Defender Pepe was excluded from the Portuguese national team due to injury and will miss the matches against Liechtenstein and Iceland, in the qualifying phase for Euro 2024, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) reported this Sunday.
“The player suffered a muscle injury in the match that FC Porto played on Saturday in Guimarães and is not in a position to participate in Portugal’s matches against Liechtenstein and Iceland,” reads the statement published on the official FPF website. .
According to the same note, the national coach “Roberto Martínez will not call up any other player to replace Pepe”, so the Portuguese squad now has 25 players, instead of 26.
Pepe was injured on Saturday, during the second half of FC Porto’s match against Vitória SC, for the I Liga, ending up being replaced by Fábio Cardoso, in the 67th minute.
This is the second ‘loss’ of the Portuguese team in a few hours, since on Saturday the FPF announced the withdrawal of Nélson Semedo, also due to injury, with the Wolverhampton full-back being replaced in the options by Raphaël Guerreiro, from Bayern Munich.
Rafael Leão is in doubt, and it is expected that he will also be free from work for the ‘quinas’ team, due to the muscle injury to his right thigh suffered on Saturday, in the match against Lecce, in the Italian League.
The meeting of the 25 players summoned by coach Roberto Martínez is scheduled for Monday, late in the afternoon, at the Cidade do Futebol, in Oeiras.
The team faces Liechtenstein on Thursday, at 7:45 p.m. (Lisbon time), in Vaduz, and, three days later, Iceland, at the José Alvalade stadium, at the same time.
Portugal leads Group J, with 24 points, eight more than Slovakia, second classified, with Luxembourg, third, with 11. Iceland is fourth, with 10 points, ahead of Bosnia-Herzegovina, with nine, and Liechtenstein, last, without No point. .
Updated 25-player roster:
– Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa (FC Porto), José Sá (Wolverhampton, Ing) and Rui Patrício (Roma, Ita).
– Defenders: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United, England), Raphaël Guerreiro (Bayern Munich, Ale), João Cancelo (FC Barcelona, Esp), Rúben Dias (Manchester City, England), António Silva (Benfica), Toti Gomes (Wolverhampton, Eng) and Gonçalo Inácio (Sporting).
– Midfielders: Palhinha (Fulham, Eng), João Neves (Benfica), Rúben Neves (Al-Hilal, Ara), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City, Eng), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United, Eng), Otávio (Al Nassr, Ara ), Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain, Fra) and Matheus Nunes (Manchester City, England).
– Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr, Ara), Gonçalo Ramos (Paris Saint-Germain, Fra), João Félix (FC Barcelona, Esp), Rafael Leão (AC Milan, Ita), Diogo Jota (Liverpool, Ing), Ricardo Horta (Sporting de Braga) and Bruma (Sporting de Braga).
Source: TSF
