Sporting centre-back Neto replaced Porto’s Pepe for Portugal in the first three Group A games of the 2022 World Cup qualification, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) announced today.
According to a note posted on the FPF official page, Neto is replacing the blue and white player who was deemed “unfit for health and performance by the FPF following an injury sustained while playing for Porto”.
This is the second substitution for Fernando Santos after Olympiacos goalkeeper José Sa replaced Wolverhampton goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
Portugal, which will focus on Monday, will debut in Group A of the 2022 World Cup qualification in Qatar on March 24 with a reception in Azerbaijan, relocated from Alvalade to Turin, Italy, due to the covid-19 pandemic.
After the clash with the Azerbaijanis, Portugal will play two other games of the top three away, facing Serbia in Belgrade on 27 March and Luxembourg in Luxembourg three days later. Three games will start at 19:45 (in Lisbon).
To guarantee an eighth and sixth successive World Cup participation in 2022 from 21 November to 18 December, Portugal needs to win the group and the runners-up will play in the play-offs.
List of 25 called up:
– Goalkeepers: Anthony Lopez (Lyon, France), Jose Sa (Olympiacos, Greece) and Rui Silva (Granada, Spain),
– Defenders: Cedric (Arsenal, England), Joao Cancelo (Manchester City, England), Domingos Duarte (Granada, Spain), José Fonte (Lille, England), Neto (Sporting) Ruben Dias (Manchester City, England), Nuno Mendez (Sporting) and Rafael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund, Ale).
– Midfielders: Danilo Pereira (Paris Saint-Germain, England), Paligna (Sporting), Ruben Neves (Wolves, England), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United, England), Renato Sanches (Lille) , England), Joao Moutinho (Wolverhampton, England). )) and Sergio Oliveira (Porto).
– Forwards: Andre Silva (Eintracht Frankfurt, France), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City, England), Diogo Jota (Liverpool, England), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus, Italy), Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid) , Spain), Pedro Neto (Wolverhampton, England) and Rafa (Benfica).
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.