tiago

Portugal: A Team in Transition

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Fernando Santos - Portugal

On Friday, Fernando Santos will name the Portugal squad to face France on September 4th (international friendly) and Albania on September 7th (Euro 2016 Qualification). With both the U-21’s strong showing at the U-21 Euro and the U-20 team’s impressive run at the U-20 World Cup this summer, the Portuguese National Team are in transition. With young prospects such as Bernardo Silva, João Mário, and Ivan Cavaleiro now becoming integral parts of their club teams, will Fernando Santos begin to ween them into the national team setup? Will they become stalwarts of the Seleção, or will Santos favor older, more experienced players? These questions highlight the conundrum that Portuguese football is facing; one of how to go about this transition. Continue reading →

Part I: Primeira Liga 2014/2015 Top 10 Under-24…Outside the “Big Three”

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Ricardo Valente (right), pictured here celebrating a goal scored against arch-rivals SC Braga this season.

Ricardo Valente (right), pictured here celebrating a goal scored against arch-rivals SC Braga this season.

At the end of last season, PortugalFutbol.net outlined the Primeira Liga’s top 5 under-24 Portuguese players playing outside of Portugal’s “Big Three” clubs (Sporting, Porto, Benfica). The purpose of this list was to shed to light some of the league’s lesser-talked about up-and-coming talent. For instance, out of the five players listed in last year’s edition, four of them have made their National Team debut since last season. This year, PortugalFutbol has expanded this list to ten.

For the purposes of brevity, we’ve split this year’s list into two parts. Part I outlines the honorable mentions, while Part II will reveal the actual Top 10 players listing.  Continue reading →

Santos Adds Eleven for Cape Verde Friendly

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Andre Andre has finally earned a call to the Seleção after a stellar season thus far for Vitória Guimarães. He is joined by eight other un-capped players.

Andre Andre has finally earned a call to the Seleção after a stellar season thus far for Vitória Guimarães. He is joined by eight other un-capped players.

As promised, Portugal National Team coach Fernando Santos named an additional eleven names for the team’s friendly against Cape Verde, to be played on March 31. Because Portugal faces Serbia on March 29 and then faces Cape Verde just two days later, there is not the FIFA-sanctioned three-day rest period between games. For this reason, those who take the field in the Serbia match will not in the Cape Verde match. Because of this, Santos has called up additional players for the Cape Verde match, and his listing is quite unexpected.  Continue reading →

Last-Gasp Goal Pushes Portugal Past World Cup Finalists

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Cristiano Ronaldo in action against Cristian Ansaldi, of Argentina. Photo: AP/Jon Super

Cristiano Ronaldo in action against Cristian Ansaldi, of Argentina. Photo: AP/Jon Super

Portugal 1-0 Argentina

International Friendly

A last-minute goal from 20 year-old left back Raphael Guerreiro was enough to give Portugal a narrow 1-0 win over Argentina in a match played at Manchester United’s home ground, Old Trafford. The build-up to the match was predictably centered around the Messi vs Ronaldo rivalry, but neither player influenced the game too heavily, and both exited play at half time. Overall, many would probably agree that the final scoreline did not reflect the way the game unfolded, but Fernando Santos and co. surely won’t complain.  Continue reading →

Preview: Portugal vs Armenia

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Tiago Gomes could start against Armenia. Photo Record.xl.pt

Tiago Gomes could start against Armenia. Photo Record.xl.pt

Fernando Santos will look to build on a sound start to his tenure in the Portuguese dugout ahead of a clash against Group I dark horses Armenia in the Algarve. Having come away with the three points in Copenhagen after a last-gasp Cristiano Ronaldo effort, A Seleção da Quinas will be confident of building on a professional display in their last hit-out in front of a packed Faro crowd. Continue reading →

Bosingwa Earns Recall

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Sweden vs Portugal - 2008 - Bosingwa

Bosingwa playing for the team in 2008

Fernando Santos named a squad of 24 today for Portugal’s upcoming games against Armenia and Argentina, giving calls to a number of either new or returning players to the team. The most notable of these was Bosingwa, who was famously exiled under Paulo Bento beginning in 2011. Initially an automatic starter under Carlos Queiroz, Bosingwa’s decline under Bento was swift. Now 32, Bosingwa is still a starter at Trabzonspor in the Turkish league, which is enough for Fernando Santos. Continue reading →