The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) announced this Monday the call-up of midfielder Matheus Nunes, from Manchester City, to compete in the European Championship. Born in Brazil, he was called up after Otávio was cut due to injury.
Otávio felt it in Al-Nassr’s last game of the season, the final of the Saudi King’s Cup, against Al-Hilal. The player was substituted in the 36th minute of the second half due to a muscle problem. On that occasion, the Portuguese team lost on penalties 5-4.
“Otávio was, this Monday, evaluated by the FPF’s Health and Performance Unit, which concluded that the player was unable to recover in time to participate in the European Championship”, published the entity.
Ready to help the team in #EURO2024 🇵🇹🫡 #SharingThePassion pic.twitter.com/llKieeJ1c9
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) June 3, 2024
As a result, coach Roberto Martínez opted to call up Matheus Nunes. The midfielder was born in Brazil and moved to Portugal when he was just 12 years old. In 2021, he chose to defend the European team.
Portugal is part of Group F in the European Championship alongside the Czech Republic, Türkiye and Georgia. The team makes its debut in the tournament on the 18th, at 4 pm (Brasília time), against the Czechs, at the Red Bull Arena.
Before that, Portugal has three preparatory friendlies. The first of them will be this Tuesday, at 3:45 pm, against Finland, at the José Alvalade stadium. Cristiano Ronaldo’s team still faces Croatia (08/06) and Ireland (11/06).
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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