Rúben Dias guarantees Portugal “strong and prepared” even without Pepe
Footballer Rúben Dias assured today that Portugal will present “strong and prepared” against the Czech Republic, in the penultimate game of Group A2 of the League of Nations, despite having lost the experienced Pepe through injury.
“The team is doing well, it’s ready and the ideal scenario was to be able to count on everyone. Pepe had to leave, but even so, the team secured Manchester City’s centre-back during a press conference ahead of Saturday’s game.
Rúben Dias prefers “not to talk about individualities”, given the return of forward Patrick Schick on the Czech side, and considers that Portugal has to worry about what it will do on the pitch at the Éden Arena, in Prague.
“To highlight their team and the dangers they can create. They have their weapons and they are a dangerous team. But above all, we have to worry about ourselves,” she stressed.
On Saturday, the ‘citizens’ player should form a duo in the defensive axis with Danilo, a player who is a midfielder from scratch, but who “plays very well in the central position”.
“Danilo has known that his position has not been central for a long time, but it could be very well. And, of course, we trained together,” he concluded.
The match between Czechs and Portuguese, on Saturday, starts at 19:45 (in Lisbon), at the Eden Arena, in Prague, and will be refereed by Sérvio Srdjan Jovanovic. In the sixth and final round, scheduled for Tuesday, Portugal will host Spain in Braga.
After four rounds of the League of Nations, Portugal is in second place in Group A2, with seven points, after triumphs over Switzerland (4-0) and the Czech Republic (2-0), both in Lisbon, a draw in Seville, with Spain (1-1), and a defeat in Geneva, against the Swiss (1-0).
Spain is the leader of the ‘poule’, with eight points, while the Czech Republic is third, with four, and Switzerland the last, with three.
The ‘quinas’ team, winner of the first edition of the League of Nations in 2019, needs to win the group to reach the ‘final four’ of the third edition, the second being won by France, in a final with Spain, in 2021.
Four winning stages of the League A semi-final groups qualify for the final half of the League, final and third-place group-final match. The ‘final four’ of the third edition of the race will be held in June 2023.