It wasn’t a “clean” group stage like qualifying for the European Championship (ten games, as many victories, a series of broken records), it wasn’t far from that. Despite already having first place assured, Portugal maintained its unbeaten record in the Nations League with a draw in Croatia that ended up satisfying all parties – although the Seleção could aspire to more after the initial half achieved in Split which ended up not being continued after the interval. In parallel, and in a match with major absences such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Pedro Neto, Rúben Dias or Diogo Costa (in this case with a last minute illness), Roberto Martínez promoted three more premieres.
Tomás Araújo was a starter, earning his first A cap at the age of 22 in a breakthrough season that began at Benfica. In the second half, Tiago Djaló was called up to replace the Reds’ defender, while Fábio Silva was replaced by Rafael Leão. In total, the national team coach has already launched 13 players, in a group of players that also includes Gonçalo Inácio, João Neves, José Sá, Toti Gomes, João Mário, Jota Silva, Francisco Conceição, Renato Veiga, Samu Costa and Nuno Tavares . Thus, among all those called up, only Geovany Quenda had his debut in Seleção A postponed – and, with that, the youngest record of all time will continue to belong to Paulo Futre, considering that the young Sporting player could beat the former Lions winger’s record by… just two days.
“I feel very proud. In football it is very difficult to make seven changes to the starting lineup and maintain the team’s idea and execute what we work for. The first half was enough for us to win the game, it was difficult for Croatia to react, but in the second half they had 10/15 very strong minutes and we didn’t have the same control as we had in the first half. We had another opportunity for Nuno Mendes but it was a game between the two areas. There were also three more debuts for the Seleção, a moment to show the formation of Portuguese football. We opened the door to competitiveness in the national team, we finished this phase without defeat and we are very proud”, highlighted Roberto Martínez after the meeting in statements to RTP3.
“Response from the newbies? We coaches like to complicate our lives. Renato Veiga has played three games for Seleção A and plays with an incredible personality. Tomás Araújo also made his debut today and showed the future and present that he has, Fábio Silva himself. João Félix also showed a lot of personality. Our criteria in this League of Nations was to open up competitiveness and they all showed that they can be options. We take positive notes for the future. João Félix’s position helped him a lot today. He is a very intelligent player. We had a situation with Diogo Costa [indisposição de última hora]José Sá came in and gave a good response”, highlighted the national coach, who after securing first place in the group stage of the Nations League did not show preferences for the draw.
“The objective is to win. To win, we need to play against everyone and against the best. It is important that players who are injured return, like Gonçalo Ramos. But the important thing is to look inside and see what we can do. As for the opponent, come what may”, he stressed.
“Mobile attack? It is important to adjust and always be flexible. The first half was very good, Croatia couldn’t stop our game and our possibilities. If we had managed to get the second goal in the first half perhaps the result would have been different. But I really liked the way we reacted after the goal conceded. Quenda? The game did not allow his debut. It’s an internship we didn’t want to risk with anyone. Nuno Mendes felt his ankle, so we didn’t have the opportunity to use the fourth and fifth substitutions. But Quenda can help the team a lot”, he later mentioned to SportTV.
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