The central defender Diogo Leite and the midfielder Matheus Nunes were left out this Thursday of the chosen ones for the first game of coach Roberto Martínez in the Portuguese team against Liechtenstein, qualifying for the Euro 2024 soccer tournament.
The German defender from Union Berlin, who was called up for the first time in the ‘quinas’ group, and the English midfielder from Wolverhampton are the two players excluded from the list of 23 released this Thursday by UEFA.
The Vitória de Guimarães goalkeeper, Celton Biai, who ended up replacing the injured Diogo Costa after being initially called up for the U-21 team, appears on the match sheet.
Portugal makes its debut this Thursday in Group J of the qualifiers for the Euro 2024 soccer tournament with the reception to Liechtenstein, starting at 7:45 p.m., at the Estádio José Alvalade, in Lisbon, in a match that marks the debut of Roberto Martínez as successor to Fernando Santos.
If used by Martínez, captain Cristiano Ronaldo, 38, becomes the player with the most caps in history, with 197 caps, surpassing Kuwaiti Bader Al-Mutawa, when he is already the top scorer in history, with 118 goals.
Portugal seeks to end the ‘curse’ of the first qualifying round for the Eurocup, having to go back to 1998 to find the last victory in a debut.
On Sunday, Portugal plays in Luxembourg for the second round of the group, which also includes Iceland, Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Source: TSF
