{"id":4158,"date":"2026-06-14T06:33:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T06:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158"},"modified":"2026-06-14T06:33:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T06:33:37","slug":"portugal-embraces-world-cup-expectations-and-carries-jotas-memory-into-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158","title":{"rendered":"Portugal embraces World Cup expectations and carries Jota\u2019s memory into tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

By ALANIS THAMES<\/p>\n

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Portugal is very aware of the enormous expectations it faces in the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Read more Cura\u00e7ao embraces historic World Cup debut against Germany<\/a><\/p>\n

The squad featuring star forward Cristiano Ronaldo is among the favorites to win the expanded 48-team tournament and hoist its first World Cup trophy, but players are not looking ahead to that point yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not talked about putting the high pressure on our team,\u201d midfielder Vitinha said through a translator Saturday before Portugal\u2019s first training session in the United States. \u201cAll competitions are won by focusing on the present moment and not worrying about future outcomes. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we can do is think game by game. \u2026 We would love to win, and if we go through the group stage, we will go one game at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Portugal begins group play against Congo on June 17 in Houston. <\/p>\n

Vitinha said the team believes it has the talent to go far in the tournament, and each player will compete with a heartfelt reminder. Portugal\u2019s Prime Minister recently met with the team and gifted each player a bracelet bearing their name as well as the name of the late Liverpool forward Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car crash in Spain last July.<\/p>\n

Jota, who was a regular on Portugal\u2019s squad, was also included this year as an honorary team member by coach Roberto Mart\u00ednez.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have received this with a lot of love,\u201d Vitinha said, pointing to the green and red bracelet on his wrist.<\/p>\n

Portugal arrived in the U.S. on Friday evening and will be based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, throughout the World Cup. An energetic group of fans cheered and chanted as players took the pitch on Saturday, and Ronaldo led the team in applauding the fans in attendance.<\/p>\n

Read more Scotland marks 28-year World Cup absence with 1-0 victory over Haiti in Group C<\/a><\/p>\n

It was just before sunset on a humid afternoon, but temperatures in Palm Beach were in the upper 80s F (around 31-32 Celsius).<\/p>\n

There have been concerns over the impact of extreme temperatures on both players and spectators across many of the 16 host cities, with certain protections like cooling stations and hydration breaks during matches implemented. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Vitinha said he expects the heat to affect Portugal players, but he knows it will be the same for many other squads, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously the physical question is very important,\u201d he said. \u201cThe weather conditions will very much affect how we play, but that is for everybody. It\u2019s not just for us. With the temperatures in the United States, Mexico and Canada, it is very different, but it is the world championship. There are no excuses. There are no conditions that can keep us from giving everything for our national team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Players hydrated throughout Saturday\u2019s training session, as is typical during any practice, but they didn\u2019t seem affected much by the heat. Perhaps they were pretty acclimated to it by then, after spending some time at the beach earlier Saturday to unwind.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for our head, our mental aspect as well to take advantage of the conditions we have,\u201d Vitinha said, \u201cto relax a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more The Comeback Knicks are the Champion Knicks. Brunson scores 45, and New York tops Spurs for title<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP World Cup: https:\/\/apnews.com\/fifa-world-cup<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By ALANIS THAMES PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Portugal is very aware of the enormous expectations it faces in the World Cup. The squad featuring star forward Cristiano Ronaldo is among the favorites to win the expanded 48-team tournament and hoist its first World Cup trophy, but players are not looking ahead to that point [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,6,64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer","category-sports","category-world-cup-2026"],"yoast_head":"\nPortugal embraces World Cup expectations and carries Jota\u2019s memory into tournament - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Portugal embraces World Cup expectations and carries Jota\u2019s memory into tournament - Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By ALANIS THAMES PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Portugal is very aware of the enormous expectations it faces in the World Cup. The squad featuring star forward Cristiano Ronaldo is among the favorites to win the expanded 48-team tournament and hoist its first World Cup trophy, but players are not looking ahead to that point [\u2026]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-14T06:33:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4158#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4158\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\"},\"headline\":\"Portugal embraces World Cup expectations and carries Jota\u2019s memory into tournament\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-14T06:33:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4158\"},\"wordCount\":579,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4158#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fa634a42ade3466430742bca55d94d91.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Soccer\",\"Sports\",\"World Cup 2026\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4158#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4158\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4158\",\"name\":\"Portugal embraces World Cup expectations and carries Jota\u2019s memory into tournament - Orlando Relocation Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4158#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4158#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fa634a42ade3466430742bca55d94d91.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-14T06:33:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4158#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4158\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4158#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fa634a42ade3466430742bca55d94d91.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fa634a42ade3466430742bca55d94d91.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4158#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Portugal embraces World Cup expectations and carries Jota\u2019s memory into tournament\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Orlando Relocation Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Portugal embraces World Cup expectations and carries Jota\u2019s memory into tournament - Orlando Relocation Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Portugal embraces World Cup expectations and carries Jota\u2019s memory into tournament - Orlando Relocation Report","og_description":"By ALANIS THAMES PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Portugal is very aware of the enormous expectations it faces in the World Cup. The squad featuring star forward Cristiano Ronaldo is among the favorites to win the expanded 48-team tournament and hoist its first World Cup trophy, but players are not looking ahead to that point [\u2026]","og_url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158","og_site_name":"Orlando Relocation Report","article_published_time":"2026-06-14T06:33:37+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8"},"headline":"Portugal embraces World Cup expectations and carries Jota\u2019s memory into tournament","datePublished":"2026-06-14T06:33:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158"},"wordCount":579,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fa634a42ade3466430742bca55d94d91.webp","articleSection":["Soccer","Sports","World Cup 2026"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158","url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158","name":"Portugal embraces World Cup expectations and carries Jota\u2019s memory into tournament - Orlando Relocation Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fa634a42ade3466430742bca55d94d91.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-14T06:33:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fa634a42ade3466430742bca55d94d91.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fa634a42ade3466430742bca55d94d91.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4158#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Portugal embraces World Cup expectations and carries Jota\u2019s memory into tournament"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/","name":"Orlando Relocation Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}