Portugal begins Roberto Martínez era without breaking with the past

After eight years of glories and disappointments in the Fernando Santos era, Portugal starts a new chapter with Spanish coach Roberto Martínez this Thursday (23), against Liechtenstein, betting on continuity and on the indispensable Cristiano Ronaldo.

The legacy left by Santos can be a pressure, since with him the Portuguese team won the first two titles in its history (Eurocopa 2016 and Liga das Nações 2019), but the Martínez era, the third foreigner to manage the team, has everything to start off on the right foot.

For this good start of the qualifiers for Euro 2024, the Portuguese will receive the weak selection of Liechtenstein, 198th in the Fifa ranking, before visiting Luxembourg on Sunday (92nd).

Portugal arrives as the main favorite of Group J, which also has Iceland, Slovakia and Bosnia.

As he promised in his official presentation in January, Martínez based his first call-up on a group used to frequenting the selection under Santos.

The Spaniard did not make any revolutions in his first list: 23 of the 26 called up were in the squad that played in the 2022 World Cup.

All set up for tomorrow’s game! 🫰🇵🇹 #VesteABandeira

All set for tomorrow’s match! 🫰🇵🇹 #WearTheFlag pic.twitter.com/dn3tXGmzS3

— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) March 22, 2023

“I don’t look at age”

With the exception of defensive midfielder William Carvalho, the other big names remain in the team: goalkeeper Rui Patrício, defender Pepe (currently injured) and midfielders Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes.

Among the stars of the team is also the five-time Golden Ball Cristiano Ronaldo, despite his 38 years and being away from the spotlight of European football playing in Saudi Arabia.

“Cristiano Ronaldo is very committed (…) He is a player who can add experience, a symbol of the team. I don’t look at age”, said Martínez when revealing the list.

“I’m very happy to be back. I still have a lot to give to the national team”, declared Cristiano in a press conference this Wednesday, in which he explained that he doesn’t have “long term plans”, when asked if he intended to dispute the Euro of 2024 and the 2026 World Cup.

If he takes the field against Liechtenstein on Thursday or against Luxembourg on Sunday, CR7 will become the most capped player for a national team.

With 196 appearances for Portugal, Cristiano shares the record with Kuwaiti striker Bader Al-Mutawa, who is also still active at the age of 38, despite not being called up for his national team’s next games, against the Philippines and Tajikistan.

“The records are a motivation. I want to be the player with the most international appearances in history, it would be something to be proud of. But I don’t want to stop here, I want them to keep calling me frequently”, declared the number 7.

3 points in sight against Liechtenstein! 🫡 #VesteABandeira

Full focus on winning against Liechtenstein! 🫡 #WearTheFlag pic.twitter.com/p6e9Fv7Dxv

— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) March 21, 2023

“Tactically flexible”

Despite the list without much news, Martínez seems determined to start a job little considered by his predecessor: the renovation of the defense.

The Spanish coach called up two new defenders: Gonçalo Inácio (21 years old), from Sporting, and Diogo Leite (24 years old), from Union Berlin.

“The national team needs to be able to play with two or three defenders. We have to be tactically flexible”, explained Martínez.

Both Inacio and Leite are used to playing for their teams in the three-defender scheme, which Martínez used in the Belgium national team, but which Santos never used.

“They are two players who can add something different to the national team”, stated the coach.

Until now, Santos always used two central defenders. Normally, one of them was the veteran Pepe (40 years old), usually alongside Rúben Dias, and the options if one of them was not available were to withdraw midfielder Danilo Pereira or launch the young António Silva (19 years old).