Rui Jorge has announced Portugal’s 23-man squad that will travel to Slovenia to try and win their first UEFA U21 European Championship.
Pedro Gonçalves’ call up to the senior side is a blow, but there are recalls for Jota and Rafael Leão who missed the group stage through injury.
The Esperanças take on Italy in the quarter-finals on Monday 31 May.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa (FC Porto), João Virgínia (Everton) and Luís Maximiano (Sporting CP)
Defenders: Diogo Leite (FC Porto), Diogo Queirós (FC Famalicão), Diogo Dalot (AC Milan), Pedro Pereira (Crotone), Thierry Correia (Valencia), Tiago Djaló (Lille), Tomás Tavares (Farense)
Midfielders: Daniel Bragança (Sporting CP), Fábio Vieira (FC Porto), Florentino Luís (Monaco), Gedson Fernandes (Galatasaray), Romário Baró (FC Porto), Vítor Ferreira (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Forwards: Dany Mota (Monza), Trincão (Barcelona), Francisco Conceição (FC Porto), Gonçalo Ramos (Benfica), Jota (Real Valladolid), Rafael Leão (AC Milan), Tiago Tomás (Sporting CP)
Analysis
There are no major surprises in Rui Jorge’s squad.
Romário Baró is a direct replacement for Pedro Gonçalves whose sensational form for Sporting CP has seen him earn a call up to the senior side.
Jota and Rafael Leão are back in the squad after missing the group stage due to injury, João Mário and Filipe Soares making way.
The concerns about Florentino Luís fitness and lack of playing time remain. Daniel Bragança is the other option in the holding midfield role.
Rui Jorge quotes
Just days after renewing his contract until 2024, Rui Jorge made some comments about Italy, Portugal’s quarter-final opponents.
“A team that will play 3-5-2 in the beginning. They are very strong defensively, the Italians, as a rule, are players who defend well, strong and difficult to overcome in individual duels.
“There are two forwards, Scamacca and Cutrone, who are good players who can score at any time. In terms of virtuosity, but they are undoubtedly an extremely difficult group to overcome”.
Road to the final
Portugal won nine of their 10 qualifiers, beating Netherlands 2-1 in Portimão in the final match. It was the first defeat for the Dutch who had won nine straight games.
Rui Jorge’s side won all three group games without conceding a goal. They beat Croatia 1-0 in Koper before a 2-0 win against England and 3-0 win against Switzerland in Ljubljana.
Portugal start the knockout rounds against Italy in Ljubljana on Monday 31 May. If they are victorious, the next match will take place in Maribor on Thursday 3 June against the winners of Spain vs Croatia.
The 2021 UEFA U21 European Championship final will be played in Ljubljana on Sunday 6 June.
