On Friday, coach Roberto Martinez releases Portugal’s squad for the double tour with Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which should confirm Portugal’s qualification for Euro 2024 without any surprises.
The 50-year-old Spanish coach, who remains thoroughly winning at the helm of the national team, announces his selection at 12:30 pm at a press conference at the Cidade do Futebol in Oeiras.
There should be few or no changes to Martinez’s list, although Bayern Munich’s Raphael Guerreiro has the option of returning to Portugal duty after missing the September tour through injury.
At the time, Martinez was managing a group of just 24 players versus the usual 25 or 26, which could mean that the emergence of Guerreiro, a European champion with Portugal in 2016, could leave Pedro Neto in the mix.
The Wolves man, who has been out of international action for over two years, was a big surprise in the September squad and after being used against Slovakia (27 minutes in a 1-0 win over Bratislava) he got his chance. stick with Martinez’s choice.
Matheus Nunez, who is living a new life at Manchester City, could also return, although there appears to be no “vacancy” in the options for the Portuguese midfielder.
Pepe, who remains injured at Porto, is almost certainly “missing” and Bernardo Silva has everything to replicate his presence, despite some physical problems he recently felt at Manchester City.
Cristiano Ronaldo, scoring goals in Saudi Arabia, is sure to be on the list, although the biggest question mark along the way is his possible return to Portugal’s starting line-up after the 9-0 defeat to Luxembourg in the Algarve, a game which the captain failed due to punishment, and it was the biggest defeat in the history of the national team and the best performance of the “Martinez era.”
Portugal will face Slovakia on October 13 at the Dragao Stadium in Porto at 19:45, and if they win they will automatically guarantee passage to the final phase of the next European Championship, which will be held in Germany. . Three days later, on the 16th, the national team plays in Bosnia and Herzegovina at 19:45 (Lisbon time).
After six rounds, Portugal retain their overall victory and top Group J with 18 points, five more than second-place Slovakia. Luxembourg is third with 10 points, followed by Bosnia and Iceland (both with six) and Liechtenstein, still without points.
In addition to six victories in the same number of matches, Roberto Martinez’s team has a record of 24 goals scored and not a single one conceded.
In November, Portugal will close out the qualifying round with a trip to Liechtenstein and a host to Iceland.
The first two places in the group give direct access to the final phase of Euro 2024.
Author: Lusa
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.