Portugal’s coach Fernando Santos is seen ahead of the friendly football match between Belgium and Portugal, on June 2, 2018 at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels.

World Cup 2018: Fixtures, kick off time, group, coach and squad for Portugal

Can Ronaldo finally inspire his team to glory?

by Alexis Haden

03-06-2018 08:35

in Soccer

Portugal’s coach Fernando Santos is seen ahead of the friendly football match between Belgium and Portugal, on June 2, 2018 at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels.

Forwards Eder and Nani were surprise absentees from Portugal’s World Cup squad with national team coach Fernando Santos opting instead for the youth of Andre Silva and Goncalo Guedes to play alongside superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

Also missing from the 23-man squad was Andre Gomes who, like Eder and Nani, played at the 2016 European championships won by the Portuguese.

Injured Porto midfielder Danilo Pereira was also missing from the line-up.

At 33, five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo and 34-year-old Ricardo Quaresma are the only players over 30 in the Portuguese attack.

Eder scored the extra-time winning goal in the Euro 2016 final against France but he was desperately out of form for Lokomotiv Moscow this season, scoring just four goals as his club side claimed the Russian Premier League title.

Nani, 31 and his country’s third most-capped player behind Ronaldo and Luis Figo with 112 appearances, has played just 24 matches all season with Lazio.

“From a human perspective, it’s very hard to discard players who were with us at Euro 2016,” admitted 63-year-old coach Santos.

“They have all contributed to writing a brilliant chapter in the history of Portuguese football. But I had to make choices that for me make a better puzzle.”

Winger Guedes, 21, has impressed on loan at Valencia from Paris Saint-Germain this season, having struggled in France last term.

Andre Silva, 22, scored eight goals in 14 games during AC Milan’s Europa League campaign, which proved enough to see him called up despite only starting seven Serie A matches.

Santos called up 21-year-old Benfica defender Ruben Dias for the first time, but Monaco youngster Rony Lopes missed out despite a breakthrough season in Ligue 1 with 13 goals from midfield.

Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves also failed to make the final list, despite starting a friendly win in March over Egypt.

Portugal are in Group B at the World Cup, which starts in Russia on 14 June along with former champions Spain, Morocco and Iran.

That Portugal were beaten 3-0 in a friendly in March by the Netherlands, who failed even to qualify for the World Cup, does not bode well but ageing or out-of-form players will hope to regain their rhythm come crunch time next month.

One player who shows no sign of fading is Ronaldo and with him, of course, Portugal will always have a chance.

“Are these players stronger than the ones that won at the Euros? I’m not sure,” Santos said. “But I have absolute confidence in this squad just as I did in the last one.”

Facts about Portugal (Group B)

Honours: European Championship winners 2016

Past World Cup performances: Seventh participation

Best result: Third (1966)

FIFA ranking: 4th

Main clubs: Benfica, Porto, Sporting Lisbon

Nickname: A Selecao das Quinas

How they qualified: Beat Switzerland to top spot on goal difference in UEFA qualifying Group B after winning nine of their 10 games.

Coach: Fernando Santos

Santos enjoyed a decent, if unspectacular, playing career that was mostly spent with Estoril in the first, second and third tiers of Portuguese football.

In management, he has coached in Portugal, with giants Benfica, Sporting Lisbon and Porto, and Greece, where he was in charge of AEK Athens, Panathinaikos and finally the Greek national team at Euro 2012. They made the quarter-finals before losing to Germany.

Some would say Santos is the antithesis of attractive, attacking football, with his teams usually set up to defend first, maintain shape and frustrate opponents through discipline and hard work.

Under his leadership, Portugal won Euro 2016 scoring more than one goal in only two of their seven matches but who could argue with the result? His team won the country’s first major tournament in its history.

Portugal World Cup squad

Anthony Lopes, Beto, Rui Patricio, Bruno Alves, Cedric Soares, Jose Fonte, Mario Rui, Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro, Ricardo Pereira, Ruben Dias, Adrien Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Mario, Joao Moutinho, Manuel Fernandes, William Carvalho, Andre Silva, Bernardo Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gelson Martins, Goncalo Guedes, Ricardo Quaresma.