With Danilo a casualty following his injury in Saturday’s training, Pepe follows, taking to the pitch for the first time in eight weeks. The decision was announced this Sunday by Fernando Santos during a press conference in which he previewed the match against Uruguay (7 p.m. Monday). the FC Porto central defender is “a monster, ready to play”.
Santos also explained the move that led to Danilo’s injury, which will rule him out for the remaining two matches in the group stage. “No one could see, we were practicing defensive set pieces, in the middle of a mess he suddenly screamed. He was close by, we went to see what was going on, it didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary, he was having trouble breathing, but he eventually recovered and we didn’t think it was anything major. He went to the hospital as a precaution, that was the conclusion… Let’s wait, of course, see how it evolves.”
On the eve of the duel with Celeste’s team, the national coach sat next to Bernardo Silva, who had already spoken and whose reactions were used and praised by Fernando Santos. After playing against Uruguay in 2018, when Portugal were knocked out of the World Cup by Luis Suarez’s team, the Manchester City midfielder said that “the game does not bring back good memories. Many players from that time are still in the Uruguayan national team, which is an aggressive team, strong on the counterattack and exploiting the mistakes of the opponents”, which is why he guaranteed that the corner kick team will “study Uruguay” to ensure that it qualifies for the round of 16 (a win is enough for that to happen), preventing the decision from being made until the last match of the group against South Korea.
While most of the Uruguayan players are experienced and have been to the 2018 World Cup, there are emerging talents in the squad coached by Diego Alonso, such as Darwin Núñez or Fede Valverde. Both are seen by Bernardo Silva as threats to the Portuguese goal. 🇧🇷Darwin is a very vertical player, he needs very little to deal damage. The best way to check this is the reaction to losing the ball, which has to be fast. Valverde, on the other hand, works a lot for the team, he makes a lot of moves with and without the ball to free his teammates.”, analysed.
But for both Bernardo Silva and Fernando Santos, the past is the past and what matters is Monday’s game. Therefore, it is useless to look at examples of recent matches in which Portugal missed advantages in qualifications, such as the case of Serbia, whose defeat dictated the national team’s fall from direct qualification to the national team. playoff. “Bernardo has already said and analyzed this well. What we have to do is watch every game. Player characteristics are different. Uruguay is a team that almost puts the opponent to sleep with the ball, waits for the loss to then strike on the counterattacksaid the trainer.
After beating Ghana (3-2) in the first leg, Fernando Santos also felt that “there are aspects that could be improved”. The wish is therefore that the Portuguese players against the Uruguayan selection can have something that was missing in the first leg: unpredictability. 🇧🇷We lacked playing between the lines, bending to the center, sides up. That’s why we play in a hybrid system, because players can give that unpredictability.”he said, adding that “against Ghana there was safety, yes, but the movement of the ball was slow. If you can combine that unpredictability, [Portugal] will be a much better team”.
With the previous win’s goals scored by Cristiano Ronaldo, João Félix (starters) and Rafael Leão (alternate), are the three impossible to combine in the same initial 11? Relying again on the words of Bernardo Silva – who claimed to play according to what the moment requires – the national team does not close the door to the ownership of the three players in the future. “The game is what will rule. If there’s a player that needs to open up here or there, that’s where the players develop and launch,” he said, guaranteeing: “There are no players here who can or cannot play. I have to watch everything.🇧🇷
Source: DN
