Central defender Diogo Leite and midfielder Matheus Nunes were omitted this Thursday from those chosen for coach Roberto Martínez’s first match in the Portuguese national team against Liechtenstein, which qualified for Euro2024 football.
The first called-up defender from Germany’s Union Berlin and the midfielder from England’s Wolverhampton are the two players excluded from the list of 23 released by UEFA today.
Vitória de Guimarães goalkeeper Celton Biai, who eventually replaced the injured Diogo Costa after initially being called up to the under-21 squad, appears on the scoresheet.
Portugal makes its debut in Group J in qualifying for Euro2024 football today with the reception in Liechtenstein, from 7:45 p.m., at Estádio José Alvalade, in Lisbon, in a meeting that marks the debut of Roberto Martínez to succeed Fernando Santos.
If used by Martínez, captain Cristiano Ronaldo, 38, will become the most capped player ever, with 197 games, surpassing Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa, while already the best ever scorer, with 118 goals.
Portugal are trying to end the ‘curse’ of the first qualifying round for the European Championship and must go back to 1998 to take the last victory in a debut.
On Sunday, Portugal will play the second round of the group in Luxembourg, in which Iceland, Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina also participate.
Source: DN
