2023-11-19 01:00:05
It was in Alvalade that this beautiful qualifying campaign began and it is in Alvalade that it will end, eight months after this debut by Roberto Martinez. Portugal reaches this end of the cycle with nine wins in nine games, an unprecedented feat, but only winning the last three points this Sunday, against Iceland, will ensure use 10.
This is precisely what is at stake. With the qualification and first place in the group already guaranteed in record timeas well as the status of serial head For the Euro 2024 draw, the Quinas team enters the field to fulfill the calendar and for the honor of having won a qualifying round.
In Iceland, Portugal resolved very close to 90 @Getty /
For Iceland, who are fourth in this Group J, there is not much at stake either. They have no chance of celebrating direct qualification, with the guarantee that they will finish fourth or fifth, depending on the result of this game and what is played, at the same time, between Bosnia and Slovakia. They can still get a ticket to Germanybut are dependent on a place in the play-offs (made possible by good participation in the League of Nations) and their eventual overcoming.
Still, no ease can be expected from this Nordic team, which was the closest to taking points from Portugal in this qualification. In June, in Reykjavik, it took a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo in the 89th minute to secure a slim 0-1.
Furthermore, Iceland has already lost three times against the Portuguese team, all in qualifying stages, having managed to score just once (and then in the one that counted most): 1-1 in the group stage of Euro 2016, the outcome of which we know so well.
It is never easy to predict Martínez’s choices for eleven and even less so when qualification is assured, but CR7 should maintain his place, in order to try to reinforce his leadership in the list of best scorers of this UEFA qualification. Gylfi Sigurdsson, who had been called up for the first time in October after three years out of the national team, was injured and is a major absence from the Icelandic side.
The objectives are achieved, so the motivation is the perfection of results and points. 10 in 10, 30 and 30. The Alvalade lock is at the mercy of a competent display, to guard this chapter with a golden key.
#Golden #lock #zerozero.pt