Aston Villa The impact is being felt inside Portugal's World Cup camp. Set-piece specialist Austin McPhee is receiving praise for his work early in preparations.
Portugal have spent the first week of training with a strong focus on attacking play and finishing to ball. While most of the attention has naturally gone to the players, the Portuguese newspaper highlights McPhee's growing role behind the scenes.
Scott remains an important member of Unai Emery's coaching staff at Aston Villa. He has also become one of the key figures in Roberto Martínez's backroom team.
As Portugal has stepped up preparations for the World Cup, McPhee has reportedly become heavily involved in sessions focused on dead-ball situations.
Set-piece success at Aston Villa
One points to Aston Villa's numbers from the 2025/26 season as evidence of Bola McPhee's influence. The Premier League team scored 18 goals from set-piece situations in all competitions. Except for the penalties, of course.
Those goals accounted for 32% of Aston Villa's total. It underlines the importance of that phase of the game, which Emery's team have consistently exploited to take the lead.
The newspaper says set-piece work has been included in every Portugal training session so far. Several variations are being tested ahead of the tournament.
McAfee's reputation in this area has steadily grown in recent years. He first established himself as a specialist coach for Northern Ireland. Later, he played at clubs including Midtjylland and Aston Villa.
Under Emery, his role has remained vital as Villa have continued to compete in the Premier League and at the top level in Europe.
Portugal is benefiting from villa expertise
The report shows that McAfee's prominence is remarkable.
Portugal is using mechanical walls that rise to simulate defensive jumps during free-kick practice, while set-piece routines have become a regular feature of daily training.
According to A Bola, McPhee has been one of the most active coaches involved in those seasons.
It serves as a reminder that one of the club's specialist coaches wields significant influence at international level.
If Portugal manages to break through from the impasse in North America this summer, Villa supporters may recognize some familiar fingerprints behind it.
