Portugal’s rising stars look to seize Euro 2016 chance

Portugal’s rising stars look to seize Euro 2016 chance

Russia-Portugal preview

The old cliché that the result is the least important aspect applies perfectly to Saturday’s friendly international between Portugal and Russia in Krasnodar.

Both teams will be looking to experiment and test out options ahead of next summer’s European Championship in France.

PortuGOAL, in collaboration with the Russian Football News website, previews the game.

 

 

PORTUGAL - Fernando Santos gives youth a chance

Ever since taking over from Paulo Bento in September 2014, Portugal coach Fernando Santos has adopted a diametrically opposite approach to player selection than his predecessor. Bento managed the squad very much on a “closed shop” basis, sticking to his tried and trusted charges. Santos, on the other hand, has called up no fewer than 53 players in little over a year in charge.

As well as recalling veterans such as Ricardo Carvalho, Tiago and, in the latest squad, Eduardo, the experienced coach has been unafraid to draft in up-and-coming talents.

This is perfectly exemplified in the squad for the Russia and Luxembourg friendlies, which is packed with youngsters who will be keen to grab their opportunity to impress, perhaps booking their place at Euro 2016. Santos has left out many of the regulars assured of their place in the 23-man squad, most notably captain Cristiano Ronaldo, giving himself more room for experimentation.

Looking at the team sector by sector, who will be aiming to force the manager’s hand with one or two barnstorming performances in the next week?

Goalkeepers

The one area of the team with no doubts. Barring injury, Rui Patrício is untouchable as the Portugal No1 and Lyon stopper Anthony Lopes has his place guaranteed in the squad. The recall of Dynamo Zagreb goalkeeper Eduardo – who shined brightly in Portugal’s 2010 World Cup campaign – suggests Santos does not see any young pretender worthy of a call-up.

Defence

Ricardo Pereira, who can play at right-back or left-back, has earned his chance after a superb start to the season at Nice, on loan from FC Porto. Ricardo’s versatility (he originally played as a winger and was used as a forward for Portugal U21s in the 2015 European Championship) may be an important factor in his favour when it comes to announcing the tournament squad.

Another versatile defender who plays in France, Raphael Guerreiro, is recalled. The Lorient player can line up at left-back or in midfield, and with Fábio Coentrão’s ongoing fitness struggles, he will feel he has a chance of spending next summer in France, the country of his birth, as a member of the Portugal squad.

Midfield

This is an area of the pitch where Portugal are spoilt for choice and competition for places is at its most fierce. William Carvalho and Danilo are two high-quality choices for the holding role, and are now joined by Rúben Neves, who was summoned into the squad after João Moutinho pulled out with injury. The 18-year-old Neves has been outstanding for the Dragons this season, the teenager even being made Porto captain, and Santos faces a difficult choice of how to set up the base of his midfield given three such exceptional options.

Porto’s André André will also feel his club form has earned him the right to show what he can do for the national team, although Bernardo Silva and João Mário provide stern competition and perhaps lend the midfield more creativity. A nice problem for Santos to solve.

Attack

How far Portugal progress at Euro 2016 could well depend on whether or not the Seleção find a striker who can relieve some of the goal-scoring burden off Ronaldo’s shoulders. Santos has looked to address the problem by selecting Lucas João and Nélson Oliveira, who both play in England’s second tier, as well as Benfica’s young rising star Gonçalo Guedes. Given the dearth of options at centre-forward, if any of these three impress they have a good chance of making the plane to France.

Braga forward Rafa Silva received a late call-up when Valencia midfielder André Gomes dropped out of the squad with injury. Rafa was the youngest member of Portugal’s 2014 World Cup squad, although he did not see any playing time in Brazil. Should he transpose his outstanding club form to the international arena, he may well make the cut again.

Tactics

The two matches will also serve to give Santos a chance to try out new formations. In the qualification phase and in friendlies the former Porto, Sporting and Benfica manager has shown adaptability, forsaking Portugal’s traditional 4-3-3 and going 4-4-2 on occasions. With such a wealth of options in midfield, this may well be the way forward, even returning to a double-pivot midfield base last seen regularly in Luiz Filipe Scolari’s days at the helm of the Seleção.

Nevertheless, however Santos sets up Portugal against Russia, given the fact most of the team will not have played together previously, it is likely the main conclusions drawn will be on an individual basis, rather than in terms of team cohesion or formation.

by Tom Kundert

 

 

RUSSIA - New lease of life under Slutsky

After a dull period under Italian Fabio Capello, Leonid Slutsky got the Sbornaya back on track when he took over the Russian national team before the crucial qualifier against Sweden in September. After the changes in the coaching staff, Russia went to win the last four of their qualification matches, and they finished second in their group after Austria. It was very clear that Slutsky brought life back into the squad, and even though not all of their victories were pretty, at least the players fought for the coach again, and they actually seemed proud to play for the Russian national team.

Not only were the players’ spark ignited again, but also the fans’. For the qualifier in Moscow against Austria, 33,750 spectators showed up, while 43,700 showed up for Slutsky’s debut against Sweden two weeks later.

Despite Slutsky preferring many of the same players as Capello, he made some major changes that have benefited the Russian side. His biggest success was to get Zenit striker Artyom Dzyuba integrated into the team, with the tall striker scoring six goals in the last four games, including pivotal goals against Moldova and Sweden. On top of this, Slutsky also managed to utilize Roman Shirokov’s great abilities as a playmaker in the midfield, something Capello struggled to do in the beginning of the playoff.

Potent strike force

For the matches against Portugal and Croatia, Russia will have to do without Dinamo striker Aleksandr Kokorin, who is dealing with injury problems. Without Kokorin, the strike force is made up by the above-mentioned Dzyuba and Krasnodar striker Fyodor Smolov. They have both been in fine form lately, and with Dzyuba likely to start, Smolov is a dangerous weapon to have on the bench.

In the midfield, it is worth noticing that Slutsky has rewarded Kuban Krasnodar’s Vladislav Ignatiev with a call up. Ignatiev has been a pivotal player for Kuban this season, where the winger has contributed with five goals and three assists in 15 appearances. While Ignatiev is likely to get his debut, Zenit’s Artur Yusupov’s chances are slimmer, as Russia’s central midfield is already packed with strong players.

Experimentation on the cards

For the first time since taking over the Sbornaya, Leonid Slutsky will be allowed to experiment with his team, something he is likely to take advantage of. Real Madrid’s Denis Cheryshev has only played four minutes since Slutsky took over, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get some more playing time, something he is seriously lacking at Real Madrid.

In the defence, Russia will have to do without the injured Vasiliy Berezutskiy, and it will be very interesting to see who Slutsky prefers to replace him. Berezutskiy’s twin brother Aleksey has been called up, but younger options such as Ivan Novoseltsev from Rostov, Andrei Semenov from Terek Grozny and last but not least Viktor Vasin from Slutsky’s CSKA are also in the squad. Vasin has only played three matches so far this season, and his call-up is definitely debatable with Slutsky also coaching CSKA.

There is however no doubt that Russia eventually needs to find central defenders to replace the ageing Sergei Ignashevich and Berezutskiy twins, and with the two matches against Portugal and Croatia, we will get the first signs of what to expect for the future.

by Toke Møller Theilade

 

Our thanks to Toke Theilade. For more from Toke follow him on Twitter @TokeTheilade and bookmark the Russian Football News website.