PREVIEW
Portugal will play Sweden in a friendly match on Friday at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques in Guimaraes.
Portugal, which will be in action at the European Championships (euros) 2024 in June, is in Group F along with the Czech Republic, Turkey and one of Georgia, Luxembourg, Greece, or Kazakhstan.
Therefore, head coach Roberto Martinez has the opportunity to tinker with formations and help him gauge the best possible team for the Euros.
Sweden, which did not qualify for the Euros, will have a new coach in Denmark’s Jon Dahl Tomasson, with the talismanic Sebastian Larsson as his assistant.
Team news and injuries
Portugal will be without Renato Sanches, Joao Mario, Diogo Jota, Ricardo Horta, and Pedro Neto, all sidelined due to injuries.
Captain and record-goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo will also not feature after Martinez agreed to rest the player for the first match. Ronaldo will return for Portugal’s second match against Slovenia on March 27.
Diogo Dalot, Joao Cancelo, Danilo Pereira, Otavio, Ruben Neves, Vitinha, and Joao Felix join Ronaldo in the list of players, allowed to rest for the Sweden match.
For Sweden, Filip Helander, Ken Sema, Martin Olsson, Jesper Karlstrom, Kristoffer Olsson, Marcus Rohden, Isaac Kiese Thelin, Viktor Claesson, Robin Quaison, and Jesper Karlsson will not feature in the latest squad.
Predicted XI
Portugal possible starting lineup: Costa(GK); Semedo, Dias, Pepe, Guerreiro; Fernandes, Palhinha, J. Neves; Bernardo, Ramos, Leao
Sweden possible starting lineup: Olsen(GK); Holm, Hien, Lindelof, Gudmundsson; Cajuste, Larsson, Forsburg; Kulusevski, Gyokeres, Isak
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