2023-09-08 14:33:42
Portugal is a candidate to overtake Slovakia… and Spain to correct course at the expense of Georgia
Portugal and its veteran leader, Cristiano Ronaldo, are visiting Slovakia in Bratislava, looking to move away from the top of Group He lost the Nations League final, where he will meet his Latvian counterpart in the fourth group competitions.
Under the leadership of its new Spanish coach, Roberto Martinez, Portugal has defeated all its competitors so far, and the confrontation with Slovakia will be second in line to maintain its perfect record.
After defeating Slovakia today, Portugal will face an easy test on Monday in Faro against Luxembourg, which lost at home to Portugal 6-0 on March 26, including a brace by Ronaldo.
Despite his 38 years, Ronaldo maintains his great drive, and has expressed a renewed desire to achieve “more” with his country’s national team and “go even further” than his record achievement, which made him the first player in history to reach 850 goals in his career.
Ronaldo stands with the Portuguese players during training before facing Slovakia (APA)
In a press conference before training in the suburbs of Lisbon in preparation for the matches between Slovakia and Luxembourg, the Saudi Al-Nasr star said: “I want more, as long as I am able to play. I want to raise the level (ambition) very high. “I have to think big.”
Ronaldo celebrated his 200th international match last June by scoring the only goal in Portugal’s victory over Iceland, which allowed his country to remain at the top of the group. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner for the best player in the world stressed: “I really want to win these two matches. If we win, we will practically qualify.”
This year, Ronaldo celebrates the twentieth anniversary of his debut with the national team, stressing that he is “proud” of this “long journey” and said: “I want to continue, because I feel good and useful (to the team), but anything can happen,” adding, “At the present time I want to “Enjoying the moment and aiming to have an excellent European Cup.”
With Martinez’s arrival to succeed Fernando Santos, Ronaldo regained his place in the national team’s starting lineup after losing it during the Qatar World Cup at the end of last year, when his career with his teammates ended in the quarter-finals at the hands of Morocco.
Ronaldo deserved to be with the national team again after the promising start of his season with Al-Nasr, as he scored six goals in the four matches that his team played in the new season of the Saudi League.
It was supposed to be another veteran alongside Ronaldo in the two qualifying matches, but the injury deprived Pepe (40 years old) of helping the national team, similar to Rafael Guerrero and Renato Sanchez.
Martinez surprised everyone when he decided to rely on Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo, who are away from the match atmosphere in the new football season. The two players hope to regain their brilliance with their new Spanish team, Barcelona, which included them on loan from their compatriots, Atletico Madrid, and Manchester City, the English champions, respectively.
After joining him in 2019 for 126 million euros, Felix (23 years old) struggled to impose himself as an indispensable element in the Atletico Madrid squad and became unwanted due to his repeatedly seeking to join Barcelona, which he said in the short introduction video for the Portuguese player: “He has achieved his dream.” .
Felix played with Chelsea in the second half of last season, also on loan, without much success, and thus he will try to launch his career again from Barcelona.
In Group D, Croatia, which was content with finishing second in the European Nations League last June, is looking forward to compensation in the European Cup qualifiers when it meets Latvia in the round.
The fifth today, which witnesses another confrontation between the national teams of Türkiye and Armenia.
The Turkish national team leads the group standings with 9 points, after playing 4 matches, as it is 3 points ahead of its closest rival, the Armenia national team, which played 3 matches. The Croatian team occupies third place with 4 points from two matches, superior on goal difference to the Wales team, which is fourth, and equal with them on the same score, but the latter has played 4 matches, while the Latvian team is at the bottom of the standings with no points.
After finishing third in the last World Cup, which was held in Qatar in the winter of last year, the Croatian national team was aspiring to obtain the first international title in its career since secession from the state of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, but it lost the European Nations League final to Spain on penalties.
Coach Zlatko Dalic’s team began its campaign in the group with a 1-1 draw with Wales, before winning 2-0 over Turkey last March. The Croatian national team is looking forward to continuing its superiority over the Latvian national team, after defeating it in all four matches that brought them together, which witnessed the team scoring 10 goals, while its competitor scored one goal.
This will be the first confrontation between the two teams in nearly 12 years, as their last meeting dates back to October 11, 2011, in the European Nations qualifiers (Euro 2012), which ended with Croatia winning 2-0.
Without a doubt, the Croatian team has the best chance of winning the three points at the expense of the Latvian team, which qualified for the European Nations once in 2004, given the difference in technical and material capabilities, which naturally favors the Croats.
The Croatia national team, ranked sixth in the world in the latest classification issued by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) last July, is armed with many experienced elements in its ranks, led by Luka Modric, the Spanish midfielder for Real Madrid, Ivan Perisic, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic.
For its part, the Turkish national team is looking to boost its hopes in order to qualify for the continental competition for the sixth time in its history and the third in a row, when it hosts its Armenian counterpart. The Turkish team, ranked 41st in the world, aspires to repeat this
His victory over the Armenian national team, after defeating them 2-1 in the opening round of the group last March.
After losing to Croatia in the second round, the Turkish national team quickly regained its balance, winning 3-2 over its host Latvia, and 2-0 over Wales in the third and fourth rounds, respectively.
It will not be an easy task for the Turks to overcome the obstacle of the Armenian team, which revived its hopes of ascending to the European Nations for the first time in its history, after winning 4-2 over its host Wales, and 2-1 over Latvia in its two matches.
The last two in the group, making up for its loss in the first round against Türkiye.
In the first group, Spain will host Georgia in the fifth round, which will also witness another confrontation between Cyprus and its guest, Scotland.
The Scottish national team is at the top with 12 points from 4 matches, while the Georgian national team is in second place with 4 points from 3 matches, and Spain is in fourth place with three points from only two matches, and the Cyprus national team is at the bottom of the standings with no points, after losing in its three matches. Which he has played in the qualifiers so far.
After the Spanish national team began its campaign in the group with a 3-0 victory over its guest, the Norwegian national team, it shocked its fans by losing 0-2 to the Scottish national team in the second round.
The Spanish national team quickly regained its balance after winning the European Nations League title last June, where it won 2-1 over Italy in the semi-finals, before defeating Croatia on penalties in the final match.
The Spanish Matador, who won the European Championships in 1964, 2008 and 2012, wants to exploit the momentum he gained from this coronation and overcome the Georgia hurdle today and then the next round against Cyprus next Monday in the city of Granada.
For its part, the Scotland national team wants to maintain its ideal start when it goes out to meet the Cyprus national team, seeking the full mark. The Scottish national team previously qualified for the European Nations Cup in 1992 in Sweden and 1996 in England, in addition to the last edition (Euro 2020), but was unable to qualify for the knockout rounds in any of them.
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