international match
Portugal coach Santos before the game against Switzerland: “It’s not a banal team. But we want to win and play for eleven million Portuguese.”
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In the Nations League, the Portuguese are aiming for their first win with superstar Ronaldo against Switzerland. Coach Santos warns of the opponent: “Switzerland has surpassed itself in recent years. It is perhaps the most grown team in Europe in the past ten years.”
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Abschlusstraining Portugals im City o Football.
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The Portuguese forge their football talents in the Cidade do Futebol in Oeiras, 20 kilometers west of Lisbon. This is where the greats like Cristiano Ronaldo (ManU), Diogo Jota (Liverpool), João Coancelo (ManCity) and Bernardo Silva (ManCity) come to prepare for the international matches of the senior national team.
The national training center is a small football town in the immediate vicinity of the sea. It was opened in 2016 after less than two years of construction. The system is impressive and it is understandable that the Swiss association is evaluating something comparable for itself in a feasibility study.
This is the opponent of the Portuguese in the Nations League on Sunday. In the first appearance, Fernando Santos’ team drew 1-1 against Spain, while Switzerland lost 2-1 in the Czech Republic.
Already in office with the European title
The 67-year-old Santos was already in charge of the 2016 European Championship title and is considered a pragmatic and not necessarily a progressive coach, he says before the game:
“Switzerland has surpassed itself in recent years. Maybe she’s the most grown team in Europe.”
Santos, who always seems a bit gnarly, but has great charisma, has a small world selection available: the market value of the squad is estimated at 820 million euros, the team is Ronaldo simply because of the superfigure, at the age of 37 in the autumn of his career and sometimes the development of the team a bit inhibiting, against Switzerland in the role of favorites.
–Nuno Mendes (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo.
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Santos says: «Switzerland is not a banal team, but of course we want to win. We want to go back to the Final Four. We play for eleven million Portuguese.”
Santos is well prepared
Santos is well prepared for the opponent, knows that his 4-4-2 against the Czech Republic was an exception and immediately mentions a 4-2-3-1 as the basic strategy for Switzerland. With the corresponding names like Xhaka, Freuler, Shaqiri, Embolo, Okafor, and and and. Sitting next to the trainer this Saturday afternoon is another star from the Portuguese team, who are almost coming out on the assembly line: Bruno Fernandes.
–Bruno Fernandes (links) and Fernando Santos.
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The midfielder from ManU, with a market value of 90 million euros, mentioned his high standards at the press conference: “We always want to win when we put on Portugal’s jersey. And we want to repeat the triumph in the Nations League.” That was in 2019, when the Lusitanians also defeated Switzerland 3-1 in Porto in a stirring encounter.
The question remains whether Ronaldo will start on Sunday. He didn’t do that against Spain. Santos does not look at the cards, he says: “He is the world’s best player. Ronaldo may play.” However, it is highly likely that the superstar will be in the starting lineup. At home, at Sporting’s Estádio José Alvalade stadium, where Ronaldo’s career began to flourish.
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