Paulo Bento names squad for friendlies

March 21st, 2011 | by: Paulo |

With the upcoming friendlie 2818602214_1 s at the end of the month, Coach Paulo Bento has named his preliminary squad against Chile on the 26th and Finland on the 29th. Here it is.

Goalkeepers: Eduardo (Genoa), Ventura (Portimonense), Rui Patricio (Sporting)

Defenders: Bruno Alves (Zenit), Fabio Coentrao (Benfica), Joao Pereira (Sporting), Pepe (Real Madrid), Ricardo Carvalho (Real Madrid), Rolando (FC Porto), Silvio (Barga)

Midfielders: Carlos Martins (Benfica), Joao Moutinho (FC Porto), Miguel Veloso (Genoa), Paulo Machado (Toulouse), Raul Meireles (Liverpool), Ruben Micael (FC Porto)

Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Danny (Zenit), Helder Postiga (Sporting), Hugo Almeida (Besiktas), Nani (Manchester United), Ricardo Quaresma (Besiktas), Silvestre Varela (FC Porto)

Ronaldo has just recently picked up another left leg injury and will be out for at least two to the weeks making it likely that he will be replaced by someone. By who? Well we will see, but you can expect Quaresma to get the start instead of him. A few new names to mention. They include Braga full back Silvio who has replaced Bosingwa, Ruben Micael and Varela each from FC Porto.

Only problem for me is Almeida. Yes, he scored two goals last weekend, but it was his first signs of life over in Turkey where he hasn’t had any consistent success. I was hoping to see Liedson recalled because he has been the only consistent forward it seems in our whole country that has citizenship. I think Bento will give an opportunity to a healthy Varela up top. Previews to come for these games! Stay tuned!

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Comments

By Tiago | March 21st, 2011 at 9:17 pm

Nice.. Bento makes some usual but solid pickings again. He has mentioned that the possibility of Ronaldo playing striker led to the decision of not including Liedson so we might see Ronaldo playing up top pretty soon. Looking good. Lets see if we can beat Chile and Finland!

By Tina | March 22nd, 2011 at 4:58 pm

I sorta hope he doesn’t play Ronaldo as striker cause Ronaldo’s best position is on the wing. And besides, it looks like Ronaldo is going back to Madrid since he still has the injury. He should still call up Liedson and use him for now.

By Paulo | March 22nd, 2011 at 8:21 pm

I don’t think he will end up playing striker, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him with nani and quaresma on the wings briefly just to test it…especially in these friendlies it is important to build chemistry and experiment

Posted from United States

By Ivan | March 23rd, 2011 at 5:07 am

C. Ronaldo as a striker? Haven’t we learned this lesson before?

Posted from Portugal

By Zuker | March 23rd, 2011 at 7:19 am

Poor midfield. Poor strikers. Poor Goalkeeper. Many benchwarmers like Martins, Almeida, Micael and Veloso. Who is Silvio? I never heard about him. Where is Simao and Tiago?

I hope that Portugal will qualify for Euro Cup.

By Miggy | March 23rd, 2011 at 9:36 am

…Someone’s arrived late to the party.
Simao and Tiago retired many months ago.
The midfield is pretty solid…the goalkeepers are also not bad at all. Besides, I doubt neither Simao or Tiago could force their way into the starting XI with Nani and Meireles/Moutinho rspectively doing their jobs aswell as they are.

By Paulo | March 23rd, 2011 at 10:12 am

Thanks for getting him up to speed Miggy!!

Posted from United States

By Miggy | March 24th, 2011 at 5:25 am

Haha, it’s fine Paulo =)
Also, seems like Fergie taught Ronaldo well. Internationals comes around and the man is mysteriously injured. Is anyone ever likely to do an inquiry into this or what?

By Alex | March 25th, 2011 at 9:58 am

I thought we were over the CR striker scenario. I also would have preferred Liedson upfront given his current form. I’m eager to see how well Nani and Quaresma combine on the wings.

Posted from Canada

By ahmad | March 26th, 2011 at 9:30 am

Cristiano Ronaldo is not injured, not even close.

Posted from Lebanon

By Luis | March 26th, 2011 at 4:31 pm

35 minutes into the Chile friendly and Portugal is playing excellent team ball. Good control of the game and movement with what you could consider a plan B team. This midfield works. 3Ms – Martins, Moutinho, Meireles.

Posted from United States

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