolves youngster Pedro Goncalves – who now has a £68 million release clause at Sporting CP – writing ‘What a player’.
Ruben Neves can use World Cup experience as fuel to get even better
Neves featuring heavily for Portugal at the World Cup was really good to see.
He’s been amazing for Wolves and deserved the chance to play games for his country in the biggest competition in football.
The experience will serve him well. It was his first World Cup, after missing out on the final squad for 2018.
The maestro will surely look to use his weeks in Qatar as a catalyst moving forward.
It must be a great feeling at least to have played in a quarter-final of a World Cup.