The official WC2018 thread for reigning European champions Portugal

[noikeee]

 

Goalkeepers

Rui Patrício (Free agent*) - 30 years old, 69 caps.
Anthony Lopes (Lyon) - 27 years old, 7 caps.
Beto (Goztepe) - 36 years old, 14 caps.

Defenders

Bruno Alves (Glasgow Rangers) - 36 years old, 96 caps, 11 goals.
Pepe (Besiktas) - 35 years old, 95 caps, 5 goals.
Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund) - 24 years old, 24 caps, 2 goals.
José Fonte (Dalian Yifang) - 34 years old, 31 caps.
Rúben Dias (Benfica) - 21 years old, 1 cap.
Ricardo Pereira (Leicester) - 24 years old, 4 caps.
Mário Rui (Napoli) - 27 years old, 4 caps.
Cédric (Southampton) - 26 years old, 29 caps, 1 goal.

Midfielders

Manuel Fernandes (Lokomotiv Moscow) - 32 years old, 14 caps, 1 goal.
João Moutinho (Monaco) - 31 years old, 110 caps, 7 goals.
João Mário (West Ham) - 25 years old, 36 caps, 2 goals.
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) - 23 years old, 25 caps, 2 goals.
William Carvalho (Free agent*) - 26 years old, 43 caps, 2 goals.
Bruno Fernandes (Free agent*) - 23 years old, 6 caps, 1 goal.
Adrien Silva (Leicester) - 29 years old, 23 caps, 1 goal.

Forwards

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) - 33 years old, 150 caps, 81 goals.
André Silva (AC Milan) - 23 years old, 23 caps, 12 goals.
Gonçalo Guedes (Valencia) - 21 years old, 10 caps, 3 goals.
Gelson Martins (Free agent*) - 23 years old, 18 caps.
Ricardo Quaresma (Besiktas) - 34 years old, 77 caps, 9 goals.

* in conflict with former club Sporting CP, broke off their contracts.

Expected lineup (4-4-2)

Rui Patrício

Raphael Guerreiro
Pepe
José Fonte
Cédric

João Mário
William Carvalho
João Moutinho
Bernardo Silva

Cristiano Ronaldo
André Silva

(other likely variants: Bruno Alves or Ruben Dias instead of José Fonte; Bruno Fernandes instead of João Mário; Gonçalo Guedes instead of André Silva)

Expected playing style

Whisper it quietly but it might not be that bad if the final friendly vs Algeria is any indicator.

Strenghts

* Ronaldo.
* The hugely talented Bernardo Silva who is only still slowly gelling into the side, and would probably benefit from a more possession-based setup, but talent-wise is unquestionably the next best after Ronaldo.
* A surprisingly balanced core of motivated young talents mixed with a few stalwarts with huge experience.
* A well-drilled duller than dull gameplan of parking a very big bus.

Weaknesses

* A CB pairing that is older than the Beatles and slower than erosion.
* Cédric, the 30-crosses-per-match-without-even-looking-at-the-area robot. David Moyes would love him.
* Guerreiro on the other fullback position seems off form after an injury-ridden season and defensively dodgy.

Record in previous World Cups

1966 - Semi-finals, 3rd place
(gap)
1986 - Group stage
(gap)
2002 - Group stage
2006 - Semi-finals, 4th place
2010 - Round of 16
2014 - Group stage

Not qualified for all other tournaments.

Schedule

Friday June 15 - 19h00 BST - Sochi: Portugal-Spain
Wednesday June 20 - 13h00 BST - Moscow: Portugal-Morocco
Monday June 25 - 19h00 BST - Saransk: Portugal-Iran
(...)
Sunday July 15 - 18h00 BST - Moscow: Portugal-some other clowns

Odds of actually getting there and winning it

The nicest odds you can get on a bookie right now are 27/1. The most confident bookie is at 20/1.

So, are you confident they'll get there?

No.

[decapitated]

Who were the other (and presuambly younger) options for Santos to pick at centre back rather than Fonte, Alves or Pepe?

[noikeee]

3 minutes ago, decapitated said:

Who were the other (and presuambly younger) options for Santos to pick at centre back rather than Fonte, Alves or Pepe?

The other 2 CBs in the earlier list of 35 players were Rolando who plays for Marseille and is 32, and Luis Neto who plays for Fenerbahçe and is 30. 

We just have a huge issue at CB at the moment. The younger guys from later generations simply didn't make it. You'd be looking at the likes of

- Daniel Carriço (can't get any games at Sevilla and is 29 already anyway),
- Ruben Semedo (24, Villarreal, but... in jail for alleged armed robbery and kidnapping  ),
- Paulo Oliveira (26, playing for Eibar one of the weakest sides in La Liga, he's a decent CB but not national team standard IMO),
- André Pinto (28, can't get any games for Sporting),
-  Roderick Miranda (27, Wolves, a walking liability, doesn't seem to get games not even at Championship level).

[Astafjevs]

I thought Ruben Dias was in the squad and would start?

I think Portugal will do OK. Just concerned that they're playing two in midfield and they are both quite slow.

[noikeee]

31 minutes ago, Astafjevs said:

I thought Ruben Dias was in the squad and would start?

I think Portugal will do OK. Just concerned that they're playing two in midfield and they are both quite slow.

He might, but he has a total 1 cap in the friendly against Tunisia that didn't go well.

[Constantine]

So Diogo Queirós is only great in FM?

[GunmaN1905]

Hoping for mental midget Joao Mario to perform well so someone splashes 30mil on him.

[PMLF]

Boa sorte para os nossos irmãos portugueses!

I think Portugal will reach quarter-finals or so.

[noikeee]

1 minute ago, Constantine said:

So Diogo Queirós is only great in FM?

He's said to be a good prospect (I haven't seen him play yet), but he's 19.  Yet to play a single match for our senior team. Only broke into the B team squad this season.

Hopefully he comes good and then in the future we'll have a proper pair between him and Ruben Dias. But for now, the reality is everyone between the ages of 22 and 29 is essentially ****, and if nobody else from the Diogo Queirós/Ruben Dias generations comes up very soon, we're ****ed.

[managerdude_66]

Rooting for Portugal this World Cup (which may or may not be because of Ronaldo ).
Been following this team for a good three years now. Excited by the generation of players coming through (Bernado Silva, Adrien Silva, Guedes, Neves and so on)
Although the lack of mobile CBs is a huge problem. Would have thought that post 2016, at least a couple of players would have been tried out at CB like William Carvalho.
Quite surprised to not see the likes of Ruben Neves, Nani (agree he's not been playing great) and Nelson Semedo in the squad.
Your thoughts on this @noikeee?

 

[adhikapp]

I heard Santos was planning on playing Danilo Pereira next to Pepe in defense but he got injured. It must be frustrating having 4 right-backs of equal quality yet none of them can play at CB

Who would've thought a nation that had Pepe, Alves, Carvalho, Meira, Couto etc but couldn't really regenerate new ones.

[noikeee]

14 minutes ago, managerdude_66 said:

Rooting for Portugal this World Cup (which may or may not be because of Ronaldo ).
Been following this team for a good three years now. Excited by the generation of players coming through (Bernado Silva, Adrien Silva, Guedes, Neves and so on)
 Akthough the lack of mobile CBs is a huge problem. Would have thought that post 2016, at least a couple of players would have been tried out at CB like William Carvalho.
 Quite surprised to not see the likes of Ruben Neves, Nani (agree he's not been playing great) and Nelson Semedo in the squad.
Your thoughts on this @noikeee?

  

We shouldn't miss Nani, given that we have Guedes, André Silva, Bernardo Silva, Gelson, Quaresma, all better attacking options that can play roughly in the same positions as him (forward next to Ronaldo; and/or pure winger; and/or inside forward; and/or attacking midfielder).

Ruben Neves and Nelson Semedo are different cases. We should've brought a 2nd DM after William Carvalho yes, and Ruben Neves was the obvious answer given that Danilo Pereira is injured. But he preferred to call up Adrien who has been a very reliable for the national team over the last few years, even if he's off-form after stopping for half a season... I can sort of understand this option, since Ruben can be a bit soft defensively, and he's had it somewhat easy to shine this season, playing in a 2nd tier league. But I don't trust Adrien as DM if it comes to that...

Nelson Semedo should've been in the squad too, but the starting RB Cedric seems to be the manager's fetish player and you could make a decent argument for Ricardo Pereira over Nelson Semedo as well, as he's far more versatile, can do any position on any wing or even play upfront.

As for adapting others to the CB position, though the idea of William Carvalho as CB to make it more mobile is hilarious (he's an absolute statue!! he plays as if he's a tree with roots to his position!!), Danilo Pereira adapted to CB would've been a legitimate option... if he wasn't injured.

[kingjericho]

1 minute ago, adhikapp said:

I heard Santos was planning on playing Danilo Pereira next to Pepe in defense but he got injured. It must be frustrating having 4 right-backs of equal quality yet none of them can play at CB

Who would've thought a nation that had Pepe, Alves, Carvalho, Meira, Couto etc but couldn't really regenerate new ones.

No way Danilo would play as a CB. Ruben Dias and José Fonte would always be ahead of him.

I think we can do well. If we get a good draw like in the Euro (avoiding Germany and Brazil), I won't rule anything out.

The influence CR7 has on the rest of the group is amazing, he can motivate them to give their all, and the current group (2016- ) has a motivation, friendship, and desire that was not seen in the NT at least since 2000.

[noikeee]

Edited first post as news just came in William Carvalho, Gelson Martins and Bruno Fernandes are now all free agents, after ripping off their Sporting contracts like Rui Patrício did.  

[FaceCrusher]

Strengths: Difficult do beat

Weaknesses: Shooting accuracy (except Ronaldo)

 

I expect a lot of 0-0's and 1-0's/0-1's.

Getting out of the group would be nice (have to win at least a match, may or may not be easy), after that it depends on which team is having a better shooting day with the few chances they'll get. Can't see us getting past the likes of Brazil, Germany or France unless they're on a really bad day, as they have too much quality up-front.

[Bliss Seeker]

Portugal are my second team. Purely for Ronaldo. Oh, can you imagine his little weeping face if they were lift the trophy?

 

[Baptista_8]

20 hours ago, noikeee said:

Edited first post as news just came in William Carvalho, Gelson Martins and Bruno Fernandes are now all free agents, after ripping off their Sporting contracts like Rui Patrício did.  

No way. Where will they likely be headed?

[sc91]

11 minutes ago, Baptista_8 said:

No way. Where will they likely be headed?