Our prediction for this match:
All eyes will be on Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques when Portugal and Sweden take on each other a highly-anticipated friendly game. A Selecao have been producing excellent displays under Roberto Martinez, with the team eyeing their eleventh consecutive win in all competitions, but the Swedes should not be written off just yet. Both Francisco Conceicao and Jota Silva have received their debut call-ups, with star players Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Felix, Bruno Fernandes, and Bernardo Silva making the cut as well.
Both Diogo Jota and Pedro Neto have been ruled out with injuries. The visitors, on the other hand, missed out on a spot at the EURO 2024 finals and seeing that Jon Dahl Tomasson is widely expected to mix the squad against Portugal, home win should definitely be considered. A man to keep an eye on in the away team will be Viktor Gyokeres, who scored a hat-trick for Sporting CP in a 6-1 crushing of Boavista.
Highlighted Player (Cristiano Ronaldo):
Cristiano Ronaldo is considered one of the world’s best football players. The Portuguese ace was born on 5 February, 1985 in Funchal, Madeira and he played for the likes of Andorinha, Nacional and Sporting during his youth career. CR7 made his Sporting debut in Primeira Liga on 7 October, 2002, scoring two goals in a 3-0 win over Moreirense.
Manchester United scouts spotted him and one year later he joined the Old Trafford outfit. Ronaldo became the most expensive teenager in the history of the Premier League and he received the number 7 shirt. He quickly established himself as the team’s key player and it has to be noted that he won three consecutive Premier League trophies with the Red Devils (2006/2007, 2007/2008, 2008/2009). In 2008 he helped the Old Trafford outfit beat Chelsea in the Champions League final, scoring for Alex Ferguson’s troops in the regular time.
Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009 and he helped the Spanish giants with two Champions League trophies. In 2016 he won the European Championship trophy with Portugal. The Real Madrid ace has two Golden Ball awards (2013, 2014).
Highlighted Team (Sweden):
Sweden are the most successful Nordic side on international stage having been present at major competitions since 1934. Blagult missed out on the 1952 World Cup trophy on home soil as they were beaten by star-studded Brazil side, while they finished in third place at the 1950 and 1994 tournaments, and finishing fourth on their second appearance in 1938.
As far as their European Championship record is concerned, Sweden also achieved their best result in front of home fans, reaching the last four in 1992, and they have since reached the quarter-finals at Euro 1994 in Portugal.
Anders Svensson and Thomas Ravelli are team’s most capped players with over 140 appearances each, but it is strikers Henrik Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic that will go down as the most famous Swedish footballers in history. The later also leads the goalscoring charts with over 60 strikes for the national team and he is widely regarded as one of the most colourful characters, not only in Scandinavia, but in world football.