Jota is hoping that there is time for a few more highlights in 2022.
The winger made a scoring return from injury yesterday with that goal at Livingston’s Tony Macaroni Stadium putting him in contention for a starting spot on Wednesday away to Real Madrid.
That fixture is technically dead for Celtic, certain of finishing bottom of Champions League Group F but it provides Jota with the platform to make a last minute push into Portugal’s World Cup squad. Both targets could be hit within the next four weeks
Throughout his teenage years Jota was tipped to go to the very top as a regular in the successful Portuguese youth sides winning 39 caps at u-19 ad u-21 level.
When his Benfica hopes began to stall he found himself on loan at Real Valladolid during the lockdown season before an unlikely move to Scotland turned out to be exactly the move that the player and Celtic needed.
In three weeks time the World Cup gets underway with Jota a contender for a place in Fernando Santos’ squad for Qatar.
Speaking to the Daily Record, Jota said:
It’s a very good moment for me and for my family. I’m just grateful for everything that is going on. Two years ago I was not even playing for any club. I was at a club of course, but I wasn’t having many minutes.
Two years later, to be on this 55-man list is something very good for me, but this is just another step. I just need to keep working and enjoying it on the pitch, and everything will come naturally.
You cannot just be obsessed with those kinds of things. I wake up every day with the mentality of being a better person and a better football player, and building a strong base to be better.
I’m happy to be playing again, It was a very important moment for me coming back from injury, but most of all it was about the victory for the team. I think in football we have to be ready for these kinds of situations.
Although we can be very professional, some injuries always come up because we cannot control everything, it’s just like it works with life, you cannot control everything.
So, when there are these setbacks we just need to fight back to get better every day and aim for the future, and that’s what I’ve wanted to do these past three weeks. This was a game that we knew was going to be very difficult like every season, every time we come here, but I was very happy to get the win.
Portugal have been drawn to face Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea in World Cup Group H.
