Subs: Rui Patricio, Nelson Semedo, Dalot, Goncalo Ramos, Joao Felix, Jose Sa, Danilo Pereira, Inacio, Joao Neves, Matheus Luiz, Ruben Neves, Jota, Silva, Pedro Neto, Francisco Conceicao.
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Slovenia: Oblak, Karnicnik, Drkusic, Bijol, Balkovec, Stojanovic, Cerin, Elsnik, Mlakar, Sporar, Sesko.
Subs: Blazic, Stankovic, Verbic, Lovric, Belec, Kurtic, Horvat, Vekic, Vipotnik, Celar, Brekalo, Zugelj, Zeljkovic, Ilicic.
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Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy).
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📋🇸🇮 Znana je začetna enajsterica Slovenije za obračun s Portugalsko! Za Slovenijo! 🇸🇮👊#SrceBije 🇸🇮 #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/RxIXPk1w1s
— NZS | FA Slovenia (@nzs_si) July 1, 2024
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Portugal have won the European Championship once, contested the final twice, and made it to the semis on five occasions. They dispatched Czechia and Türkiye in the group stage before sending a second string out to defeat against Georgia, and are many a pundit’s tip for another deep run this time round. Slovenia by contrast have never won a game at a Euro finals, coming bottom of their group at Euro 2000 and squeaking through to the knockouts this year with three draws.
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On the face of it, then, this should be a shoo-in for hot favourites Portugal. However there’s the small matter of a 2-0 defeat to the Slovenians in Ljubljana last March, a result Bruno Fernandes insists will prove beneficial and educational. And in any case, the round of 16 has already seen the Swiss beat Italy, Slovakia come within 86 seconds of dispatching England, Georgia taking the lead against Spain, and Denmark finding themselves the width of a toenail away from leading the hosts Germany. So nobody’s had it easy, and Slovenia – who were denied a first Euros win against Serbia in the 95th minute, after all – will fancy their chances of causing some status-usurping trouble of their own. Kick off in Frankfurt is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
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Important Events
Pennant Watch™. Welcome to the latest edition of our occasional feature that only appears when a bored MBM hacker has nothing to talk about. Yet again. The trinket Jan Oblak gives to his opponent Cristiano Ronaldo features a graphic representation of the Alps, which stretch from Monaco to Slovenia. We give it a high score of 9 out of 10, but subtract one point because at first glance the Alps could be mistaken for a Fiorentina badge.
As no photo of the pennant Ronaldo presented to Oblak has been released, here is a photo of the pennant he presented to Tomáš Soucek before the match against the Czech Republic. it is Fonts. At FPF Design Studio, we don’t have a culture of simply copying and pasting Helvetica.
It’s the last time. Portugal’s last game was a defeat to Georgia which, as we’ve said, recorded the highest score of 11 on the copyrighted Apples-and-Oranges-o-meter™. So let’s take a look back at that last game. This particular The Portugal National XI takes to the field…
…At the same time, I learned a lot about this soccer class.
Only three Portuguese players remained in the starting line-up after the 2-0 loss to Georgia: Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Parinha and Diogo Costa. But since Roberto Martinez used most of his substitutes in that game, it may be more instructive to compare this team with the one that beat Turkey 3-0… and that’s the exact same 11, if not broken.
Slovenia made just one change to the squad that played out a goalless draw with England. With Erik Janja suspended, Jure Balkovec will replace him at left-back.
team
Portugal: Costa, Joao Cancelo, Diaz, Pepe, Nuno Mendes, Vicinha, Joao Parinha, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Leo, Ronaldo.
Substitutes: Rui Patricio, Nelson Semedo, Dalot, Gonzalo Ramos, Joao Felix, Jose Sa, Danilo Pereira, Inacio, Joao Neves, Matheus Ruiz, Ruben Neves, Jota, Silva, Pedro Neto, Francisco Conceição.
Slovenia: Oblak, Karnik, Druksic, Bijol, Balkovec, Stojanovic, Čerin, Elsnik, Mlacar, Sporer, and Sesko.
Subs: Vlajic, Stankovic, Belibic, Lovric, Berec, Kurtic, Horvat, Vekic, Vipotnik, Celar, Brekalo, Zgeri, Zerikovic, Ilicic.
Judge: Daniele Orsato (Italy).
📋🇸🇮 Check out the Slovenian works in Portugal! Slovenia! 🇸🇮👊#sauce 🇸🇮 #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/RxIXPk1w1s
— NZS | FA Slovenia (@nzs_si) July 1, 2024
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preamble
Portugal has won the European Championship once, appeared in the final twice and reached the semi-finals five times. After beating the Czech Republic and Turkey in the group stage, they sent in their second team and lost to Georgia. Many experts expect them to advance to the top of the table again this time. In contrast, Slovenia has never won a Euro final, finished last in their group at Euro 2000, and this year they barely made it to the knockout stage with three draws.
On the surface, Portugal is the favourite to win and should definitely win. But there’s the small matter of a 2-0 defeat to Slovenia in Ljubljana in March, a result that Bruno Fernandes argues will be instructive and educational. In any case, the round of 16 has already seen Switzerland beat Italy, Slovakia come close to beating England in 86 seconds, Georgia score ahead of Spain and Denmark come close to beating hosts Germany. So nobody has had it easy, and after all, Slovenia, who lost their first Euros win to Serbia in 95 minutes, will think they have a chance to cause some trouble and dethrone themselves. Kick-off in Frankfurt is at 8pm BST. started!
