Portugal, still without Ronaldo and Pepe, will face Croatia this Saturday in their only friendly before Euro 2024, in which they will face a team who have also qualified and returned to the National Stadium after a ten-year absence.
Days after beating Finland 4-2, the national team will face much higher quality opposition in what promises to be perhaps the first painful test since Roberto Martinez took over as Portuguese coach as Croatia sit third. a place at the 2022 World Championships in Qatar after already finishing second in Russia in 2018.
Although they are already in training camp, captain Cristiano Ronaldo and Ruben Neves are definite targets, as is Pepe, while Nelson Semedo is available after missing the duel with the Finns.
Francisco Conceicao has been limited in the last two training sessions and should also be rested against Croatia.
This will be Portugal’s return to Hamor, 10 years since the last game, when on May 31, 2014, under the team of Paulo Bento, they drew 0:0 with Fernando Santos’ Greece, also in a friendly match, but in this case of preparation for the World Cup in Brazil .
Four months later, Santos would replace Paulo Bento as Portuguese coach and later lead the Quinas to victory at Euro 2016.
Portugal meet Croatia for the eighth time, this time in a friendly to prepare for the final stage of Euro 2024 football, with the Portuguese side posting a near-perfect record against their Balkan rivals.
Between official and private matches, the national team has six wins and only one draw with a large goal difference (15-4), and the last two meetings, both with the triumph of the Portuguese, will take place in 2020, at the group stage of the championship. The League of nations.
Croatia was even one of the “victims” on Portugal’s path to victory at the 2016 European Championship in France (1:0 after extra time, in the round of 16), after the two countries had already met in the same competition , but in 1996, in their first match, this time with the triumph of the Portuguese (3-0, in the group stage).
The Portugal-Croatia match will take place at 17:45 and will be refereed by German Harm Osmers.
Before heading to Germany, the country that organizes the European Championship, the Portuguese team will also meet the Irish Republic on June 11 in Aveiro.
At Euro 2024, Portugal will play in Group F along with the Czech Republic (June 18, in Leipzig), Turkey (June 22, in Dortmund) and Georgia (June 26, in Gelsenkirchen).
Euro 2024 will take place from June 14 to July 14.