Queiroz slams Hulk rumours

Former Portugal manager Carlos Queiroz has denied Porto striker Hulk was offered a place in the Portuguese national team.

Hulk, now a Brazil international, claimed earlier this week he had spurned an offer to represent Portugal as he remained hopeful of one day wearing the shirt of his homeland’s national team.

But Queiroz believes that the Porto star is mistaken and could never have been invited by Portuguese FA officials to represent the Iberian side.

“That is absolutely pathetic,” he told Antena 1. “It is a rumour and those who spread it are even more pathetic.”

“If he was invited, it was not by someone from the national team. I was definitely not that person.”

Queiroz, who is currently in charge of Iran, was relieved of his position as Portugal boss in September last year, when the team had collected just one point from their first two Euro 2012 qualifiers.

However, after watching Portugal enter the play-offs for a place in Poland and Ukraine, the former Manchester United assistant coach insisted he would have done a better job than Paulo Bento.

“Without the problems created by (former Portuguese Liga president) Laurentino Dias and by (Portuguese FA official) Amandio de Carvalho and their peers … our qualification would have been natural and we would be in the finals by now,” he said.