Cristiano Ronaldo has now surpassed 200 caps for the Portuguese national team, with the Al Nassr forward set to captain his country in Germany, with the 38-year-old likely to be making his final appearance in a European Championship. There was everything to like about the way that this nation were able qualify by recording ten straight victories.
However, it was an easy section for a team who boast Joao Palhinha, Bruno Fernandes and Vitinha in the midfield department, with Goncalo Ramos, Bernardo Silva and Joao Felix dangerous operators in attack for a team who will be happy enough to be facing Czech Republic in their opening clash at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig.
It’s possible that Greece could be the team that comes through the play-offs and there’s also Turkey to face, giving Portugal a solid potential run in the tournament. However, Czech Republic were able to be one of the surprise packages when landing a quarter final spot at Euro 2020, with the team hoping that Patrik Schick can be fit considering his impressive strike rate.
The outsiders will be happy to land a point from this encounter against dangerous opponents although there are sure to be plenty of Euro 2024 accumulators that feature Portugal and perhaps Martinez can replicate the success that predecessor Fernando Santos enjoyed at Euro 2016 when the team triumphed against all the odds.