On July 2nd, 03:00, the Euro Cup Round of 16, Portugal VS Slovenia.
Portugal, after defeating Czech Republic and Turkey in Group F, secured the top spot. However, they suffered a surprising 0-2 loss to Georgia in their final group stage match. Slovenia, on the other hand, drew all three matches in Group C, eventually qualifying as the best third-placed team, marking their first-ever international tournament knockout stage appearance.
Since the 2008 Euro Cup (after a 0-2 loss to Switzerland in the third group stage match and a 2-3 defeat against Germany in the quarter-finals), Portugal has not suffered back-to-back losses. Their 6-1 victory over Switzerland in the Round of 16 at the last World Cup is their biggest win in this stage of an international tournament.
Since winning the 2016 Euro Cup final against France in extra time (1-0), Portugal has lost three of their last four international tournament knockout matches, including Round of 16 exits in the 2018 World Cup and 2020 Euro Cup.
Their captain, Ronaldo, has not scored in his last seven international tournament matches, marking his longest drought in this arena. Ronaldo can’t complain about not receiving passes from his teammates. Since his last goal against Ghana in the 2022 World Cup, he has attempted 19 shots in the last two tournaments, but none have found the back of the net.
This will be only the second time these two teams face each other. Their only previous encounter was a friendly match in March this year, where Slovenia defeated Portugal 2-0.
Portugal has no injury concerns and no suspended players, meaning they have a full squad available for the match, including the returning Leo who was suspended for the last game. Martinez made extensive changes to the starting lineup in the previous game and is expected to recall several key players for Monday’s match, including Bernardo Silva, Cancelo, and Vitinha. Only Palhinha, Diogo Costa, and captain Ronaldo were retained in the starting lineup against Georgia, and all three are expected to start again in Frankfurt.
Slovenia has no injury concerns but their starting left-back, Erik Janza, will miss the match due to a two-yellow card suspension. There are no expected changes in Slovenia’s starting lineup, except possibly replacing Janza with Jure Balkovec at left-back.
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