Tiago Djalo will discover the Portuguese selection. The Lille defender was called on Monday as reinforcements by coach Fernando Santos, after Pepe tested positive for Covid-19. Djalo reunites with his Lille teammate José Fonte with Portugal and will face Turkey in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup play-offs.
Portugal relies on LOSC. While José Fonte was tipped to fill the position of central defender alongside Pepe for the World Cup play-off against Turkey in the coming days, the captain of Lille could find himself lined up alongside his Lille teammate Tiago Djalo .
The latter was retained on Monday by Fernando Santos, replacing Pepe, who tested positive for Covid-19. Djalo was to join the Espoirs team, as specified by the Portuguese Football Federation, but will therefore discover the A team of Portugal. A dream come true for the 21-year-old Lille defender.
“In the national team there are a lot of quality players. If I am included in the list for the play-offs or for the World Cup, I will be very happy. I hope that the work I have done will allow me to “to be called up. (…) It’s a dream to represent the national team, to play with and against the best. Reaching the national team is a privilege”, explained Djalo to Record in an interview last week.
A semi-final against Turkey before the final against Italy or North Macedonia
Already deprived of injured Manchester City central defender Ruben Dias, Portugal will host Turkey on Thursday in Porto in the semi-finals of the next World Cup play-offs. If successful, the Seleçao will host on March 29, again at the Dragon stadium, the winner of the semi-final between Italy and North Macedonia.
The Portuguese federation had already announced the package of midfielder Ruben Neves, injured this weekend with his club Wolverhampton. He was replaced in the Portuguese squad by debutant Vitinha, 22, very prominent this season at FC Porto and regularly present in the Espoirs selection.
Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates began their preparation camp on Monday at the federation’s training center, located in Oeiras, in the western suburbs of Lisbon. The Portugal team has participated in all the major international tournaments organized since Euro 2000, its last failure dating back to qualification for the 1998 World Cup.