Bittersweet experience for Bura
Monday, July 23, 2007
Article summary
A bright future is predicted for Bura but it has been a mixed tournament for the FC Porto centre-back, whose goalscoring exploits could not save Portugal.
Article body
Portugal's 2-0 victory against hosts Austria in UEFA European Under-19 Championship Group A was a bittersweet experience for Bura, who opened the scoring in Ried only for the draw between Spain and Greece to end his side's interest in the competition.
Greece defeat key
"Of course I feel very proud to have scored for my country, but I would have rather not scored and reached the semi-final," the 18-year-old FC Porto centre-back told uefa.com. Bura and his team-mates departed Austria early on Sunday morning feeling their poor start to the tournament - a 1-0 loss to Greece - had sealed their fate. The defeat was Portugal's only setback in nine competitive U19 games in 2006/07.
Future development
"Obviously I feel very disappointed to leave after the group stage," said Bura. "We didn't have the best start against Greece and that was the key to the tournament. But against Austria we proved we have a good team and we leave here having played some good football." Despite his side's early elimination, Bura believes taking part in the finals can only help him develop into a better player, adding: "It's always important to be in these types of tournaments and play against top teams at our age. I will be able to look back on these finals and see what I need to improve."
Bright future
Portugal coach Edgar Borges was quick to sing Bura's praises and predicts a bright future for the youngster. "He's a great central defender, very strong physically with very good passing skills - both short passes and long balls. He's a very good player who uses his head and he has a very strong heart. Further down the road I expect him to become a great defender for the senior national team."
Set for success
Borges first called up Bura two years ago when he was still playing for a regional club in Portugal, before his big move to Porto, where he is yet to make his first-team debut. "The fact Porto signed him on account of his displays with the U19s says enough," the Portugal coach said. "He has only played for two years at a high level. If he had done so earlier you can only imagine how good he would be now. He now needs to work on his agility because he's very rigid, but all the components of success are there for him."
