Portugal’s ambitions for the 2024 European Championship took a blow at Estádio Nacional where they suffered a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Croatia.

Vitinha conceded an early penalty that Luka Modrić converted with confidence, Ante Budimir heading wide before break.

Roberto Martínez made four substitutions at half-time, his side equalising three minutes later when Nélson Semedo’s cross provided Diogo Jota with a tap in.

Croatia regained the lead in the 56th minute when Mario Pašalić rattled the bar, the ball bouncing back into play where Ante Budimir was first to react and head past Diogo Costa.

Vitinha’s deflected strike forced a save from Dominik Livaković but that was as close as the Seleção came to restoring parity, Luka Sučić unable to beat Costa with the last chance of the match.

The Seleção turn their attention to a final friendly against Republic of Ireland, the match taking place in Aveiro on Tuesday when Pepe, Rúben Neves and Cristiano Ronaldo are likely to get some playing time before the plane departs for Germany.

“Cristiano Ronaldo and Rúben Neves arrive today and the family is complete,” said Roberto Martínez in the pre-match press conference ahead of Portugal’s second Euro 2024 warm-up match, against Croatia tomorrow.

Therefore, all the players will be available to the coach apart from veteran centre-back Pepe, who is still working to attain full fitness after injury problems saw him miss the final games of the season for Porto. 

Roberto Martínez says there is no clear favourite for this summer’s European Championships, and insists that the small details will dictate who will win the tournament in Germany.

Portugal manager Martínez believes there are seven frontrunners to be crowned champions of the continent, while the Spaniard also feels his team must grow as the competition progresses if they are to be successful.

Roberto Martínez has been speaking on a wide range of issues relating to his Portugal squad ahead of the upcoming European Championships.

Seleção boss Martínez appeared on Rio Ferdinand’s FIVE podcast and was questioned about a number of his players ahead of the tournament, where Portugal will be one of the frontrunners for the trophy.