Fernando Santos announced today a squad of 24 to face France in a friendly on September 4th and Albania in a Euro 2016 qualifier on September 7th. Bernardo Silva and Joao Mario, who both starred for Portugal at this summer’s U-21 Euro, have rightfully earned places in the team, as well as Porto new-boys Andre Andre and Danilo Pereira, who have been named for the second successive squad. Dinamo Kiev’s Miguel Veloso, who has been out of the national team setup for some time, also earned a call as a result of some solid recent performances in Ukraine. Continue reading
fernando
Portugal: A Team in Transition
On Friday, Fernando Santos will name the Portugal squad to face France on September 4th (international friendly) and Albania on September 7th (Euro 2016 Qualification). With both the U-21’s strong showing at the U-21 Euro and the U-20 team’s impressive run at the U-20 World Cup this summer, the Portuguese National Team are in transition. With young prospects such as Bernardo Silva, João Mário, and Ivan Cavaleiro now becoming integral parts of their club teams, will Fernando Santos begin to ween them into the national team setup? Will they become stalwarts of the Seleção, or will Santos favor older, more experienced players? These questions highlight the conundrum that Portuguese football is facing; one of how to go about this transition. Continue reading
Éder Opens Portugal Account
Italy 0-1 Portugal
International Friendly
After almost three years appearing for the Seleção, Éder scored his first goal today, as Portugal scraped through a 1-0 victory over Italy in a friendly match played in Geneva, Switzerland. For fans of the Portuguese team, Éder has gained a reputation for profligacy in front of goal, despite impressive (yet waning) performances in Portugal for Braga. His excellent finish from Ricardo Quaresma’s trivela cross in the 52nd minute was all Portugal needed to earn the victory, despite going long spells during the match on the back-foot. Continue reading
Liga NOS Players Rewarded by Fernando Santos; 25-Man U-21 Squad Named
Portugal head coach Fernando Santos named today a squad of 25 to face Armenia and Italy. The Portuguese National Team faces Armenia in a Euro 2016 qualification match on June 13th, before facing Italy in a friendly match three days later. Santos used this opportunity to call up a number of players who have impressed this season, both in Portugal and Spain. Danilo Pereira, Pizzi, and André André all earned calls, after excellent seasons for Marítimo, Benfica and Vitória Guimarães, respectively. In addition, Daniel Carriço earned his first call, after his excellent season saw him lift the Europa League trophy with Sevilla for the second time in two seasons. Continue reading
Santos Adds Eleven for Cape Verde Friendly
As promised, Portugal National Team coach Fernando Santos named an additional eleven names for the team’s friendly against Cape Verde, to be played on March 31. Because Portugal faces Serbia on March 29 and then faces Cape Verde just two days later, there is not the FIFA-sanctioned three-day rest period between games. For this reason, those who take the field in the Serbia match will not in the Cape Verde match. Because of this, Santos has called up additional players for the Cape Verde match, and his listing is quite unexpected. Continue reading
Suspension Reduced for Fernando Santos
After deliberation, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced today that Fernando Santos’ suspension would be reduced from eight games to two games. Santos, the current Portuguese National Team coach, earned his eight-match suspension during last summer’s World Cup, where he was in charge of the Greek National Team. During the second round match against Costa Rica, Santos was expelled from the match, because of an alleged remark he made to the referee. Continue reading
Fernando Santos Releases List of 24 for Upcoming Seleção Matches
Portugal National Team coach Fernando Santos has released a list of 24 players for the team’s upcoming match against Serbia. The team plays Serbia at home on the 29th in a qualification match for Euro 2016 before facing Cape Verde in a friendly match two days later, also to be played on home soil. Santos is slated to call up an additional dozen players or so for the Cape Verde match. Expect Santos to name the additional names on Monday.
Adrien Silva, Raphael Guerreiro, Tiago Gomes, Beto, and Helder Postiga, who were all included in the last squad, were excluded this time out. Other than those exclusions, the team is largely unchanged. Here’s the full list: Continue reading
Portuguese National Team: Highs and Lows
It was a big week for the National team heading into games 3 & 4 of Fernando Santos’ tenure. The good news now is in competitive matches he sports a 2-0 record, and overall has a record of 3 wins from 4 matches. I for one was not a fan of the hiring because with his pending suspension it puts the team in a precarious situation, but not one to cry over spilled milk, I also like to give folks a chance before I criticize them. Continue reading
Preview: Portugal vs Argentina
Having narrowly edged Armenia on Friday, the Portuguese national team faces much stiffer competition at Manchester United’s home ground Old Trafford as the Seleccao are pitted up against World Cup finalists Argentina in an international friendly. Cristiano Ronaldo once again saved Portuguese blushes against Armenia and the spotlight will be on the Portuguese superstar as he competes with rival Lionel Messi to steal the show at a place he once called his professional home. Continue reading
Preview: Portugal vs Armenia
Fernando Santos will look to build on a sound start to his tenure in the Portuguese dugout ahead of a clash against Group I dark horses Armenia in the Algarve. Having come away with the three points in Copenhagen after a last-gasp Cristiano Ronaldo effort, A Seleção da Quinas will be confident of building on a professional display in their last hit-out in front of a packed Faro crowd. Continue reading