Playing for the first time on Slovenian soil, Portugal will try to add their 12th consecutive victory and remain completely victorious under the command of Roberto Martínez, in a match in which the Spanish coach will once again take advantage of testing game situations, as well as new players and others less used.
Matheus Nunes, injured, ended up not traveling to the capital of Slovenia and is out for sure, while Nuno Mendes should also be rested, also because of physical problems.
After Jota Silva’s debut against Sweden (5-2), Dany Mota and Francisco Conceição will also be able to experience the first minutes of their careers in the main team.
Absent by choice from the meeting with the Swedes in Guimarães, Diogo Dalot, João Cancelo, Danilo Pereira, Rúben Neves, Vitinha, Otávio, João Félix and captain Cristiano Ronaldo are back.
Ronaldo, the most capped player ever (205) and top scorer ever (128), could even increase his number of ‘victims’ at national team level, as he scored against 47 countries throughout his career.
In competition since 1992, after the dismantling of Yugoslavia, the Slovenian team never crossed paths with Portugal, despite having already been to the final stages of two World Cups and one European Championship, as well as in all qualifications from that year onwards.
The first Slovenia-Portugal match in history is scheduled at 8:45 pm local time (7:45 pm in Lisbon), at the Stozice Stadium, in Ljubljana, and will be refereed by Irfan Peljto, from Bosnia-Herzegovina.
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, Croatia, at the National Stadium, and the Republic of Ireland, in Aveiro, on 04, 08 and June 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 or Greece).
The European debut is scheduled for June 18th, with the Czechs, in Leipzig, followed by duels with the Turks, on the 22nd, in Dortmund, and with the Georgians or the Greeks, on the 26th, in Gelsenkirchen.
The 2024 European Championship will take place in Germany, between June 14th and July 14th.
