Having arrived back to pre-season following a summer which involved international duty and a wedding day, Nelson Semedo is raring to go again in gold and black.
The defender had a June to remember when he married childhood sweetheart Marlene after making his return to the Portugal national team to earn his 25th cap in a 3-0 win over Bosnia in Euro 2024 qualifying.
But following a few weeks rest, Semedo is now back with his Wolves teammates out in his home country as preparations for the start of the Premier League season are ramped up with the first official pre-season fixture against Porto on Tuesday evening before a visit to the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday to take on Celtic.
Click here to watch Wolves vs Porto on Wolves TV
On getting married last month
“We started on the 13th [June] with the national team and then we did our last game in Iceland on the 20th, I arrived in Portugal on the 21st and then I went to the hotel [for his wedding] on the 23rd. It was like I was running. I almost brough my Portugal tracksuit to the hotel.
“It was a great day and I guess is a day that everybody dreams about but it was the best day of my life.
“It was a difficult date because it was just six days before some of the guys started back here, so I tried to invite the guys that were close, in Portugal, and all of them could come. We enjoyed it a lot and it was a great day. It was really nice.”
“I have had time to rest. I feel completely refreshed to start again."
— Wolves (@Wolves) July 24, 2023
Nelson Semedo talks his wedding, the summer break and pre-season 🗣 pic.twitter.com/50auiYyeXm
On being prepared for the new season
“I had good holidays, and I know that I had the national team in between, but I had time to rest, I had time to spend some good time with my family, I had the wedding with my friends, and a lot of them came from different countries so I could see them.
“It was a good rest for myself mentally as well, so I guess that’s a good thing as I feel completely refreshed again and now it’s time to work and time to put the body to work.”
On joining up with his teammates
“It's been very good, especially because we are in Portugal and we are with the team as well. We are in a good place with good facilities and good weather for the training as well, so everybody is enjoying training in this some.
“We know that it’s hard, but everybody is enjoying working hard.”
On two pre-season fixtures this week
“Porto is a good test for us to try to put on the pitch what we have been working on. It’s also good to put on some work physically because it’s important in this moment to then arrive in the Premier League in good conditions.
“Then we play in Ireland and it will be a nice game, it will be a good game in a good stadium, and we have to try to enjoy it, but work at the same time.”
On having the pre-season support of Wolves fans
“It will be nice to see them. I’m pretty sure that we already have a few of them around here, but it will be nice to have their support against Porto and in Ireland because I’m sure they’re going to have a lot of fun because they travel well with us all the time, so we always feel like we’re playing at home.
“I’m pretty sure that we’re going to have a big support there.”
