Fernando Santos on Thursday announced his preliminary 26 man-squad to defend the European championship. The tournament was supposed to be held last year but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Uefa announced in may that each team will consist of 26 players instead of the usual 23 due to the risk of a covid outbreak and an unusual amount of injuries due to fixture constraints.
The Portuguese squad has a good blend of experienced old guards along with the young guns.
Portugal Euro 2020 Squad:
Goalkeepers: Anthony Lopes (Olympique Lyon), Rui Patricio (Wolves), Rui Silva (Granada)
Defenders: Joao Cancelo (Manchester City), Nelson Semedo (Wolves), Jose Fonte (Lille), Pepe (Porto), Ruben Dias (Manchester City), Nuno Mendes (Sporting), Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund)
Midfielders: Danilo Pereira (Paris St Germain), Joao Palhinha (Sporting), Ruben Neves (Wolves), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Joao Moutinho (Wolves), Renato Sanches (Lille), Sergio Oliveira (Porto), William Carvalho (Real Betis)
Forwards: Pedro Goncalves (Sporting), Andre Silva (Eintracht Frankfurt), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Diogo Jota (Liverpool), Goncalo Guedes (Valencia), Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid), Rafa Silva (Benfica).
On paper, this is without a doubt the strongest squad to represent Portugal in a big tournament in recent times. Portugal shocked the world in 2016 after managing to grind their way to win the 2016 edition. Fernando Santos had pure underdogs tactics despite having players like Nani, Pepe and a certain Cristiano Ronaldo in 2016. After the historic triumph, the Navegadores won the inaugural UEFA Nations League. This time around they have the most devastating attack in the tournament, some of the most informed defenders in the world along with a formidable midfield.
Portugal have been pitted in the tournament's group of death with 2 former World Cup winners Germany and France. Fernando Santos' men certainly have what it takes to top the group and potentially go till the later stages of the tournament but an early exit to the hands of France and Germany wouldn't be the biggest upset this summer.
Check here also the France UEFA Euro 2020 Squad , Belgium UEFA Euro 2020 Squad , Croatia UEFA Euro 2020 Squad and Poland UEFA Euro 2020 Squad
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