Portugal will make their UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying debut on Thursday with the host Liechtenstein in a meeting that marks the debut of Roberto Martinez as new national manager and is expected to be defeated.
The José Alvalade stadium in Lisbon will be the stage for the launch of the campaign that will be the final phase of next year’s European Championship in Germany and for the absolute debut of Martinez, the successor to Fernando Santos. , who has all the conditions to start his “reign” with a very “fat” victory.
The Spaniard, a former Belgian coach, was chosen by the Portuguese Football Federation to replace Fernando Santos, who left his post after the World Cup in Qatar, in which the country’s national team reached the quarterfinals.
Santos has been in charge of the team since 2014, winning Euro 2016 and the first Liga nas Nações in 2019, leading the most successful “era” in the history of the national team.
Fragile Liechtenstein, one of the bottoms of European football, seems like the perfect matchup for Portugal to make the best start to qualifying for Euro 2024, as well as Martinez to showcase his plan for the corners team.
Right from the start, the presence of captain Cristiano Ronaldo, who has remained among Roberto Martinez’s candidates despite being 38 years old and now playing in a lower quality league like Saudi Arabia, raises the question of what the role of an advanced player is on a team.
With the likes of Gonzalo Ramos and Joao Felix in good shape, with the return of Diogo Jota and with Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandez as undisputed starters (and with Joao Mario having the best season of his career at Benfica), Spanish the coach is really a “mystery” here in terms of how he’s going to find a place in the starting XI for Ronaldo or if he’s going to keep the Portuguese top scorer on the bench.
Another doubt arises in defense, with the possible use of three central defenders and the absolute debut of Diogo Leite or Gonzalo Inacio as a hypothesis, something that has gained more strength due to the absence of Pepe, who was called up but ended up being sacked due to for physical problems.
In any case, Portugal is obligated not only to win, but also to score many goals against an opponent who has the “label” of eternal last place in the groups in which they participate, in the qualifying stages of major competitions. Only twice, on the eve of the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2016, this did not happen, taking the penultimate place.
Liechtenstein arrives in Lisbon in a transition phase with the announced departure of Austrian coach René Pauritsch to Vaduz, a team that plays in the Swiss league but which temporarily remains responsible for this double journey.
The meeting is scheduled for 19:45 and will be the referee of the Norwegian Espen Eskas.
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.