Portugal will face England this Sunday in the quarter-finals of the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and could guarantee one of three places to qualify for the Olympics if they win, with France forcing their positions on Ukraine in a few hours.
The title runner-up will take the field at 20:00 local time (17:00 Lisbon) at the Ramaz Shengelia Stadium in Kutaisi, Georgia in a duel between two teams with different images in the first stage, which will be the referee of the Slovenian Rade Obrenovic .
Portugal finished second in Group A, behind hosts Georgia, with four points and a negative goal difference, while England dominated “pool” C with “full” three wins out of six goals scored, and none were hurt.
The Kinas team advanced to the playoffs for the third time in the last five editions and was again among the eight finalists, as happened in 2021 when they defeated the Three Lions in the first phase (2-0), repeating 2002 (3-1) and 2015 (1-0).
Manager Rui Jorge has 23 teams to face England, 1982 and 1984 champions, while the Portuguese are aiming for a fifth participation in the semi-finals of the European Hopes, which they lost by decision in 1994, 2015 and 2021. .
Portugal can still get one of the three spots available for the Paris 2024 Olympics if it combines a triumph with the same result as France, automatically designated as the host, with a loss negating the country’s chances.
Should the Portuguese win and the French lose, the score would be delayed to “half” and result in a “play-off” between the two losing semi-finalists, with Portugal claiming fifth place behind Amsterdam 1928, Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004. and Rio 2016.
The 24th European Under-21 Championship features 16 finalist teams for the second time in a row and has been taking place since 21 June between two cities in Romania and three cities in Georgia, the country that will host the final scheduled for 8 July, at Adjarabet. Arena in Batumi.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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