Portugal target U21 European Championship semi-final against Sweden

Portugal target U21 European Championship semi-final against Sweden

Portugal meet Sweden in the U21 European Championships and will advance to the semi-finals if they can avoid defeat. A 1-0 win against a strong England side and a hard fought 0-0 draw against Italy has Rui Jorge’s young men on top of Group B, a great position to progress and qualify for the Olympic Games in Brazil.

Stadion Miroslav Valenty in Uherske Hradiste is the venue, Portugal’s third consecutive match at the stadium while Sweden played their first two games 80kms away at the Andrův stadion in Olomouc.    

Matthew Marshall previews Portugal versus Sweden.

 

Portugal

Portugal battled to a goalless draw against Italy but were outplayed for much of the contest and did little to threaten the young Azzurri. José Sá was largely responsible for a second consecutive clean sheet, Marítimo’s commanding young goalkeeper in outstanding form in the tournament thus far.        

Portugal’s full backs were heavily involved in attack but vulnerable in defence, particularly Raphael Guerreiro who was dominated and caught out on numerous occasions by Davide Zappacosta. João Mário and Sérgio Oliveira appeared fatigued as the match wore on which may be a concern with games every three days.

Rui Jorge made two changes against Italy with Rafa Silva and Carlos Mané replacing wingers Ricardo Pereira and the injured Ivan Cavaliero. Mané tried hard against a strong Italian defence but Rafa Silva was poor and ineffective, duly replaced by Gonçalo Paciência in the 55th minute.

Bernardo Silva displayed his class in the false 9 position once again, the Monaco attacker surely one of the brightest Portuguese prospects and a future star for the Seleção. Positive signs for Rui Jorge were the midfield trio of Sergio Oliveira, William Carvalho and João Mário who continued to impress and will be pushing for a place in France 2016.

Sweden

Sweden scraped through the qualifying round to set up a knockout tie against France. A 2-0 defeat in Le Mans was followed by a sensational comeback to guarantee their ticket to the Czech Republic. A 3-0 lead in the second leg in Halmstad was surrendered in the 87th minute, but Oscar Lewicki rescued his country seconds later to secure a dramatic 4-1 victory.

The Blågult’s two matches in the Czech Republic have both been defined by late drama. Alexander Milosevic was sent off in the 28th minute against Italy as Sweden went into half time 1-0 down, a superb fightback secured with John Guidetti and Isaac Thelin scoring for a 2-1 win which left the Italians shell-shocked. A goalless draw against England appeared likely before Jesse Lingard struck late on which leaves Sweden in a precarious position against Portugal.

Breakdown

Rui Jorge has interesting selection dilemmas heading into the Sweden game. Fatigue is a legitimate concern with games every three days and João Mário and Bernardo Silva are a card away from a suspension. Silva has been immense thus far but the lack of an out and out striker was exposed against Italy without Cavaleiro and Pereira. Their work rate on and off the ball was missed against Italy and Portugal suffered as a result.

Thelin and Guidetti are dangerous strikers and Portugal will need to avoid complacency with a draw enough to progress, Gonçalo Paciência echoing those sentiments pre-game, saying "If you enter the pitch with the wrong attitude, feeling comfortable rather than hungry, then you will pay the penalty and things will certainly go wrong."

Rui Jorge will likely select a strong line up and hope to get a lead in order to rest key players ahead of the semi-final clash on the weekend. Ivan Cavaleiro has recovered and may start while Iuri Medeiros, Tozé, Ruben Neves and Gonçalo Paciência could see more action.

The Portuguese coach and players have repeatedly stated that their goal is to make the semi-finals and thus qualify for next summer's Olympic Games in Brazil.

Sweden were fortunate to qualify for the tournament while Portugal won 10 consecutive games en route to the Czech Republic. I expect the Seleção to reach their Olympic Games objective with a semi-final appearance where anything could happen, hopefully for Portugal and the Portuguese diaspora a U21 European Championship trophy. Força!

Probable line-ups:

Portugal: José Sá, Ricardo Esgaio, Tiago Ilori, Paulo Oliveira, Raphael Guerreiro, William Carvalho, Sérgio Oliveira, João Mário, Bernardo Silva, Ricardo Pereira and Carlos Mané.

Sweden: Patrik Carlgren, Joseph Baffo, Alexander Milosevic, Filip Helander, Ludwig Augustinsson, Sam Larsson, Oscar Hiljemark, Oscar Lewicki, Abdul Khalili, Isaac Thelin and John Guidetti.

 

Follow Matthew Marshall on Twitter @noobzcorp and check out The Beautiful Game.