Preview of Portugal against Croatia: Cristiano Ronaldo returns as Portugal prepares for Euro 2024

Ahead of Portugal’s second Euro 2024 warm-up match against Croatia tomorrow, Roberto Martínez stated, “Cristiano Ronaldo and Rúben Neves arrive today and the family is complete.”

With the exception of seasoned centre back Pepe, who is still recovering from an injury that kept him out of the Porto team’s last games of the season, all of the players will be available to the coach.

Martínez stated, “Pepe is working very well, but his main goal is to play against Ireland.” Tuesday in Aveiro will be Portugal’s last pre-tournament friendly versus the Irish.

Other participants in Euro 2024

Prior to that, Portugal takes against a team that will also be competing in Germany in their lone Euro 2024 practice match. The match at the legendary Estádio Nacional in Jamor tomorrow will be the toughest test the Seleção faces before the tournament, following their 4-2 victory over Finland on Tuesday.

A stronger defensive focus is required.

Regarding the vulnerable defence against Finland and in the last games, Martínez was questioned. Portugal have given up two goals in three consecutive games.

The defence was not given enough attention. There must be a strong defensive posture. We use 11 to attack and 11 to protect. I’m glad this [issue] arose against Finland now rather than later because it’s something we need to address before the Euro.

Despite being utilised sparingly during the qualifying campaign, Vitinha, a midfielder for PSG, may have worked himself into the starting XI for the Euro due to his excellent end-of-season form and a strong showing against Finland.

For the Croatia encounter, Martínez might go with what seems to be his best lineup at the moment, which might look somewhat like this 4-3-3: Diogo Costa; Bernardo Silva, Juan Ronaldo, Rafael Leão; João Cancelo, Rúben Dias, António Silva, Nuno Mendes; João Palhinha, Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes.

The great overachievers, Croatia

Having placed third in the previous World Cup in Qatar and finished runners-up in Russia, the Croatians are among the best football teams in the world and hardly require an introduction. With a population of little than four million, the eastern European nation can be regarded, along with Uruguay, as one of the most underperforming teams in sport.

Luka Modric, who holds the record for most caps, will continue to lead the team and be encouraged by his side’s recent Champions League victory over Real Madrid. Meanwhile, Portuguese supporters will remember Petar Musa, a striker who played in the Primeira Liga until January, first for Boavista and then for Benfica.

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Strangely, Zlatko Dalic’s team has not had such success in European Championships; in the last two editions of the competition, they were eliminated in the Round of 16 by Fernando Santos’ Seleção, who went on to win the title.

If the Seleção wins their group (Czechia, Turkey, and Georgia) and the Croats finish third in Group B (Spain, Italy, and Albania), Portugal may very well face Croatia again in the Round of 16 in Germany.

Tomorrow, Saturday, June 8, at Jamor, the Portugal vs. Croatia game begins at 5:45 p.m. local time.