With defender Rúben Dias, until now a total player in the group’s selection campaign, absent, Martínez ended up trusting Veiga in his place, with the Chelsea player thus returning to the starting lineup, after his absolute debut, a month ago, in Warsaw, also against Poland (3-1 victory).
In the Polish capital, Renato Veiga paired up with Rúben Dias, but today, in Porto, he will have António Silva at his side, who repeats his starting role in the last game in Scotland (0-0).
At the Estádio do Dragão, in the fifth and penultimate round of Group A1, João Neves will be a starter for the first time in this Nations League campaign, occupying the position of the furthest midfielder, at a time when João Palhinha and Rúben Neves are absent, also due to account for physical problems.
Diogo Dalot, Bernardo Silva, Rafael Leão and Pedro Neto are the remaining players who are returning to Roberto Martínez’s starting options, with captain Cristiano Ronaldo, as expected, appearing at the front of the attack.
Portugal will therefore play with Diogo Costa in goal, behind a defense formed by Diogo Dalot, on the right, Nuno Mendes, on the left, and António Silva and Renato Veiga in the center.
In midfield, João Neves, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva appear, with Rafael Leão and Pedro Neto further forward in support of Ronaldo.
On the Polish side, as was already known, striker Robert Lewandowski, the team’s big ‘star’, is missing from Dragão due to injury.
The draw is enough for Portugal to confirm qualification for the quarter-finals of the Nations League, although the defeat by the minimum margin also puts the team in the next phase. The ‘quinas’ team may even lose today by more goals, but to guarantee passage they need Scotland to beat Croatia in Glasgow.
Portugal-Poland is scheduled for 7:45 pm and will be refereed by Lithuanian Donatas Rumsas.
Three days later, on Monday, Portugal visits Croatia, in Split, and closes the group stage.
Portugal leads Group A1, with 10 points, three more than Croatia, which has seven, with both teams followed by Poland, with four, and Scotland, with one.
The top two teams from each of the four groups in League A of the fourth edition of the competition will advance to the quarter-finals.
Portugal won the first edition of the Nations League in 2019, beating the Netherlands 1-0 in the final, at Estádio do Dragão, in Porto, thanks to a goal from Gonçalo Guedes, and reached the group stage of League A in 2020/21 and 2022/23.
