Portugal gives Joao Félix, Joao Cancelo, and CR7 a well-deserved break Rest up, boys!
The Portugal coach, Roberto Martínez, will be without Cristiano Ronaldo and the Barcelona players Joao Félix and Joao Cancelo for the friendly match against Sweden, as reported by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). He wants to manage their workload during a tough part of the season, similar to Barça-PSG in the Champions League, where Vitinha and Danilo from PSG will also join the team a few days later.
In an announcement, the Portuguese Federation revealed that both the Portuguese captain and the FC Barcelona players will only join the squad “at the start of preparations for the match against Slovenia“, which will take place on the 26th in Ljubljana.
For the game against the Swedish team, happening this Thursday in the Portuguese city of Guimaraes, Martínez has also decided to leave out the other two players who play in Saudi Arabia, Otávio and Rubén Neves, as well as Danilo and Vitinha from PSG, and Diogo Dalot from Manchester United.
This decision was explained by the Spanish coach himself last Friday when announcing the squad, as March, according to Martínez, “is a very challenging period for the players”, with “many games and a lot of mental fatigue.”
Just this month, Cristiano has played 390 minutes in four games with Saudi side Al Nassr, while Félix is coming off a tough match at the Cívitas Metropolitano, where he scored the first goal in Barça’s 0-3 win against “his” Atlético from Madrid.
During a press conference held this Monday at the Ciudad del Fútbol complex in Oeiras, on the outskirts of Lisbon, Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes mentioned that “it’s wise to manage fatigue”, but there is still “ambition to win both matches.”
In doubt for the matches are former Barça Francisco Trincão and Raphael Guerreiro, who according to the FPF “are being evaluated” by the team’s medical staff after injuries suffered in the last matches of their teams, Sporting and Bayern Munich, respectively.
This content has been translated and adapted from the Spanish version of the digital newspaper
