Freitas, Monteiro And Apolonia Are Portugal's Three Mosqueteers (Photos)

Probably, the quarterfinal match between Portugal and South Korea was the most exciting in the team event. Portugal led by Marcos Freitas was up in the score but it wasn't enough to beat the second seeded team. However, Freitas, Joao Monteiro and Tiago Apolonia never thought that the match would be broadcast by the Portuguese media.

Despite Portugal isn't a table tennis country, the match transmission reached a rating of 360,000 people what is amazing for a small country, said  Mr. Pedro Miguel Gaspar Dias Moura, President of the Portuguese Table Tennis Federation.

After the match, Freitas, Monteiro and Apolonia became the center of attention for Portuguese media and were named as The Three Mosqueteers. By reaching quarterfinals, Portuguese players got the best results of Portugal in table tennis at the Olympic Games. However, Joao Monteiro said to be sad because they wanted to face China in the final because they saw that it was possible to beat Hong Kong in semifinals.

On the contrary, the President of the Portuguese Federation said: Of course we are very proud with the results we had during Olympic Games in London. Being very close to the semi final in the Team Competition is an extraordinary result that we wish to capitalize in order to reach our goals."

About the future of the team, Monteiro said: "Now we have to continue working in order to be in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and be able to face any team."

Photos and info. source: Marcos Freitas' Facebook page - ettu.org / desporto.publico.pt