England, France and Italy are the most recent examples of a true statement that a dear friend and one of the biggest Scouts in Portugal history mentioned to me once: “Today, regardless the level of the Game you watch the level is immensely greater than the one compared a couple decades ago. However, the level of the big player has dropped a lot. Everyone is, with a really few exceptions, average nowadays.”

Main reasons for this?

For me, the level of the training increased significantly and made better players everywhere, and only a few are able to be (slightly) different from the others. If you look to any training session of any given level, you should expect a good level of delivery. Mental toughness, resilience, willingness to learn and to face challenges, physical capabilities and all other details besides the technical abilities are relevant today.

“Today, regardless the level of the Game you watch the level is immensely greater than the one compared a couple decades ago. However, the level of the big player has dropped a lot. Everyone is, with a really few exceptions, average nowadays.”

Coming back to the Euro 2024, Spain and Germany – guided by the veterans and merged with the irreverence of the youngsters – are exceptions to the big-teams difficulties to face the first round of Games.

Let’s wait for Portugal now!