The French-Portuguese player from the United States of Carcassonne, Samuel Marquez, greatly contributed to Portugal’s qualification for the 2023 World Cup by scoring against the United States a last-second qualification penalty (16-16). Interviewed for Rugby magazine and Le Quotidien du Sport.
What does it feel like when a penalty kick passes between the posts and gives you qualification?
I didn’t feel anything special individually. It’s a team thing, and we’ve been fighting for several years, it really is a team victory. I just did what I had to do. It’s the realization of teamwork, of a whole team, of a whole group of players who’ve been living together for three years now. The work that Patrice (Lajesquet, editor’s note) has done for rugby in Portugal is enormous, so we owe him a lot. If we’re there, it’s partly thanks to him.
Samuel Marquez will be with Portugal at the World Cup
Is this a feat for Portuguese rugby?
naturally ! Since 2007 Portugal has not been to the World Cup. Everyone was waiting for her!
You are Franco-Portuguese, you qualified for the next World Cup in France, it will necessarily be an emotion and a special moment for you.
For any player to play world Cup, no matter where it is, it is the holy grail. For us players who live in France, it’s incredible because we’ll have all our families and the people we love. We will experience this at home, so it will inevitably be amplified, and the emotions will be enormous.
What can you target in a tough Group C (Wales, Georgia, Australia, Fiji…)?
We’ll play our rugby, we’ll go out there no questions asked and really try to have fun. We have an action game, we will not deny it, and we will remain in the same perspective. We will have zero pressure, it is something that cannot be neglected. We want to have fun, we fought to be there, so obviously playing in a tournament like the World Cup without pressure is huge, so we’ll take game by game and see where it takes us.
“If we’re there, it’s partly thanks to Patrice Lagisquet”
Is this the best memory of your career?
Yes, of course, it will remain engraved for life because I was lucky enough to have my wife and kids in Dubai as well. For the little anecdote, Patrice called us at the start of the tournament and told us clearly that in the first two games if we win the bonus we must not stop there at only 4 attempts we must put in as many as possible because that can be played at the average goal in case of a draw In the last game.
If we tied, it was the one with the most goal average who passed and that’s what happened. We beat Kenya 85-0 and beat USA by goal!
What exactly is the significance of Patrice Lagisquet in this qualification?
Patrice has put in a lot of rigor and work. He brought a game system, a lot of freshness. Lagisquet has a golden generation with a lot of talent. He brought a gaming system, more rigorous in video analysis. In his four years there, there has been constant development.
A word about the team’s greatest players like Rafael Costa Storte (Bezers) and Rodrigo Marta (Dax).
Costa and Marta are young guys, they are so full of freshness. They want to play all the balls, it feels so good. They bring a lot of envy. They are dueling players, and they love to play rugby so it’s easy going. It is honestly a pleasure to be with them on a daily basis. They remind me that rugby is a sport first, not a job. For them, it’s really fun and feels really good.
Do you speak Portuguese?
No, unfortunately, I have to start! We speak English and they, unlike us, speak French very well. So there is no communication problem.
Interview by Olivier Rivaud
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