Portugal’s long history of emigration has resulted in the Seleção having huge fan bases in every corner of the planet, as exemplified in the effusive celebrations all around the world following the Euro 2016 triumph two years ago.

As part of our campaign to produce The Thirteenth Chapter, a book that chronicles Portugal’s complete tournament history, PortuGOAL gave Seleção fans the chance to express their gratitude/support to Fernando Santos and the national team.

The result is a marvellous set of messages from far and wide that vividly express the passion the Portuguese diaspora feels for its team. This page will be printed and delivered to “O Engenheiro” at FPF headquarters. Read the messages here and feel free to add your own in the comments section below.

Portugal coach Fernando Santos admitted that the injury to FC Porto’s defensive midfielder, Danilo, has forced him to change his plans about the makeup of the squad that will be representing the Seleção at the Russia World Cup, starting on 14 June.

Santos yesterday gave a simultaneous interview to Portugal’s three daily sports papers, A Bola, Record and O Jogo, in which he revealed he had planned to take just three centre-backs to the tournament, opening up space for an extra midfielder.

The unavailability of Danilo, who could cover at centre-back, has scuppered that idea and probably ends the chances of Rony Lopes or Manuel Fernandes making the plane.

We’ve had an excellent response to the launch of our book on the history of the Seleção entitled The Thirteenth Chapter – from Eusébio to Ronaldo, Portugal’s 50-year journey from football minnows to European Champions.

Ten days are left to purchase the book at the discount price of £14 via our Kickstarter campaign page. The campaign also gives Seleção fans the opportunity to be part of a public letter of support to Fernando Santos and the Seleção.

Just two and a half months separate us from the start of the World Cup. Portugal’s friendly matches sparked much debate about the current state of the Seleção and who should make the plane to Russia. But what about Portugal’s Group B opponents?

With the proviso that two friendlies are not ideal material to draw definitive conclusions, PortuGOAL tasked football analyst Tiago Estêvão to examine what the internationals played this past week told us about Spain, Morocco and Iran.