Portugal manager Paulo Bento will be without Nani for his side’s next two World Cup qualifiers after the Manchester United winger was ruled out with a hamstring injury.
Portugal will be without Nani for their next two qualifiers
Portugal have announced their squad ahead of their next two World Cup qualifiers. Nani will be missing out after picking up a hamstring injury.
Alex Livesey
As the old saying goes though, when one door closes another one opens and that's true in this case as well. Nani's bad hamstring has allowed Adelino Freitas, aka. Vieirinha, to earn his first call-up for Portugal. The 27-year-old winger, who plays for Wolfsburg, was among the players announced by Bento today for Portugal's next to qualfying matches against Isreal and Azerbaijan.
Benfica's Carlos Martins and Olympiakos' Paulo Machado were recalled, along with Joao Moutinho from Porto despite the midfielder struggling with a bruised thigh.
Portugal is current tied for second place in Group F with Isreal, five points behind the group leader Russia.
Here’s the full squad:
Goalkeepers: Rui Patricio, Eduardo, Beto.
Defenders: Joao Pereira, Bruno Alves, Henrique Sereno, Luis Neto, Fabio Coentrao, Silvio, Pepe.
Midfielders: Miguel Veloso, Carlos Custodio, Raul Meireles, Joao Moutinho.
Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo, Silvestre Varela, Helder Postiga, Hugo Almeida, Danny, Vieirinha, Pizzi, Paulo Machado.
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