With Euro 2024 coming up this summer in Germany, today’s blog is about the probable players for the Portuguese squad. They will be playing fixtures on June 18th against Czechia, Turkey 22nd, and Georgia 26th. If you want to find out who are the contenders for all the squads then click the ESPN link.
For the first time since his breakthrough tournament at Euro 2004, Cristiano Ronaldo will not be the focal point of Portugal's hopes. The Al Nassr forward, 39, remains a key figure for Roberto Martinez's team by virtue of his ongoing ability to score goals. Ronaldo is the world-record international goal scorer with 128, but the depth in the squad means that Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Diogo Jota, João Félix, Rafael Leão and Rúben Dias are all just as important, maybe even more so.
Portugal is also blessed by strength in the goalkeeping department with Rui Patrício (AS Roma), Diogo Costa (FC Porto) and José Sá (Wolverhampton Wanderers) all vying for the No. 1 spot.
Liverpool forward Diogo Jota was the big concern after suffering a knee injury in February, but the 27-year-old has now returned to action for Jurgen Klopp's team and should make the plane.
Otherwise, Portugal has a healthy squad at this stage, but with six weeks of the season still to play across Europe, Martinez faces an anxious wait to see if all of his players remain fit.
Benfica midfielder João Neves is the rising star of Portuguese football and a target for Europe's leading clubs, with the 19-year-old having won five caps since making his debut for the national team in October.
Forwards Goncalo Ramos and Leao have emerged since Euro 2020 and established themselves as key members of Martinez's squad, with Ramos scoring a hat trick against Switzerland during the 2022 World Cup after replacing the dropped Ronaldo in the round-of-16 tie.
If Portugal top Group F, they are paired with Turkey, Czechia and Georgia. They are likely to avoid tournament favorites France and England until the final. With such a strong pool of talent, Portugal is arguably underrated as potential winners in Germany, just as they were when beating host nation France in the final of Euro 2016.
Take care!
Prof. Carl Boniface
Vocabulary builder:
Vying (v) =competing, contending, contesting, struggling, striving, fighting, rivalling
Dropped (v) = released, let go, thrown out, throw down, plunged, plummeted, crashed, fell, let fall
Underrated (adj) = undervalued, underestimated, unappreciated, unrecognized, misunderstood, belittled, (ant) overrated
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