Toti Gomes, central Wolverhampton, is the main novelty of Roberto Martinez’s squad for the next two games of the national team, the Spanish coach announced this Monday.
“He is a strong player in duels and left-handed. He has performed well at Wolves”, the selector emphasized.
Nélson Semedo, Renato Sanches and Ricardo Horta, with a different status, already A-internationals, also made their debut in Martinez’s selection. “Nélson Semedo played consistently for six months. We will use Semedo and Dalot at right back and Cancelo and Guerreiro at left back,” Martinez assured.
Portugal will host Bosnia-Herzegovina on June 17 at Estádio da Luz, in Lisbon, at 7:45 PM, and head to Iceland three days later to face the local team, at Estádio Laugardalsvöllur, in Reykjavik, at 7:45 PM hours (time from Lisbon). Both matches are related to the qualifying round for Euro2024.
At the start of qualifying, in the two matches that marked Martínez’s absolute debut as leader of the national team, Portugal beat Liechtenstein 4-0 at Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon and went to Luxembourg to score 6-0.
Portugal leads Group J with six points, followed by Slovakia, which has four, and Bosnia and Iceland, both with three. Luxembourg, with only one point, and Liechtenstein, with no points, occupy the last places.
Only the top two of the group qualify for the Euro2024 final.
Benfica midfielder João Mário, remember, announced his departure from the national team on Sunday, justifying that after a moment of deep reflection, he understood that it was the right time to do so. “It was a natural decision that we deeply respect,” said Roberto Martinez.
Just over a year ago, striker Rafa, also of Benfica, announced his resignation from the Portugal national team, which was then months away from the 2022 World Cup, then under the management of Fernando Santos.
Roberto Martinez also referred to Pote’s new absence. “I like Pote very much. It makes the difference at Sporting. We don’t exclude players, we choose players with specific abilities,” said the coach.
Called list:
Goalkeeper: Diogo Costa, José Sá and Rui Patrício
defenses: António Silva, Danilo Pereira, Diogo Dalot, Gonçalo Inácio, João Cancelo, Nélson Semedo, Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro, Rúben Dias and Toti Gomes;
medium: Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, João Palhinha, Otávio, Renato Sanches, Ricardo Horta and Rúben Neves, Vitinha;
advanced: Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota, Gonçalo Ramos, Joao Felix and Rafael Leao.
Source: DN
