The winds of change are blowing and it seems that Portugal is already looking at life beyond Russia 2018. This is probably the best way to describe the 23-man squad named by manager Fernando Santos for the FIFA World Cup.
Shocking and impressive at the same time were the bold decisions taken by the manager to drop certain illustrious names
that had been disappointing for their clubs. Instead, club form and
future potential have been taken into consideration and this Portugal
team looks good enough (on paper) for at least a quarter-final berth.
Even amid the euphoria of winning Euro 2016, even the most ardent fan of A Seleção das Quinas as
the Portuguese national team is known would admit that the victory was
largely unexpected and came in a style that was uncomfortably similar to
Greece’s at Euro 2004 (ironically hosted by Portugal).
Coach
Santos shocked a lot of pundits by dropping the ever-present Nani (the
third most capped player in Portugal’s history), the hero of the Euro
2016 final against France; Eder and the Barcelona pair of Nelson Semedo
and Andre Gomes. A Portugal team to a major competition without these
four would have been unimaginable a few months ago.
A look at the
squad picked by Santos shows a nice mix of experienced players,
middle-aged players who have been around the team for a while and a
collection of exciting young talent who have come through the youth
ranks.
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
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