On Thursday, the national team will host Sweden, which failed to qualify for Euro2024, at the D. Afonso Henriques Stadium, in Guimarães, and, on Tuesday, it will visit Slovenia, which will be present in the final stage of the tournament.
The Portuguese football team returned to training this Wednesday with the full group at Cidade do Futebol, in Oeiras, on the eve of the private duel with Sweden, with no further absences for coach Roberto Martínez.
After the dismissals of Raphaël Guerreiro and Francisco Trincão, due to injury, which led to the call of striker Dany Mota, from Italian side Monza, to be scheduled for Tuesday’s session, Portugal carried out a morning preparation without anything new.
During the 15 minutes of training open to journalists, the ‘quinas’ team carried out the usual exercises with and without the ball, without limitations on any athlete, while the three goalkeepers called up carried out specific work near one of the goals.
The only change compared to the previous day was the absence of the under-20 goalkeeper André Gomes, from Benfica, who returned to work with the young team, after having been part of Tuesday’s training alongside Rui Patrício, Diogo Costa and José Sá.
Roberto Martínez called up a total of 32 players for this month’s preparatory games – reduced to 31 with the departure of Guerreiro and Trincão, and the entry of Dany Mota -, but he immediately explained that he would divide the ‘squad’ into three groups, with one group available for the entire stage, another just for Sweden and a third for the match with Slovenia.
The last group includes Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Dalot, João Cancelo, Danilo Pereira, Otávio, Rúben Neves, Vitinha and João Félix, who were exempt from the meeting with the Swedes and will only be an option for the second friendly match, which will be in Ljubljana.
Speaking to the journalist late this Wednesday morning, coach Roberto Martínez said that Sweden, despite having failed to qualify for Euro2024 football, has “quality and great forwards” and will test Portugal’s defense in the private game on Thursday, in Guimarães.
“Sweden has a very competitive attitude. There is a new coach, a new era will begin and he has the quality to be at the European Championship. We expect a competitive game at the level of a European Championship. It has a line of high-level forwards and, therefore, we hope to test our defensive concepts and this is essential”, said Roberto Martínez.
The Portuguese coach was speaking to journalists at Cidade do Futebol, in Oeiras, at the press conference previewing the duel with the Swedes, which will take place in Guimarães, at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques.
The Spanish coach gave the example of Viktor Gyökeres, a striker who plays for Sporting and is the top scorer in the Portuguese I Liga.
“For me, he was one of the best signings in the entire European market last summer and it is fantastic to be playing in Portuguese football”, he considered.
Martínez praised the “high commitment” and “competitiveness” at this stage of the national team and confirmed that there are players who will make their debut in this two-match window in March, although none will play 180 minutes.
“No one is going to play 180 minutes, that’s clear. We’re going to have premieres, that’s the plan. I really liked the new players. It’s not easy to make the national team for the first time. They are players with a strong personality, but a lot of respect. The group received them very well,” he said.
The Portuguese selector was referring to Francisco Conceição, Jota Silva and Dany Mota, the latter called up after the dismissal of Raphaël Guerreiro and Francisco Trincão.
The meeting with Sweden is scheduled for 7:45 pm and will be refereed by the Spaniard Ricardo de Burgos.
On March 26, Portugal will go to Ljubljana to play Slovenia, who will be at the European Championship.
Portugal will also have three other preparation matches before participating in this year’s European Championship, all on Portuguese soil, with Finland, at the José Alvalade Stadium, in Lisbon, Croatia, at the National Stadium, in Oeiras, and the Republic of Ireland, in Aveiro , on June 4th, 8th and 11th, respectively.
The ‘quinas’ team is part of Group F of Euro2024, in which they will face Turkey, the Czech Republic and the winner of path C of the play-offs (Georgia, Luxembourg, Greece or Kazakhstan), which will be announced this month.
The European debut is scheduled for June 18th, with the Czechs, in Leipzig, followed by duels with the Turks, on June 22nd, in Dortmund, and with the opponent leaving the play-off, on June 26th. , in Gelsenkirchen.
The 2024 European Championship will take place in Germany, between June 14th and July 14th.
