In the run-up to what would become Euro 2004, UEFA also awarded the organization of the 2003 under-17 Euro to Portugal, a competition that the Quinas team would win and would be marked in the history of all Portuguese people.
It has been 21 years since winning the European under-17 championship. On May 17, 2003, at the Fontelo Stadium, in Viseu, the Portuguese team lifted the trophy, after defeating the Spanish team 2-1.
A generation full of talent and that promised a lot, some expectations were disappointed and others were fulfilled. Miguel Veloso played in the center of defense and was voted the best player in the competition, João Moutinho was a substitute for João Coimbra or Paulo Machado, Carlos Saleiro and Manuel Curto were the team’s top scorers, Mário Felgueiras was the goalkeeper and was there for many years competing in the I Liga and Hélder Barbosa managed to add two Portuguese championships to his achievements, won at FC Porto. At the helm of the team was António Violante, who became coach of the Portugal women’s A team, from 2012 to 2014, after passing through the most varied levels, as coach of the Portuguese teams.
To reach the final, the Portuguese team overtook Denmark, Austria, Hungary and, finally, England, in the semi-final, through penalties. Spain’s opponents were England, Italy, Israel and Austria.
The Spanish team included David Silva, himself a legend of Manchester City and the Spanish national team, and also goalkeeper Adán, well known in Portuguese football, particularly among sporting fans, and who is about to win his second championship in four seasons. lion on the chest.
The final won by Portugal ended with a 2-1 result, the scorer of the two goals for the Portuguese team was Márcio Sousa, these two goals were the only ones scored by the athlete in the competition, but they were very tasty goals and ones that Márcio Sousa will never forget and will ensure that the story of this epic passes from generation to generation. In the player’s career, which he spent in the youth teams at FC Porto, the title of second division champion with Tondela stands out. He ended his career at the club Os Sandinenses.
Of the 18 Portuguese players called up for the competition, two actually became European champions for team A, in 2016, with Fernando Santos: João Moutinho, who is now an important part of the Braga team, and Vieirinha, who has almost the status of a legend at PAOK in Greece, where he has been since 2017/2018.
Portugal would repeat the feat of winning the Euro category, in 2016, in Baku, Azerbaijan, again defeating Spain in the final, but this time through penalties.
The selection of corners will be able to repeat their European achievement in the division, this year, in the tournament held in Cyprus, from May 20th to June 5th. João Santos’ men are included in Group D together with Spain, England and France, which many already call the “group of death”.
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