Rui Jorge regretted the dishonest way in which he stopped being under-21 coach and considered that the attitude of the president of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), Pedro Proença, was not that of a good person.
“I don’t even know if they thanked me in a statement. What I know is that I think it should have come out in a different way, with different respect. I think it was not only dishonest in the way they did it, but also of low value. Low human value, low professional value. That’s something that leaves me feeling a little sad,” he said, in an interview with the Lusa agency.
After almost 15 years at the head of the Portuguese under-21 team, Rui Jorge left his position after the European Championship, being replaced by Luís Freire, after the end of his contract.
“I’m not responsible for other people’s attitudes, but I think it was actually an ugly moment that doesn’t dignify the FPF. I can’t do anything about it. I’m aware that I did things the way they should be done, but I’m fully aware that if I were on the other side I wouldn’t do it the same way,” he stated.
The current Azerbaijan under-20 coach admits that “it is perfectly natural to want to change”, but that “the way it is done can be and should be very different”, especially taking into account his long association with the national teams, first as a player and then as a coach.
“There are many years linked to our national team and, for me, it is not acceptable that, when he leaves, the president does not have a word with us. In addition to not being done in a clear way, it is not admissible. It is not from a good person. And that made me obviously sad”, he assumed.
Since his departure, Rui Jorge has not seen any of the Portuguese under-21 team’s games, because he still finds it difficult to see players who were with him last year and who “had some expectations regarding them” and who “had already imagined some ways” of how they would play.
“I prefer not to do that (watch the games). I logically follow the results. When I found out that it was Luís (Freire) who would be playing in the under-21 team, I called him to wish him all the luck and that he would be as happy in the under-21 team as I was. (…) If he is as happy as I was in the under-21 team, I think he will be very satisfied. If he can win the trophy that I tried so hard and failed to achieve, I will ask him to be there in the final too and to let me touch a little on this trophy that we’ve been chasing for so long”, he said.
Rui Jorge assures that he has no regrets about Portuguese football, which he no longer follows due to the roles he now has in Azerbaijan, and that the situation only exists with the under-21s, as “I was idealizing something” with some players.
“It’s in that sense that I prefer not to see it. When I see Mateus (Fernandes), (Geovany) Quenda, (Rodrigo) Mora, (Carlos) Forbes… There were many players who were already at that stage and who I envisaged a subsequent qualification and a subsequent European Championship in a certain way. So I prefer not to do that. But it’s only with the under-21 team”, he said.
