Portuguese Football in English
The latest gem to roll off the conveyor belt of Sporting’s renowned Alcochete Academy, 17-year-old wing-back Geovany Quenda, is set to become the youngest ever player to represent Portugal at senior level against Croatia in Split tomorrow.
Striker Fábio Silva, who like Quenda was promoted from the U21 squad on Friday night, is also eyeing his debut as Portugal play their final Nations League group match with top spot guaranteed.
The Seleção flattened Poland 5-1 at the Estádio Dragão last night.
Another Nations Leage encounter, another avant-garde starting XI from Roberto Martinez featuring an untested CB duo and João Neves anchoring midfield in a traditional 4-3-3.
While the opening half showcased imbalance in central midfield and a lethargic passing cadence, Vitinha entered and the home side awoke to overcome the pouring rain and clinch Group 1 in League A of the UEFA Nations League with one match to spare.
Leão, Neto, and of course Ronaldo heaped misery on a Polish side desperate to keep its own hopes alive as Croatia fell to Scotland at Hampden Park. Nathan Motz has PortuGOAL.net's player ratings as the Seleção march into the knockout rounds to be held spring 2025.
Portugal crushed Poland 5-1 at the Estádio do Dragão tonight to book their place in the Nations League quarter-finals as winners of Group A1.
The well-known football saying “a game of two halves” could have been invented for this match. A slow, sloppy and sluggish first 45 minutes by the Seleção contrasted sharply to a sparkling second-half performance in which goals by Rafael Leão, Cristiano Ronaldo (x2), Bruno Fernandes and Pedro Neto overwhelmed the Poles, for whom Dominik Marczuk netted a late consolation.
Vitinha, who came on at the break, was the catalyst for the change and proved tonight that he has to be a starter in Roberto Martínez’s team. Tom Kundert reports.
Roberto Martínez’s Portugal are gunning to rubber-stamp their passage to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Nations League tomorrow night at the Estádio do Dragão.
The Seleção need a point against Poland in Porto to book their berth in the last eight of the competition, before travelling to Croatia on Monday when top spot is likely to be decided in the final round of games. PortuGOAL previews the penultimate match for the Seleção in their Group A1 campaign.
Fábio Coentrão, the former Real Madrid and Portugal left-back, made headlines when he transitioned to life as a fisherman after retiring from professional football. After his football career, he returned to his roots in Portugal, where he had always held a passion for the sea and fishing. Coentrão invested in a fishing business and started working on a boat, taking on a lifestyle that he said brought him peace and satisfaction. He noted that he wanted to embrace a profession he respected deeply and felt that fishing was a meaningful way to continue working after football.
