Considering that they were the only team to qualify for this tournament with a 100% record and the wealth of talent at their disposal, that Portugal haven’t been talked up more as being potential winners of Euro 2024 is a surprise. Rúben Dias. Diogo Dalot. João Cancelo. João Palhinha. Matheus Nunes. Rúben Neves. Gonçalo Ramos. João Felíx. Rafael Leão. Diogo Jota. Pedro Neto. This team can play.
By Ian King
Their 2023 was perfect. Eight games, eight wins. They weren’t always pretty, but they put nine past Luxembourg and five past Bosnia and Herzegovina. But this year has brought a couple of defeats, against Croatia and Slovenia. Roberto Martínez is a highly experienced head coach, but he didn’t always make the right decisions with Belgium. Will he make the right ones this time around?
Three players in the squad form a level of experience that no other in the tournament can match. Rui Patricio is unlikely to start against Czechia. He’s 36 years of age. Pepe is still terrifying opposing forwards at 41 years old. And then, of course, there’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
Now 39 years old and playing at the arguably more sedate pace of the Saudi Pro League, Ronaldo scored twice in their last friendly, though these were also the first goals he’d managed for his country since scoring against Liechtenstein last November. He is the captain, and it’s just about certain that he’ll start, but whether he finishes every match may turn out to be a somewhat different question.
The Czechs suffered a late injury blow when midfielder Michal Sadílek was forced to pull out of Euro 2024 after injuring his leg by falling off a bike just over a week before the start of the tournament. It was a blot on the landscape for a team that has had a decent time of things lately, qualifying for these finals in a slightly surprising second place in the group on goal difference behind Albania, but winning all four of their friendly matches this year, albeit without playing exceptional opposition.
They certainly have enough about them to make this an uncomfortable evening for Portugal, who won this competition eight years ago but who had an unhappy time of things last time around, only winning one of their group games to qualify as a best third-placed team and then losing in the second round to… Roberto Martínez and Belgium. What goes around, comes around.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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