Testing expectations for Cristiano and Portugal

The goalkeeper Diogo Costathe protectorss Rubén Días, Joao Cancelo or Pepethe media Vitinha, Bernardo Silva or Bruno Fernandes and the forward Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota, Joao Félix or Rafael Leao give to the Portuguese team Robert Martinez a glossy form of the favorite in eurocup, where this Tuesday he faces a trial by fire before the Czech Republic.

Champion in 2016, when Éder served as the hero of victory against battles France at the Saint Denis stadium in Paris, 0-1 in extra time, their current generation suggests it for the maximum, without limits, without excuses, led by Cristiano Ronaldo.

39 years… And 914 goals between his clubs, the youth teams and the senior team, where he scored 131 in 207 games as the top scorer of all time for the Portuguese team, if where he served his last service in a major competition, when the 2022 World Cup seemed over.

The elimination earlier Moroccoin the quarterfinals, the group broke up, changing coaches, Robert Martinez through Fernando Santos, to reinvigorate Cristiano and company, with an impeccable qualification phase (along with eleven goals from CR7) that will be an anecdote if it does not go further than the final round. Managing very high expectations is a fascination in Portugal. He will examine himself this Tuesday at Leipzig.

Among the new style features, the coach and the formations, almost nothing has changed in the team’s roster since the defeat against Morocco in the quarterfinals of Qatar 2022 until Germany 2024. No other Gonçalo Inácio, Nélson Semedo, João Neves, Francisco Conceição and Pedro Neto.

Diogo Costa, José Sa and Rui Patrício continue in goal; Antonio Silva, Danilo Pereira and Nuno Mendes (injured in Qatar), Diogo Dalot, João Cancelo, Pepe and Rúben Dias in defence; Bruno Fernandes, João Palhinha, Matheus Nunes (replaced Otávio Monteiro, absent due to injury), Rúben Neves, Vitinha and Bernardo Silva in the middle; and Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota, Gonçalo Ramos, João Félix and Rafael Leão up front. 21 out of 26 suffered in Qatar.

Revenge is Germany 2024, among the reinforcements brought by Roberto Martínez. Portugal has won 13 of its 15 games, with the only two exceptions being March’s 2-0 defeat against Slovenia and, most notably, the 1-2 defeat on June 8 against Croatia, without Cristiano, who returned to score two goals. in Ireland in a final friendly before traveling to Germany. The other goal came from Joao Félix, who is also competing for the title this Tuesday.

Their Euro 2024 debut is the most complicated match of the group, on paper: the Czech Republic. Then Türkiye and Georgia will wait. The summit is the only acceptable destination for Portugal, winners of its last four matches against that rival; the most recent 0-4 in September 2022.

This is another one Czech Republic different from the present, which is now directed by Iván Hasek. They have not lost a game since being coached by their current coach, with seven wins, including a 3-1 win against Belgium or a 2-0 win against Poland, and two draws, before meeting again in European Cupwhere they bid farewell to the quarterfinals in the last edition, eliminated by Denmark (1-2) after defeating the Netherlands in the round of 16 by 2-0.

The three representatives of the wonderful course of Bayer Leverkusen (goalkeeper Matej Kovar, who has only one game with the national team and a substitute this Tuesday, and forwards Adam Hlozek and Patrick Schick), West Han players Thomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal and Fiorentina midfielder Antonin Barak leads their Germany 2024 squad, with 15 players between Sparta and Slavia Prague and Viktoria Plzen.