Portugal will hold their first training session this Monday in preparation for Thursday’s match against Croatia, the start of the Football Nations League, Portugal’s new cycle after Euro 2024.
Roberto Martinez’s team, which has called up 25 players, has a meeting scheduled for 6pm at the Cidade do Futebol in Oeiras, with the first 15 minutes open to the media.
Earlier, at 17:00, a player yet to be named will speak to reporters at a press conference, also at the Cidade do Futebol.
In the selection of the national team coach, who is starting a new cycle after participating in the European Championship in Germany, where he reached the quarter-finals, the most striking moments are the debuts of Renato Veiga, Thiago Santos and Kenda, as well as the return of Trincao, Pedro Gonçalves and goalkeeper Rui Silva, the last two for the first time on the Spanish coach’s list.
The fourth edition of the Nations League will begin with Portugal hosting Croatia at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon on Thursday before facing Scotland at the same stadium three days later, with both games kicking off at 7.45pm.
The national team is in Group A1, which also includes Poland, as well as the Croatians and the Scots.
Portugal won the inaugural Nations League in 2019 but then failed to reach the Final Four in 2020/21 and 2022/23.
List of 25 players called up:
– Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa (Porto), Jose Sa (Wolverhampton, England) and Rui Silva (Betis Sevilla, Spain).
– Defenders: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United, England), Ruben Dias (Manchester City, England), Antonio Silva (Benfica), Goncalo Inacio (Sporting), Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain, England), Nelson Semedo (Wolverhampton, England), Thiago Santos (Lille, France) and Renato Veiga (Chelsea).
– Midfielders: João Palinha (Bayern, Ale), João Neves (Paris Saint-Germain, France), Ruben Neves (Al-Hilal, Ara), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City, Ing), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United, Ing), Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain, Fra) and Pedro Gonçalves (Sporting).
– Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nasr, Ara), Joao Felix (Chelsea, ING), Rafael Leão (Milan, Italy), Diogo Jota (Liverpool, ING), Pedro Neto (Chelsea, ING), Giovani Kenda (Sporting) and Francisco Trincao (Sporting).